Why Your CPA Firm Should Have Long-Term Care Specialists

When it comes to finances, your business faces more complex and nuanced challenges than most. Extending your services to more patients and maximizing your bottom line while you maintain regulatory compliance requires the financial support of a CPA firm that specializes in serving long-term care facility and home care providers. Before you engage a CPA firm, be sure they have the necessary capabilities and expertise.

Operational knowledge. A CPA firm that works extensively with long-term care facilities will understand the nuances and intricacies of operating a long-term care facility or providing home care. In particular they will understand the variety of costs that impact your business, how those costs are incurred and must be accounted for to maximize profitability. They will be able to use their understanding of the industry to build projections and break-even analyses that allow you to know the occupancy levels you need to sustain your organization. They will know how income and costs should be reflected in income statements and tax returns.

Benchmarking. An industry-savvy CPA firm with a large long-term care practice will know how and have the resources to benchmark your facility’s performance against county and state standards and against your competitors. They will have the expertise and tools to compare your performance to industry averages or to a particular facility anywhere in your state. They will be able to provide specifics on how you are faring in terms of nursing, social activities, administration costs, and capital costs—and provide insights on your most important metric, your cost per day per patient.

Cost reporting. A firm with professionals who specialize in long-term care will be able to do the cost reporting required, in some cases directly, by Medicare and Medicaid to determine reimbursement, the cost reporting critical to maximizing your return per patient. They understand the reimbursement process, from wavier patients to private insurance to Medicare and Medicaid.

Wage analysis. A healthcare-savyy CPA firm will understand the importance of wage analysis with regard to your nursing costs to ensure you are paying a market competitive rate without over paying. They will be able to help you determine levels of compensation that will help you recruit and retain nurses without the expense of engaging a placement agency.

Operational efficiencies: data analytics. Your CPA firm should be practiced at spotting opportunities to improve operational efficiency, providing appropriate direction, and implementing effective solutions. That includes data analytics: ensuring the your facility is reading and interpreting, then employing the critical and sensitive data it amasses internally to maximize profitability.

Acquisitions. A CPA firm with a wide range of expertise will have in-house valuation experts to help you determine the viability of an acquisition target, their financial strengths and weaknesses, and how they might contribute to your growth and profitability. They will be able to run a variety of scenarios on how an acquisition might impact your per bed per day costs and income. They will be expert healthcare M&A consultants who will work with you to the successful completion of the transaction.