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Greetings!

With the holiday season upon us, we're sending you a special update to Generations, tips on how to comply with the upcoming employer mandate, mobile app enhancements, and more.
New Caregiver Search
With today's update, your job of scheduling is about to get a whole lot easier. Read on to learn more about the additional options you'll find within Caregiver Search.

This new Caregiver Search enables scheduling directly from the search page. Yeah, we know that's a pretty big leap and that's why we couldn't wait to share it with you.

When scheduling from the new search results, you'll be able to view the caregiver's current schedule, upcoming absences, and partial availability. This makes it easy to staff complex cases that require multiple caregivers with a specific skill set.

You can also save your search in case you need to come back and finish up at a later time or to keep on hand for easy reference. 

Look for the new Caregiver Search in today's update. You'll find it under the Caregiver Search dropdown menu as Caregiver Search Beta. The traditional search will still be available while we gather feedback from users brave enough to play with the beta. Let us know what you think!
Mobile App Enhancements

The Generations app has two significant new enhancements: one for caregivers, and another for office users.


First, when a caregiver views their schedule, they can see if this shift is part of a series of continuous shifts. Continuous shifts are two or more shifts scheduled back-to-back with the same client and caregiver. 
   

What does this mean in practical terms? For visit verification, it means the caregiver only needs to login when they arrive at the client's home, and then logout when they depart. The caregiver still has access to each individual shift for completing tasks and adding notes.

Typically agencies will create a continuous shift when multiple payers or billing rates are involved.

Second, would you like to see exactly when caregivers are logging in and out, on your smart phone? Well, wish no more, because detailed telephony information is now available in the app for office users. Telephony calls can be found under the new Telephony Calls menu. If you don't already have the Generations app, be sure to get it today, it's free and you will love it.

Download the Generations app today!

Google Play Store Link
iTunes App Store link
Amazon Appstore link
Are You Ready? An ACA Update
Pending a couple of imminent federal court decisions, plus any actions the new US Congress may take at the start of the new year, reporting and compliance with the ACA's employer mandate will take effect in a few short weeks. 

As a reminder of how and when the employer shared responsibility of the ACA apply, here are some guidelines along with effective dates and applicability.

Effective Dates
  • Beginning January 2015, employers of 100+ FT and FTE's must offer a minimum qualifying policy to at least 70 percent of their workforce or be subject to fees assessed by the IRS.  
  • Beginning January 2016, employers of 50-99 FT and FTE's must also offer a minimum qualifying health plan to their staff, or possibly face the same penalties as do large employers.
When calculating number of employees, keep in mind that caregivers in the in-home care industry can be considered "variable" since their hours of service can be interrupted, changed, or end without notice. As such, the IRS issued guidelines for variable hour employees including a measurement and stability period of up to 12 months plus methods to determine when an employee is considered a rehire after a period of not working for your business. 

Examples of Variable Employee Status
  • A caveat to variable hour employee status occurs after a period 13 weeks of zero hours of service. When an employee declines or is unavailable for assignments for a minimum of 13 weeks and then accepts an assignment offered by your company, that employee is considered a rehire and begins anew with a measurement period and an administrative period (not to exceed 13 months total) typical of your new employees.  
  • Another example of when a former employee is considered a rehire is when the duration of weeks of employment is less than the number of weeks of unemployment. This occurs when an employee works at least 4 weeks for your agency and then has zero hours of service for the next 5-12 consecutive weeks.
Employers need to be begin tracking FTE status on January 1, 2015. Generations already has the capability to track and report on FTE's.

It is possible the employer mandate could be delayed yet again. And thresholds for full-time status will likely increase from 30 to 40 hours per week. However it ends up, rest assured Generations will have the additional functionality you'll need to make ACA reporting a whole lot easier.
Survey Results
Last month we conducted a survey, and many of you responded. We thank you for your responses as they will definitely help us continue to improve all aspects of our service and Generations. 

The majority of the people who responded were very satisfied with Generations, and felt we understood the business needs of homecare agencies. You also feel that we are responsive to your questions and concerns.

And what was the most popular area of Generations being used on a day-to-day basis? None other than scheduling - the true heart of Generations. 
Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

From all of us at Generations, we wish you the happiest of holidays and a new year filled with endless opportunities and great technology.

Peace!

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