A home health administrator runs a Medicare-certified agency day to day and answers to its owners or board for surveys, complaints and quality. They keep policies up to date, keep a clinical manager on duty, and keep the agency ready for surveys that come without warning.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, home health care agencies · BLS, May 2025
We're hiring an Administrator to run our licensed home health agency day to day and, where your state licenses it, our home care program. The governing body appoints you, and you report to it on surveys, complaints, and quality. You'll keep us ready for state surveys and accreditation, keep policies current, and make sure a qualified clinical manager is available whenever we're open.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Run the home health agency's day-to-day operations, as the Medicare Conditions of Participation require of an administrator.
Make sure a qualified clinical manager is available during all operating hours, and name a qualified alternate in writing for when you're out.
Lead the Director of Nursing, Office Manager, and Quality Improvement Coordinator.
Keep the agency ready for state surveys and accreditation visits, and write and carry out the plan of correction when a survey finds problems.
Keep policies current for patient rights, infection control, emergency preparedness, and complaints, and train staff on them.
Investigate patient and family complaints, document the findings, and report to the state when the rules require it.
Report to the governing body on survey results, complaints, and the quality program.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Meet with the Director of Nursing on admissions, staffing, and any patient safety concern.
Review new complaints and incident reports and decide on next steps.
Spot-check survey items such as personnel files, aide supervision records, and signed orders.
Answer questions from the state, accrediting bodies, and payers.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
State survey and accreditation deficiencies: [your target].
Complaints investigated within policy timelines: [your target].
Personnel files complete at audit: [your target].
Plans of correction closed on schedule: [your target].
Policies reviewed on schedule: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Meets your state's administrator requirements and the federal qualifications for an administrator of a Medicare-certified home health agency.
[3+] years of supervisory or administrative experience in home health or another health care setting.
Working knowledge of the Medicare home health Conditions of Participation and your state's home health licensing rules.
Has prepared an agency or health care program for a survey or accreditation visit.
Writes clear policies, complaint findings, and plans of correction.
Knows how HIPAA applies to a home health office, its staff, and its records.
6. Preferred Experience
Active [State] RN license, or a degree in health care administration.
Has served as administrator or director of nursing at a Medicare-certified agency.
Has worked under accreditation by The Joint Commission, CHAP, or ACHC.
Has also run a licensed non-medical home care program.
7. Physical Requirements
Office work at a computer for long periods.
Occasional home visits with clinicians and travel to branch offices.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based in [branch city], during the agency's posted operating hours.
On call for serious incidents and for surveys, which can arrive unannounced.
Regular travel to other branches in [your service area].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new administrator gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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What makes the home health administrator job different
In most businesses an administrator is an office title. In a Medicare-certified agency it is a job federal rules define, and surveyors check that the person in it does that job.
Medicare writes part of the job description
The governing body appoints the administrator, who reports to it. The job covers all daily operations. It also means making sure the agency hires qualified staff and has personnel policies in place. A clinical manager must be on hand whenever the agency is open. When the administrator is out, a qualified stand-in takes over. The administrator and the governing body name that person in writing. Source: 42 CFR 484.105: Organization and administration of services (Cornell LII).
Every home health survey is unannounced. A standard survey has to come no later than 36 months after the last one, and it can come sooner after complaints. Surveyors pick a sample of patients, visit some of them at home with their consent, and review records against the rules most tied to patient care. So the agency has to be ready on any given day. Source: 42 CFR Part 488, Subpart I: Survey and certification of home health agencies (Cornell LII).
Complaints follow federal rules
The agency must look into complaints from patients and families about their care. That includes abuse, neglect or misuse of a patient's property by anyone working for it. It has to write down each complaint and how it was settled. It must also guard against payback while it looks into one. Staff who see abuse or neglect must report it right away to the agency and to the authorities state law names. Source: 42 CFR 484.50: Patient rights (Cornell LII).
Patient records leave the office
Nurses, therapists and aides chart on phones, tablets and laptops in patients' homes. A lost device can turn into a privacy breach. Under HIPAA's breach rule, people whose unsecured health records were breached must be told without unreasonable delay. The limit is 60 calendar days after the breach is found. The administrator owns the device rules, the training and the steps to take when one goes missing. Source: 45 CFR 164.404: Notification to individuals (Cornell LII).
How much home health administrators make
The closest BLS group for home health administrators is medical and health services managers. Medical and health services managers who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $101,830 a year ($48.96 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $123,860 median for medical and health services managers in all industries. About 30,360 of the 597,080 medical and health services managers in that survey work for home health care agencies.
Salaried, and some agencies add a bonus for survey and quality results. Say in the offer how after-hours coverage is split with the written stand-in.
Home health care agencies
$101,830$101,830 median Middle half $85,690–$128,650 10th–90th $73,330–$165,400
All industries
$123,860$123,860 median Middle half $94,700–$166,100 10th–90th $73,390–$224,340
$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k$225k$250k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Home health care agencies
$73,330
$85,690
$101,830
$128,650
$165,400
All industries
$73,390
$94,700
$123,860
$166,100
$224,340
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Knows the home health Conditions of Participation well enough to find a gap before a surveyor does
Writes clear policies, complaint findings and plans of correction
Looks into a complaint fairly, writes it up and closes it on time
Leads the Director of Nursing without second-guessing clinical calls
Tells the governing body bad news early and plainly
Handles patient information the way HIPAA requires, in the office and in the field
Teach these on the job
Your state's home health and home care licensing rules
Your accreditor's standards and survey process
Your EMR's audit reports and credential tracking
Your emergency preparedness plan and drills
Your complaint log and the state contacts for required reports
The administrator works in the EMR's compliance and audit reports, a credential and personnel file tracker, and an incident and complaint log. In the interview, have candidates describe a survey they got an agency ready for and a plan of correction they wrote.
Home health administrator interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Fill each blank target from your last survey and your own audit history, and ask the governing body to approve the targets along with the quality plan.
State survey and accreditation deficiencies
Citations from each state survey and accreditation visit, sorted into condition-level and standard-level findings. Count repeat citations on their own, since a repeat means the last fix didn't hold.
Complaints investigated within policy timelines
Complaints closed within your policy's deadline, divided by all complaints received, from the complaint log each month. Read a sample of closed files to confirm the finding and the resolution are written down.
Personnel files complete at audit
Files with every required item, such as licenses, competency checks, aide training records and in-service hours, divided by the files pulled in a random audit each quarter.
Plans of correction closed on schedule
Corrective actions completed on or before the dates in the accepted plan, as a share of all actions due. Keep proof of each one, such as training sign-in sheets or audit results, ready for a follow-up visit.
Policies reviewed on schedule
Of the policies due for review this year, the share reviewed and signed off by their dates. Keep a dated review log; it is what you hand a surveyor who asks.
Does a home health administrator need to be a nurse?
No. For anyone hired since January 13, 2018, Medicare accepts a licensed physician, a registered nurse or a person with an undergraduate degree. They also need health service administration experience, with at least a year of supervisory or administrative work in home health or a related program. States add their own rules. Texas, for one, accepts a high school diploma or GED plus two years of management or supervisory work in a health-related setting. A certified agency must meet Medicare's rule too.
How much does a home health administrator make?
Medical and health services managers who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $101,830 a year ($48.96 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $85,690 and $128,650 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What is the difference between the administrator and the director of nursing?
The administrator runs the agency and answers to the governing body. In many agencies the director of nursing is also the clinical manager Medicare requires. That person assigns patients and staff, coordinates care and referrals, and makes sure each plan of care is written and kept up to date. The rules let the clinical manager also be the administrator's stand-in.
Can accreditation take the place of a state survey?
For Medicare certification, yes. An agency accredited by a CMS-approved organization can show it meets Medicare's conditions that way instead of through a state survey. CMS calls this deemed status. People can still file complaints about an accredited agency with the state survey agency. Your state license is a separate matter, so check what your state requires.
Does changing administrators bring a survey?
It can. Medicare's survey rules allow a survey within two months of a change in who owns, runs or manages an agency. Before the new administrator starts, put their qualifications on file. Get the governing body's appointment in writing, and update the written stand-in.
