Home health budget planning is not for the faint of heart. You are constantly dealing with shifting regulations, payer changes, and unpredictable costs. During budgeting season, you have to navigate how your operational systems and regulatory changes will impact your financial performance. For you, budgeting is as much of a systems game as it is a numbers game.
Master your budget by fixing the systems behind the numbers instead of only cutting your budget to increase your cash flow.
You’ve likely considered how changes to Medicare and Medicaid will impact your business financially, but you’re also dealing with other pressures. Labor shortages, rising fuel costs, rising costs for equipment and supplies, and increased patient loads are all poised to impact your agency in the next year. On average, costs for operating a medical practice have increased by 11.1% in 2025, according to the Medical Group Management Association.
You may be approaching each financial issue individually, trying to stay afloat. You could be switching vendors to find better deals, managing your practice with fewer clinicians, and
Stretching your budget through a patchwork approach with little support is stressful. It can also cause employee burnout. Although physician burnout rates are decreasing, they remain above 45%. Many physicians cite high patient loads and excessive administrative work as triggers for their burnout.
Each time you have to replace a clinician or administrative team member, you’re stretching an already tight budget.
Cutting costs without improving your processes is another surefire way to burn out your employees. You also risk compromising patient care since your clinicians, nurses, and other caregivers have to see more patients in a day.
As your practice becomes busier, it becomes increasingly difficult to coordinate care effectively. Your patients are waiting longer to be treated, which can increase their risk of hospital readmission. Expecting your team to cover the administrative workload while balancing caregiving responsibilities can increase their risk of making mistakes, including medication errors.
By taking a systemic approach to 2026 financial planning, you can prepare for cuts without drowning your staff.
Instead of comparing last year’s numbers to expected upcoming costs to make your budget, add operational planning to your healthcare finance strategy. Dig into your operations and see where you can make impactful changes. Ask yourself these questions.
Pull up metrics from your electronic health records (EHR) and other systems to see how clinicians, caregivers, and other staff are using their time. According to the American Medical Association, physicians spend two hours on patient health records and other administrative duties for every hour they spend with a patient.
If this is the case in your practice, consider ways to reduce administrative tasks, allowing your clinicians and other caregivers to see more patients.
Billing cycles in the medical industry are longer than in other industries. On average, it takes between 40 and 50 days to get paid for your services. But there are steps you can take to speed up your billing cycles.
Audit your billing software to assess your claim denial rates. See if there are common reasons for claim denials, such as coding errors or missing data. Once you identify the issue, you can resolve it and receive your money more quickly.
Are multiple team members chasing down patient records for intake? Are you processing referrals more than once because they were received through both a fax and a secure referral management system? Understanding where your team is frequently duplicating work efforts will help you refine your operating procedures.
As you plan your budget for the upcoming year, consider making operational changes that ease the administrative burden. Start by focusing on these areas:
Cutting your team is an easy way to manage rising costs, but it puts stress on everyone in your agency. Instead of approaching 2026 financial planning from expected cuts, consider how you can improve operations.
WorldView offers a variety of interoperable solutions that improve your workflows so you can save money without reducing your team's capabilities. Schedule a demo today to learn more.