Medicaid will pay you the day you have somebody to bill for. Here is where the clients come from, how to staff the work, and how to survive the ninety days before the money shows up.
You are licensed. You are enrolled. Medicaid will pay you — the day you have somebody to bill for. Nobody warns new owners how quiet the phone is that first month, or how fast the payroll clock runs while it stays quiet.
Week one, you are ready and nobody knows you exist. The license is framed, the aides are hired, and the phone does not ring. Referral sources send clients to the agencies they already trust — and they have never heard your name.
So you start knocking. Discharge planners, case managers, physician offices, senior living, the private-pay daughter searching at midnight. Each one refers only when they know exactly what you do and trust you to do it well.
Then the first client lands — and now you need an aide who shows up. Staffing is the wall most young agencies hit: finding good people, paying them right, and keeping them past week three.
Ninety days in, you find out if the math works. Private-pay rates, Medicaid reimbursement, your true cost per hour, and the cash-flow gap between the shift worked and the claim paid. Booked & Staffed walks all of it, in order.
Hospital and SNF discharge planners, case managers, physician offices, senior living, faith communities, and the private-pay families who find you online. Who to call, what to say, and what they need from you before they will refer.
A site that converts, a Google Business Profile that ranks locally, reviews that come in without begging, and the three directories NC families actually use.
Where the good ones are, what they are paid in your county, how to screen fast without cutting corners, and why agencies lose aides in week three.
Private-pay rates versus Medicaid reimbursement, what your true cost per hour is, and the cash-flow gap between the first shift worked and the first claim paid.
Building a schedule that survives a call-out, on-call rotation, and the software worth paying for when you are still small.
What to do in month one, month two and month three — in order, with a number to hit each month so you know whether it is working.
Taught by operators who built the caseload themselves — not consultants reading a template. You leave with the Booked & Staffed book, a referral contact list for your counties, a staffing plan, and your ninety-day numbers. Bring your county and a calculator.