A Technology Business Review, or TBR, is how an agency steps back and looks at the whole picture. This guide explains why a TBR matters, how to conduct one for your home care agency, and how IT Total Care builds this process for home-based care agencies so nothing gets missed.
Why a Technology Business Review Matters for Home-Based Care Agencies
Home health and home hospice teams work across more systems and more locations than almost any other small business. Charting happens in the field, visit verification happens through a state portal, and communication happens across email, text, and shared drives. Left unchecked, that complexity creates blind spots that are easy to miss until they cause a real problem.
Why It Matters for Home-Based Care Agencies:
- Access Left Behind: Caregivers who leave the agency often keep active logins to EMR platforms, email, or scheduling tools long after their last shift.
- Compliance Exposure: ePHI moving through EMR apps on personal phones and EVV data sent to state systems must be covered by HIPAA Security Rule safeguards, not just assumed to be covered.
- Wasted Software Spend: Licenses tied to former employees or unused tools quietly add up on the monthly bill.
- Aging, Untracked Devices: Without a plan, computers and tablets fall out of support with no one responsible for replacing them.
- Insurance and Audit Readiness: Cyber insurance renewals increasingly ask about asset inventory, access controls, and patching, questions a TBR is built to answer.
How to Conduct a Technology Business Review Yourself
If your agency is handling this without a managed IT provider, a Technology Business Review still needs a repeatable process. Here is a step-by-step approach your agency can follow:
Step 1: Set a Recurring Cadence
- Schedule reviews semi-annually or annually and add them to the calendar as a standing Key Activity, not something triggered only when a problem comes up.
Step 2: Close Out Prior Action Items
- Revisit the findings from your last review and confirm every action item was actually completed before starting a new list.
Step 3: Review IT Key Performance Indicators
- Check patching status, backup status, cybersecurity incidents, and cyber security training completion across the agency.
Step 4: Reconcile Licenses and Access
- Pull the user list from your EMR platform, such as Axxess or WellSky, and compare it against Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace accounts to catch offboarded caregivers who still have access.
Step 5: Project Hardware Needs
- Review your asset list and estimate how many computers, tablets, phones, and servers will need replacing in the next one to three years so the expense can be budgeted rather than absorbed as an emergency.
Step 6: Document and Assign Action Items
- Record every finding from the review and assign a responsible party and target date so nothing gets lost between review cycles.
Limitations: Running a Technology Business Review internally takes real time from staff who are already stretched thin. Without a dedicated owner, reviews get pushed back, findings go undocumented, and the same issues resurface every cycle.
How IT Total Care Conducts Tech Business Reviews for Home-Based Care
As a Bay Area MSP that works specifically with home-based care agencies, IT Total Care builds and runs the full Technology Business Review process for your team, so your staff can stay focused on patient care instead of chasing down licenses and devices.
Our Technology Business Review Process Includes:
Recurring Review Schedule: We set a review cadence based on the size and needs ofyour agency and keep it on track.
Action Item Follow-Up: We report on progress from your last review to confirm every item was addressed.
KPI Reporting: We track patching status, backup status, cybersecurity incidents, and training completion.
License and Access Audits: We reconcile active software licenses against current staff to eliminate wasted spend and lingering access.
Hardware Forecasting: We deliver a multi-year device replacement and budget forecast so refreshes are planned, not sudden.
ePHI Flow Review: We confirm HIPAA Security Rule safeguards are in place everywhere ePHI travels, including EMR apps on field devices and EVV data sent to state systems.
Emerging Technology Guidance: We advise on tools worth evaluating, such as a voice AI agent for after-hours intake calls.
Documented Findings Report: We deliver a prioritized action list with an assigned owner for every item, and we track progress at the following review.
“We’ve regularly seen Technology Business Reviews be transformative for Home Care, Home Health, and Home Hospice agencies. They set the foundation that allows agencies to go from constant firefighting to proactively addressing problems and optimizing their use of technology.”
Brendan Duebner, President, IT Total Care
Ready to Build a Smarter Technology Business Review Strategy?
At IT Total Care, we partner with home-based care agencies across the San Francisco Bay Area to run complete Technology Business Reviews, from license audits and KPI reporting to hardware forecasting and HIPAA safeguard checks. Let us take the review process off your plate so your agency can stay focused on its mission. Contact Us today to get started.
