Why Every Care-At-Home Agency Needs a Data Strategy

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Every visit, schedule change, and clinical note creates a wealth of data—but too often, these valuable care-at-home insights remain untapped. Without a clear strategy to analyze this information, critical insights stay buried, decision-making slows, and blind spots appear in both patient care and operations. 

Agencies that approach data as a strategic asset are already reaping the rewards: smoother workflows, better patient outcomes, and teams that operate in sync. So how can your agency move from collecting data in spreadsheets to analyzing these insights through a strategic lens? 

In this blog, we're covering why data matters, what a good care-at-home strategy looks like, common pain points, and how Maxwell TEC can help you unlock smarter care through smarter data.  

Why Data Matters 

Imagine a clinician struggling under a growing caseload, a manager unsure which patients need urgent attention, and leadership making decisions without a clear picture of what’s really happening across the organization. This is the reality for many care-at-home agencies, and it all comes down to one thing: data without strategy. 

Agencies already collect vast amounts of information. But without an actionable strategy, that data sits idle. Platforms like Homecare Homebase (HCHB), combined with visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau, can integrate EMR data with other systems to reveal the full story behind operations and care delivery. 

With the right strategy, leaders can ask the questions that really matter: Where are the gaps in care? Which trends signal risk before problems escalate? Tailored datasets and reports make insights clear and actionable at every level, from frontline clinicians to executive leadership. “A coherent and cohesive strategy is key to creating a baseline ‘language’ across the company,” says Raul McGee, Director of Analytics at Maxwell TEC. 

When everyone works from the same insights, a clinician’s concern is seen in context by managers and leadership, creating alignment across the organization. This alignment helps teams work efficiently and keeps patient care at the center of every decision. 

Common Data & Analytics Pain Points 

Gaps quickly appear when agencies treat data as a one-time project or rely solely on standard reports. Short-term workarounds stack up, creating technical debt that is difficult to maintain or scale. Without real-time insights, issues often reach leadership secondhand (or not at all), long after intervention could make a difference. 

Without a connected view of workflow performance, agencies risk falling out of compliance with timely start-of-care, missing revenue opportunities, or overburdening clinical teams with inefficiencies that go unaddressed. 

Examples include delays in documentation, slow order lifecycles, or low referral conversion rates—small cracks that can quietly weaken patient care. With real-time (or near-real-time) data, leaders gain the clarity to identify and address these issues proactively, before they escalate. 

Data should drive action, rather than just provide a snapshot of what went wrong. By connecting insights to decisions, agencies can improve outcomes, streamline operations, and keep care centered on the patient. 

What a Good Care-at-Home Data Strategy Looks Like 

So what does it take to build a strong care-at-home data strategy? 

It all begins with a clear vision: using data to improve patient care and operational efficiency. Key components include: 

• Data Governance: Policies and processes that ensure accuracy, consistency, and trust in every number. 

• Data Consolidation: A data warehouse or lake that consolidates EMR and internal system data, creating a complete, reliable view of the organization. 

• Business Intelligence Tools: Platforms like Power BI or Tableau that surface real-time KPIs, trends, and actionable insights aligned with agency goals. 

• Skilled Teams & Partners: In-house analysts, data specialists, or trusted partners who can interpret the data and translate insights into meaningful action. 

When implemented effectively, this approach drives measurable improvements: reduced clinician drive time, fewer missed visits, lower hospitalization rates, improved cash flow, and increased productivity. More importantly, it gives teams the confidence and clarity to make informed decisions while keeping patient care at the forefront. 

Maxwell TEC’s Role in Leading Insight-Driven Care 

Oftentimes, the biggest hurdle in a care-at-home data strategy isn’t the lack of data—it’s the inability to use it effectively. Reporting backlogs, siloed systems, and stock reports that don’t answer core questions can all slow an organization's decision-making. 

That’s where Maxwell TEC steps in.  

The MTEC Analytics Team works with care-at-home agencies across the U.S. to build everything from custom dashboards and exportable reports to Data Reefs—a curated foundation of key data elements and connected tables that turn fragmented information into a single, reliable reporting source. 

For example, our team recently helped one medium-sized home health agency consolidate the underlying tables and views feeding their BI reports, replacing hours of manual interpretation with accurate, ready-to-use insights.  

“With our help, we were able to give this home health agency tighter solutions, training them on how to utilize the infrastructure as a foundation for their strategy moving forward. Essentially, we taught them to fish for themselves, which resulted in more robust and accurate reporting coming from within their organization,” shares McGee. 

A Strong Data Strategy = A True Competitive Edge 

A strong data strategy enables a true competitive edge in care at home, empowering leaders with the clarity to make swift, confident decisions and equipping care teams with the tools to work smarter and keep patients firmly at the center of every choice.  

By investing in the right vision, governance, architecture, and expertise, agencies can turn raw information into a continuous stream of actionable insight. With a partner like Maxwell TEC, those insights don’t just stay in reports—they drive measurable improvements in efficiency, outcomes, and growth. 

This blog was originally published as "THRIVE: Informatics and Data in Post-Acute Care" by Maxwell Healthcare Associates on March 12, 2025, for Maxwell Healthcare Associates. The Maxwell TEC editorial team has since updated this article to ensure accuracy and relevance.