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Home health care agencies have specific needs when it comes to accounting, and finding the right accounting software can help caregivers spend more time on caring for patients. The best accounting software for a home health care agency will meet the business needs of the practice, allowing you to manage accounts receivable and accounts payable, keep good records for auditing purposes, manage payroll, file your taxes, and get an overall picture of your financial situation. You’ll also want software that can integrate with your other systems, allowing you to manage the more complicated aspects of medical billing and patient relationship management.

Home health care accounting software systems need to be able to handle the specific issues of medical billing, such as:

• Insurance reimbursement
• Managing multiple payers
• Private pay billing
• Invoicing
• Health care plan billing, including Medicare and Medicaid 
• Referrals 
• Compliant record keeping 

Read on to find out more about finding the best accounting software for a home health care agency in this article from Nav’s experts. 

Home Health Business Software vs. Accounting Software

Many home health businesses use two types of software together: Business management software that handles their back-office administration and an accounting software solution that streamlines the business finances. Both types of software solutions provide important tools to manage the day-to-day operations of the business, and the best ones will integrate with each other. 

Home health business software

Business software can help you run your back-office systems, including customer relationship management (CRM), scheduling, and more. 

Home health care business software systems offer complete solutions that help with compliance management, including making sure you’re in line with patient privacy laws (HIPAA compliant) and health and safety regulations. They can also help you manage electronic health records (EHR) or electronic medical records (EMR), electronic visit verification (EVV), and patient communication. Most business software providers offer software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that cover many aspects of your care services. Many integrate with your communications systems, including telephony, so you can automate interactions with patients for scheduling and reminders. 

Some of the top home health care software providers are:

• Alora Home Health
• AxisCare
• Wellsky Personal Care
• AdaCare
• Axxess Home Health

You may find that the functionality of business management software can help streamline your workflow and operations as your home health care agency grows. 

Home health accounting software

An accounting solution, on the other hand, will be more generic and manage just the financial aspect of your business. Many providers who are just starting out will find that accounting software can be just what they need — especially when compared to manually filling out spreadsheets. 

All-in-one software

Depending on the size of your home health care business, you may consider an integrated business management system that includes accounting. These options can be somewhat more expensive than the simpler options, and they may take more time to set up and learn, but they may make the process simpler. Not all business software solutions offer accounting, so you may want to use both accounting software and business software together to run your business.

Benefits of Using Accounting Software in Your Home Health Agency

Like many startups, home health care providers may use spreadsheets to track their bookkeeping and accounting when they start out. But over time, this can become unsustainable, with data entry errors growing as you have more and more financial items to track. 

Using accounting software in your home health agency can offer you many benefits, including:

• Easily tracking of accounts receivable and accounts payable
• Reducing errors with automated data entry
• Providing financial reporting to get an overall financial picture
• Simplifying tax returns and auditing
• Time tracking and payroll 
• Automating reminders for invoices and unpaid bills
• Integrating with other tools and software 

Identify Your Accounting Software Needs

The first step in determining which accounting software solution is best for your business is identifying your software needs. A few things to consider:

• Do you need a cloud-based option? A web-based solution with a mobile app can give you flexibility, with real-time access to your accounting information, financial reports, and data entry on the go. However, this kind of functionality can create added concerns around patient privacy and data security, so you may want to keep your accounting software based on your desktop in the office. 
• How intuitive is it? Most healthcare providers are trained in patient care, not accounting. You probably want accounting software that is easy to learn and easy to use, with intuitive interfaces and reporting capabilities. You’ll want to be able to generate reports easily so that you can understand how your business is doing financially.
• How much does it cost? Pricing can be a concern for any small business, and healthcare providers are no exception. But it’s important to balance the value of what you’re getting out of the accounting software solution — sometimes free isn’t the best option for what you need. And depending on their pricing structure, you will probably want to use a system that charges by license (the number of people in your office using it) rather than billed clients, as you’ll have many patients that can add up quickly. 
• Does it integrate with your other systems? The best accounting software for home health care agencies will integrate with your CRM, marketing, sales, and human resources programs so that you can remind patients and insurance agencies of bills and manage payroll. You’ll probably also want the ability for professionals like a certified public accountant (CPA) or bookkeeping staff to be able to access your information, especially at tax time. 
• Is it in line with patient privacy laws? HIPAA compliance is extremely important for all health care providers, and your accounting software needs to be able to guard patient data securely. 

Best Accounting Software for Home Health Agencies

Find the best small business accounting software for your home health agency from our list below:

Intuit QuickBooks Pro

Intuit QuickBooks is one of the most popular small business accounting software solutions, and many home health care agencies use it as well. It integrates with home health agency management software solutions and has robust financial reporting. There are a variety of plans with different levels of functionality and pricing, so you can find the right one for your business. 

CareSmartz360

CareSmartz360 is a cloud-based, integrated software system for home health care businesses. It handles all aspects of your office, including accounting, HR, CRM, telephony, expense management, and more. You can use it in multiple locations, too. While it’s very robust, it has a reputation for being a bit difficult to learn.

Sage 

Sage is a cloud-based financial management provider. Their software is built specifically for several industries, including healthcare, and they offer HIPAA-compliant solutions that can integrate with your billing system. You have to request pricing, as they don’t publish it on their website, but this could be an option for a more complex or larger home health care agency. 

Bench

Bench offers bookkeeping and tax services. Its experts can file your business taxes for you and help you if you’re behind with your bookkeeping. Bench offers two packages — one if you’re less than two years behind on your books and one if you’re more than two years behind.

1-800Accountant

1-800Accountant can work on bookkeeping, payroll, taxes, and can help you through an audit. You get matched with a CPA that understands your state laws and your industry. Their hands-on customer service can be good for busy home health care providers who don’t have time to learn the ins and outs of accounting, especially when it comes to taxes. 

Find more information about the right accounting tools for your business with Nav’s accounting software resources.