Abstract:

Doing a breakeven analysis for Carlsbad Home Care helped Director Louise Tucker better understand how many more visits she needed to eliminate her deficit. However, she wasn’t sure that there was really demand in the community for more nursing, physical therapy or social service visits to allow her to increase visit volume. She also knew that negotiating a higher per visit price from their affiliated HMO was highly unlikely. If increasing volume and raising the price for visits were not feasible, she wondered what else she should be thinking about. She decided she should explore alternatives that would look at her specific programs, staffing approaches, and general expenses. In discussions with her controller, she arrived at five alternatives for consideration.

Available from Harvard Business Publishing