Home health industry turnover rates have once again worsened in 2020, especially for front-line worker positions.
That’s according to the latest Home Care Salary & Benefits Report from the Oakland, New Jersey-based Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service, which provides salary and benefits studies for the health care sector. The annual report is published with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC).
Released Monday, this year’s Home Care Salary & Benefits Report shows that the turnover rate for all home health employees hit 22.18% in 2020, a slight increase compared to 2019’s rate of 21.89%.
At 36.53%, home care aides had the highest turnover rate of all home health positions in 2020. That number is a sharp increase compared to last year, when the Home Care Salary & Benefits Report had home care aide turnover at 25.36%.
The turnover rates for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs) were also relatively high in 2020, at 34.30% and 25.85%, respectively. With a rate of 13.88%, turnover for therapist positions remained relatively low, in contrast.
Top-level executives had a turnover rate of 17.54%, according to this year’s report from the Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service and NAHC.
The 2020 Home Care Salary & Benefits Report is an analysis and compilation of statistics from 1,049 home health agencies, which combined to submit data on more than 43,200 employees working across the United States. Of the home health agencies that participated in the report, 54% were for-profit businesses, with 29% being nonprofits and 7% being hospital-based agencies.
While home care aides had the highest turnover in 2020, they also saw the biggest bump to their base pay. From August 2019 to July 2020, home care aide base pay increased by a national average of 2.78%.
In comparison, the average actual base pay for management positions, RNs, therapists and social workers increased by 2.66%, 2.71%, 2.63% and 2.645, respectively.
In addition to turnover and salary information, the Home Care Salary & Benefits Report provides information on home health workers’ average caseload — or the average number of patients assigned to a specific employee at any given time.
RNs and LPNs had average caseloads of 21.88 and 22.63, respectively. Meanwhile, home care aides, physical therapists and occupational therapists had caseloads of 14.91, 19.76 and 19.06, respectively.