Poof — a caregiver has just vanished into thin air.

The caregiver hasn’t shown up to care for their client during the shift, and they’ve left the home care agency without giving any notice.

Generally, this is what’s known as caregiver ghosting, and it continues to be a challenge for home care providers.

Recently, Victor Hunt — co-founder and CEO of caregiver engagement platform Ava — highlighted this industry-wide pain point in a post on LinkedIn. Hunt noted this was a problem, and a growing one at that. 

Specifically, Sheila Davis – the senior vice president of area operations at Always Best Care – believes that in the past nine months caregiver ghosting has gotten worse.

“It’s something that we’re all noticing, and there seems to be an uptick,” she told Home Health Care News.

Ghosting has a detrimental impact on home care companies, according to Erika Ehlers, HomeWell Care Services’ senior director of learning.

“It has that immediate impact on the safety and wellbeing of the client,” she told HHCN. “But then there’s also the longer-term negative impact that it’s going to have on your reputation, revenue and, potentially, your profitability.”

There are a number of different factors that contribute to caregiver ghosting.

Davis pointed out that one of these factors is caregivers leaving for what they believe to be a better job opportunity.

“Caregivers may find a better job opportunity after applying with us, or even after getting a job with us, and then they just don’t communicate that they’re leaving,” she said. “That is one of the main factors that we’ve seen — caregivers would at least give notice, and they just leave without even telling you anything anymore.”

Ghosting providers

At Nurse Next Door, Veronica Tissera, vice president of customer experience, was once made aware of a situation where a caregiver had to choose between putting gas in her car or feeding her children.

Tissera explained that this is something the company would not have known if they didn’t make the effort to get curious about why ghosting happens.

Nurse Next Door has since implemented a number of policies aimed at curbing caregiver ghosting. This includes holding clients to a 12-hour minimum for service hours.

“One of the reasons why caregivers ghost is that they work for several companies,” Tissera said. “If you have a company that offers a [one-hour shift] versus a company that says, ‘We have eight hours,’ caregivers will choose the one that can offer eight hours.”

This offers caregivers more stability, and enables them to earn a higher wage. Nurse Next Door also offers wages that are above industry average and a comprehensive benefits package.

Similarly, Always Best Care also put strategies in place meant to combat caregiver ghosting. One of these strategies is constant communication, especially when it comes to new hires.

“We’re regularly following up with the caregivers, after that initial contact, to keep the lines of communication open,” Davis said. “We’re keeping the lines of communication open after the orientation process, even when they are given their first scheduled shift. We are contacting them the night before just to remind them. We are also making sure that communication is clear and concise. We [lay out] what the expectations are during the hiring process, and make sure that the caregivers avoid any misunderstandings. While we don’t like caregivers calling off shifts, we would much rather have them call off than abandon the shift or ghost the shift.”

One of the biggest factors that leads to ghosting are burned out caregivers.

While HomeWell has largely avoided the impact of caregiver ghosting, Ehlers has still seen the value in tackling caregiver burnout head on.

“We’ve launched a personal development learning track in our learning lab that includes topics like mental wellness, time management, stress management to help owners be able to identify the signs of burnout, and then also be able to provide support and resources to help prevent it,” she said.

Ehlers also stressed the importance of a robust onboarding process for new caregivers.

“It can’t be overstated,” she said. “Our franchise services team noted that the possibility of ghosting on a shift increases significantly when that new caregiver hasn’t had expectations clearly defined, or been properly prepared. They’re basically left to walk into a stranger’s home without any support. It’s really important to ensure that caregivers feel they’re valued members of the team, and that they’re recognized for all the compassion and care that they’re bringing to their work every day.”

The company also believes in setting up its franchise owners to cultivate strong employee engagement.

“We provide these tools to our owners,” Ehlers said. “We have a caregiver connection newsletter, we have award and recognition templates focused around our core values, and we encourage our owners to make use of those to increase communication and engagement with our caregivers. We really weave retention into all of our learning opportunities, so that we can prepare our owners with the skills and resources they need to be able to build a really positive culture and employee engagement.”

The post How Home Care Providers Are Addressing The Growing Challenge Of Caregiver ‘Ghosting’ appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Home care agencies that are part of larger franchise networks get to reap the benefits of operating under established names and reputations. But that doesn’t stop franchise owners from thinking up various ways to stand out in the crowd. 

Franchise owners at companies like Always Best Care, Right at Home and Griswold Home Care are doing this by offering services that fall outside of the norm.

At Griswold Twin Cities, this means incorporating therapy dogs, Scout and Ruby, into their care services.

The idea to bring therapy dogs into the mix started because of Griswold Twin Cities Owner Nicole Myhre’s love of dogs. She began working with Canine Inspired Change — a Saint Paul, Minnesota-based non-profit organization — to put Scout and Ruby through therapy dog training.

“Most people, I know, like animals,” Nicole told Home Health Care News. “It really was just a matter of wanting to have animals around us, and then the support that they bring to our team.”

The Blue Bell, Pennsylvania-based Griswold is a home care franchise. It provides personal care services in 30 states. Nicole co-owns Griswold Twin Cities with her husband Brett Myhre.

The agency brings therapy dogs into initial assessments and bi-weekly hospital visits. Brett noted that feedback from Griswold’s clients has been extremely positive.

“Some of these people no longer have a dog, whether because of where they live, or because they’re not able to care for an animal anymore, but they are still animal lovers,” he told HHCN. “We’ll get calls from some of our clients, wondering if we can come out and just do a quick home visit. We’ll bring the dogs out to do visits with people that don’t have the opportunity to have an animal anymore, and it just brightens their day.”

Brett and Nicole have also seen the advantages of having Scout and Ruby when trying to connect with the community.

“When we’re at community events, and we have a booth, or something like that set up, it’s definitely a good icebreaker to get people to come up and talk to us,” Brett said.

Parkinson’s support

Always Best Care of Central Connecticut has separated itself by getting heavily involved in the Parkinson’s disease community. The company has leaned into educating people about what to expect with a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.

Taylor Lajeunesse — the director of operations at Always Best Care of Central Connecticut — began working with the American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA) in 2022.

Always Best Care of Central Connecticut decided to lean into Parkinson’s as an area of focus when the company started seeing an increase in clients coming in with the disease.

“A lot of our clients that have Parkinson’s are actually our VA clients, through their community care network,” Lajeunesse said. “These are mostly Vietnam veterans, because they were exposed to Agent Orange and different toxins that they think are associated with Parkinson’s. I’d say about 10% of our clients are VA, and maybe about 25% of them have Parkinson’s.”

Roseville, California-based Always Best Care is a home care franchise company that operates across 225 territories in 30 states and Canada.

Though the New Haven area has a lot of these different Parkinson’s programs through Yale University, areas like Hartford and Tolland did not, according to Lajeunesse.

“For somebody that’s coming from our area, that can be anywhere from a 45-minute drive to an hour and a half drive,” she said. “For somebody with Parkinson’s, it’s not practical to be taking an entire day to go for a doctor’s appointment or an hour-long program. We’re really trying to bring that up this way, with the help of the APDA and their program coordinator.”

Last year, the Central Connecticut location rolled out a web page that shared information about what to expect at each stage of Parkinson’s disease, as well as what services the agency suggested. The site also includes video content.

Lajeunesse is also in the process of starting a new support group in town.

Plus, the agency talks to clients and their families about the APDA and all the resources the organization offers.

“A lot of our families don’t really know where to start,” Lajeunesse said. “I think in being able to be that guide, we’ve had families that are really appreciative of those connections we can make.”

Avoiding scams

Scams and scammers have become a popular topic for documentaries and true crime podcasts, but Right at Home Orlando wants to ensure that its clients aren’t targeted.

Seniors are often targeted by scammers. In 2022, there were 88,262 fraud complaints which led to $3.1 billion in losses from individuals aged 60 and older, according to the National Council on Aging.

Though Right at Home Orlando doesn’t have a formal scam prevention program, the agency helps educate its clients in order to protect its clients from financial fraud and other scams.

“As a home care agency, we’re very opposed to elder abuse and people taking advantage of seniors, so all of our caregivers have always been trained to look for the signs of any of those situations,” Nikki Magyar, owner and president of Right at Home Orlando, told HHCN.

For example, during past tax seasons, the agency has been able to spot when people who were meant to help their clients file were taking advantage and charging exorbitant fees.

“They think that the elderly person is not going to balk at it because they’re more polite, or that they’re not tech savvy, so they won’t even notice,” Magyar said.

Magyar has also seen situations where people have entered their client’s life for nefarious reasons.

“We’ve had a few cases, sadly, where people have a boyfriend that is asking them to wire money, or brings into the bank a lot — we’ve had to advise the family that this person has become part of [our client’s] life,” she said.

Caregivers at the agency have also been trained to screen suspicious phone calls where the person on the line is claiming to be someone who they’re not, such as IRS agents.

Ultimately, it’s important for individual franchise locations to live up to the company’s standards while also going above and beyond.

“You want to make sure that you’re following the franchise’s lead, but then you also want to make sure you’re doing the most dynamic thing you can and taking it up a notch,” Magyar said. “You want to make sure that you’re doing your part for the community around you.”

The post Scam Prevention And Therapy Dogs: How Franchise Owners Are Setting Their Home Care Agencies Apart appeared first on Home Health Care News.

These leaders are part of a larger ecosystem of organizations that make up the home-based care space. In a sea of providers, the best leaders are the ones who are able to recognize which of their home-based care peers are standouts.

The ability to identify what works, and why, is evidence of a keen understanding of the business.

Home Health Care News recently caught up with five founders and CEOs to find out which leaders they believe are innovating home-based care.

***

In my observation, Alex Bonetti and Daniel Gottschalk, the founders of Family Tree Private Care in Houston, Texas, have emerged as industry leaders in innovation within the home care sector. The dynamic duo’s remarkable accomplishments have set them apart and inspired admiration from peers and competitors alike. Their ability to scale a home care agency to a multi-state, multimillion-dollar operation within a relatively short timeframe is a testament to their innovative approach.

There’s lessons I have learned from watching Alex and Daniel and their company revolve around the power of diversification and strategic growth. Their addition of private duty nursing and care management as additional service lines demonstrates an innovative mindset, providing a comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of their clients. Furthermore, their success in scaling the entire operation through an aggressive yet attainable organic and M&A growth strategy showcases the importance of a balanced and forward-thinking approach to expansion.

Overall, Alex Bonetti and Daniel Gottschalk’s achievements exemplify the power of strategic diversification and calculated growth as key elements in leading innovation within the home care industry.

— Qiana James, CEO and Founder of Friendly Faces Senior Care

***

In the home care industry, where innovation is key, I believe David Baiada stands out not just as a CEO, but as a true leader in our space.

His approach at Bayada is a remarkable blend of traditional values and forward-thinking strategies. David has masterfully continued the legacy of the “Bayada Way,” yet he’s always pushing the envelope, bringing fresh, innovative ideas to the table, such as investing in and testing different software.

What I particularly admire about David is his ability to balance a people-first philosophy with the demands of a rapidly evolving home care industry. He has done an excellent job integrating core values within everything Bayada does, ensuring the organization continues to be a model for home care.

As a fellow industry professional, watching David lead is both inspiring and a learning experience. He’s setting the example of what it means to be a leader in healthcare. And he is doing it with a ton of humility! Much respect.

— Ryan Iwamoto, president and co-founder of 24 Hour Home Care

***

Mike Trigilio is a leading home care CEO. The path that Mike has placed HouseWorks on from the moment he began seemed to be predicated on revenue diversification. It could not have been easy for a very large, exclusively private-pay company to shift their focus towards the acquisition and implementation of Medicaid-based companies.

All capable home care executives acknowledge that service volume engenders diversification. With enough caregivers, organizations can pivot or explore different service lines, support a variety of funding sources/revenue funnels, and essentially use educational upskilling and training to recruit from within.

I have learned a lot about strategic thinking relative to Medicaid and private-pay business and the way that these divisions coexist and support one another from Mike throughout the course of his career.

— Kevin Smith, CEO of Best of Care Inc.

***

Peter Ross, the CEO of Senior Helpers, is someone that I’ve looked toward for innovative ways or offerings to consider for our home care franchise system, Always Best Care Senior Services.

Having observed Peter, and Senior Helpers, it is clear the organization is regularly testing technologies to bundle with or add on to their services. An area in particular that I have noticed and even discussed with Peter, relates to the various ways to leverage virtual care. With the continued challenges of the industry to maintain a workforce to keep up with the demand of business, innovation is going to be key to successfully delivering the care required for our aging population.

As Peter has said, “With the demand for services and the supply of caregivers in the workforce, we need to find a way to change the caregiver to client ratio where it makes sense in the future.” This forward thinking, along with a focus on technologies and innovation, will be key for any home care company’s future. Whether through virtual care or other technologies, all home care leaders should be investigating and evaluating ways to address the workforce challenges, while still maintaining the highest level of care for the clients.

— Jake Brown, president and CEO of Always Best Care

***

The LTM Group has a very unique and succinct approach of using data and real-time analytics to make patient-care decisions that simultaneously engage referral sources, internal clinical teams, and primary care physicians’ offices. Their continuous projects and alignment with WellSky sets a standard of referral sources responsiveness and referral, to EMR, to integration that will ultimately become the hallmark and expectation of our home health care service providers. I have personally spoken with David Kerns, CEO of the LTM Group and am encouraged by his innovative insights and focus on data and information infusion into all aspects of home health care and hospice decision-making.

— Cleamon Moorer Jr., president and CEO of American Advantage Home Care

The post 6 Home Care Leaders To Watch, According To Other Home Care Leaders appeared first on Home Health Care News.

The list is based on last year’s global systemwide sales — total sales for both franchise and company units — performance.

In order to earn a spot on the list, a company needs to be a legal U.S. franchise. It should also own at least 10% of the company’s total units.

At-home care franchise companies Home Instead Senior Care, Right at Home and Interim HealthCare managed to crack the top 100 portion of the list, alongside big name companies like McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Dunkin’ (Nasdaq:DNKN) and The UPS Store (UPS:NYSE).

Home Instead Senior Care

— Rank: 44

— System Sales: $2,400,000,000

— Total Locations: 1,217

— Home Instead is a Omaha, Nebraska-based personal care franchise company that has locations in over a dozen countries. In 2021, the home care technology company Honor acquired Home Instead.

Interim HealthCare

— Rank: 65

— System Sales: $1,288,000,000

— Total Locations: 655

— The Sunrise, Florida-based company – a part of Caring Brands International — provides personal care, hospice care, palliative care, pediatric care and staffing services.

Visiting Angels

— Rank: 90

— System Sales: $900,000,000

— Total Locations: 697

— Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-based Visiting Angels is an in-home senior care company that provides companion care, personal care services and more.

Right at Home

— Rank: 100

— System Sales: $778,386,711

— Total Locations: 712

— Omaha, Nebraska-based Right at Home is a home care franchise company with locations in the U.S. and six other countries.

BrightStar Care

— Rank: 117

— System Sales: $653,907,370

— Total Locations: 370

— Chicago-based BrightStar is a provider of home care, senior living and supplemental staffing. The organization has been deliberately increasing its company-owned footprint of late.

Comfort Keepers

— Rank: 124

— System Sales: $625,000,000*

— Total Locations: 645

— Irvine, California-based Comfort Keepers is one of the largest personal home care providers in the U.S. It recently was acquired by The Halifax Group.

Senior Helpers

— Rank: 176

— System Sales: $387,243,000

— Total Locations: 327

— Maryland-based Senior Helpers has a national personal care network, as well as adult day centers. The company was acquired by Advocate Health Enterprises in 2021.

ComForCare Home Care

— Rank: 225

— System Sales: $238,000,000

— Total Locations: 223

— ComForCare is a home care franchise organization that has 270 territories independently-owned and operated in Canada and the U.S. ComForCare operates as At Your Side in Houston, Texas.

Home Helpers Home Care

— Rank: 230

— System Sales: $231,856,454

— Total Locations: 304

— The Cincinnati-based Home Helpers is a home care franchise that provides personal care, nutrition and companionship services, among others. It serves over 1,000 communities in the U.S.

Synergy HomeCare

— Rank: 236

— System Sales: $223,257,894

— Total Locations: 417

— Synergy is a Gilbert, Arizona-based non-medical home care franchise. The company offers companionship services, in addition to personal assistance, housekeeping, live-in care and 24-hour home care services.

Always Best Care

— Rank: 245

— System Sales: $212,591,506

— Total Locations: 232

— Roseville, California-based Always Best Care is a home care franchise company that operates across 225 territories in 30 states and Canada.

Homewatch CareGivers

— Rank: 246

— System Sales: $211,550,548

— Total Locations: 224

— Denver-based Homewatch CareGivers is a home care franchise company that operates in over 30 states and seven countries. The franchise employs over 4,500 caregivers.

Griswold

— Rank: 251

— System Sales: $199,100,000

— Total Locations: 178

— The Blue Bell, Pennsylvania-based Griswold is also a home care franchise. It provides personal care services in 30 states.

FirstLight Home Care

— Rank: 257

— System Sales: $188,207,247

— Total Locations: 195

— Cincinnati-based FirstLight Home Care is a provider of non-medical home care. The company also has a specialized care program aimed at seniors with dementia.

Assisting Hands Home Care

— Rank: 299

— System Sales: $124,305,162

— Total Locations: 175

— Assisting Hands Home Care offers both medical and non-medical assistance for seniors, including meal preparation, companionship, chores and more.

Caring Senior Service

— Rank: 475

— System Sales: $35,050,000

— Total Locations: 51

— San Antonio, Texas-based home care franchise company Caring Senior Service offers personal care, meal preparation, transportation, companionship, housekeeping and more.

The post 16 Home-Based Care Companies Earn Spots On The Franchise Times’ Top 400 List appeared first on Home Health Care News.

When utilized correctly, quality education is a resource that can help providers keep up with market demand.

Always Best Care learned education’s importance firsthand through its own struggles.  

“We did an in-depth study in house,” Sheila Davis, senior executive vice president of area operations at Always Best Care, said recently at Home Health Care News’ Capital + Strategy conference. “[Our caregivers] felt like they were insufficiently educated, and they did not have support, so we have really tried to increase the educational aspects so that they have the proper training.”

Roseville, California-based Always Best Care is a home care franchise company that operates across 225 territories in 30 states and Canada.

Davis also noted the importance of career development and advancement for caregivers.

“As an industry, we all need to take a step back and look at where we first began in this business,” she said. “Are we still in the same position that we were when we first stepped in this business? I’ve been in the business for 33 years, and I started out as a file clerk in my mother’s office, but that’s not where I wanted to stay. I don’t believe that caregivers come into the industry wanting to stay a caregiver for the rest of their lives.”

Davis stressed that providers should look into ways that the company can support caregivers on this journey, a journey that often starts with education.

At AccordCare, there has been a greater emphasis on taking care of more clinically complex patients as the company continues to grow its footprint.

Part of convincing health systems and payers that it is able to take on these patients is having properly trained clinicians, according to AccordCare CEO Brandon Ballew.

“It’s critical to make sure that you’re able to deliver education on those chronic or acute diseases that are going to allow that person to stay in their home,” he said during the discussion at Capital + Strategy. “You can’t just wish them to stay there. There has to be actual training, education and techniques delivered onto those clients, so that they can stay better in their home.”

AccordCare’s service lines include personal care, skilled nursing, clinically complex care and companion services in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.

One thing that will be crucial for personal care, in particular, is more standardization when it comes to training.

“We all know we need to have standardized licensing across the U.S. so that all organizations are held accountable, but I think there truly needs to be a standardized platform developed that all caregivers go through,” Davis said. “CareAcademy is one of our great partners that is helping us to do that.”

Davis pointed out that, in non-licensure states, it is difficult to determine what requirements and platforms for training are in place.

The Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) — a longtime advocate for greater standardization for personal care providers — is working to develop a standardized care track, according to Davis. She is an active member of HCAOA.

On its end, AccordCare has made moves to measure the effectiveness of its training and education programs.

“We track several different things,” Ballew said. “[We track] clinical outcomes, both on the personal care and the home health side. Employee engagement surveys are very critical, and a lot of that has education components to it.”

Ultimately, for providers looking to recruit caregivers and clinicians, education and training can be true differentiators, giving agencies an edge over competitors that often seek staff from the same talent pool.

“That’s one of the things that allows us to kind of recruit and retain people better, offering those platforms,” Ballew said. “A lot of our competition does not do that, because it is such a tight-margin business. You’ve got to make the investment, and do it, and it does pay off.”

The post Always Best Care, AccordCare Making ‘Critical’ Training Investments To Fuel Growth appeared first on Home Health Care News.

As seniors age, it’s critical to find the right setting for them to do so. For many, that’s aging in place while receiving home-based care services. For others, it means moving into an assisted living facility.

With this in mind, a number of home-based care providers are getting into the business of helping seniors find placement into assisted living facilities.

Thus is the case for Always Best Care of Wallingford and New Haven, Connecticut. Linda Craig — the owner of this Always Best Care franchise location — calls assisted living placement the second half of her business.

“We’re looking for the best possible way to help our clients, and sometimes the home and care in the home is not the best way possible,” Craig told Home Health Care News. “We’re a franchise that is able to offer another alternative. For example, maybe a person has dementia … or maybe they’re not steady enough on their feet to walk upstairs. An assisted living facility might be more comfortable for them.”

Roseville, California-based Always Best Care is a home care franchise company that operates across 225 territories in 30 states and Canada.

When new clients come to Craig’s Always Best Care location for home care services, assisted living is presented as another option up front.

The company’s placement services arm functions as a sort of concierge service.

“When we meet the client, we talk to them about what their likes and dislikes are,” Craig said. “Different assisted living facilities cater to different types of lifestyle, one might be more of a social model while another has a more medical model.”

Always Best Care also factors in logistical needs, such as clients needing to be in a facility that’s close to where their family lives or near their physician’s office. The client’s finances are also considered.

“After looking at all those things, then we sort of tailor it to two or three places,” Craig said. “What’s nice is we’ll call up and see if they have room. We set up a tour, and we accompany them on the tours. We also try to set it up where we have lunch there, so that they have the opportunity to sample the food and see the activities going on. We’re very unbiased and we are trying to find the best place for them.”

After this vetting process with Always Best Care, the client makes the ultimate decision.

“After each tour, we’re able to sit down with them and say, ‘Hey, what did you like, what did you dislike?’” Craig said. “Through a process of elimination, they pick out the best place for them to move into.”

For its services, Always Best Care racks in a referral fee.

Most home care companies don’t provide assisted living placement services. But because of the nature of the industry agencies are uniquely positioned to lean into this offering.

“We work with assisted living facilities routinely,” Craig said. “We have caregivers going in, we provide care for some of the residents. We’re dealing with these places to begin with, so we know what makes them special and what makes them different. It’s all about helping the client or the senior find the best place to live, whether that’s the home or assisted living.”

Craig has plans to continue to grow this part of her business. She recently hired someone on the sales side whose sole focus is scaling the company’s assisted living placement services.

While Craig declined to detail the revenue that this portion of the business brings in, she did comment on how well assisted living placement services have done for other Always Best Care franchise locations.

“We anticipate that this business will grow in the future,” she said. “There are other franchises within the Always Best Care system that rely very heavily on assisted living placements and they’re gearing up for like $100,000 per month in placement fees.”

Executive Home Care buys Assisted Living Locators

Another company, Executive Home Care, recently entered the assisted living placement business as well.

On its end, Executive Home Care accomplished this through its acquisition of the Assisted Living Locators brand and franchise system. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based Assisted Living Locators aides seniors in finding the right senior care placement, including assisted living facilities.

Assisted Living Locators was on the company’s radar due to how forward-thinking the organization was, according to Executive Home Care CEO Tim Hadley.

“They kind of originated that business in general, assisted living placement services,” he told HHCN. “Having a talented group of leaders come on board and stay on board to run the business, as we continue to move forward and grow, was very attractive.”

Hackensack, New Jersey-based Executive Home Care is a personal care and companion care company. Currently, the company has 20 franchise locations across the country, predominantly on the east coast.

Hadley noted that demographic realities would continue to drive the need for both home-based care and assisted living.

Unlike Always Best Care’s business model, Assisted Living Locators — while part of Executive Home Care — will operate as a separate entity.

“While there’s a tremendous amount of synergies that we’ll continue to leverage at the corporate level, I think the businesses themselves are structured quite differently, but they lend themselves to being sister businesses to one another,” Hadley said.

Ultimately, Executive Home Care’s goal is to be able to provide the continuum of care for its clients.

Looking ahead, Hadley wouldn’t be surprised if more home-based care companies entered the assisted living placement services business.

“I think everybody’s trying to diversify their product and their business,” he said.

The post Another Revenue Driver For Home Care Companies: Assisted Living Placement appeared first on Home Health Care News.

Working in home care wasn’t the original plan for many of the leaders and entrepreneurs that are now operating in this space.

But life circumstances, the business opportunity in senior care and a greater call to aid others meant home care became their ultimate, and likely final, destination. In many cases, being an outsider coming in granted them skills that became unexpected advantages.

Home Health Care News caught up with three more home care franchisees to learn about how they are leveraging their past experiences in order to see success in home care, and what goals they hope to achieve in the future.

This is the second part of a two-part series. You can read Part 1 here. 

Jeff Rigler, Senior Helpers

If Jeff Rigler had to identify a common thread in all of his work, it would be that all of his roles have to do with investing in others.

Rigler spent most of career in corporate human resources. He also had a five-year stint as a U.S. diplomat. He served as a foreign service officer in Zagreb, Croatia, and Belgrade, Serbia.

This is a path that began during Rigler’s undergraduate years. He would eventually earn a master’s degree in human resource management.

“I did a couple of mission trips as a student,” Rigler told HHCN. “I loved cross-cultural work. I had the opportunity for five years to then be the director of the missions program and facilitate those trips for other students. During that time, I realized that I also love the leadership, training and development aspects of being the director.”

When his last employer was acquired by another company, this gave him the opportunity to shift gears and look for something new.

“I looked at a number of businesses for sale, and asked myself, ‘Would this business inspire me to get up every morning knowing that I’m making a difference?’” Rigler said. “Just by asking that one question, I was able to weed out a lot of businesses for me personally.”

When Rigler watched videos of families talking about the difference home care had made in their lives, he knew that it was the right move for him.

Currently, Rigler is the owner of Senior Helpers of Overland Park in Kansas. He became the owner and operator in 2021.

One area that has been shaped by his background is the way he approaches caregiver orientation and training.

“I know what bad training looks like, and I know what boring training looks like,” Rigler said.

He noted that the ability to lean on Senior Helpers’ Center of Excellence aligns perfectly with his approach to caregiver training.

While learning about the many facets of home care was daunting at first, Rigler had found his industry peers to be a great resource.

“I’ve found that people who are working in this space have been super helpful and very collaborative, even owners of other home care agencies,” he said. “I’ve struck up friendships with them. We refer to each other. There’s so much business and so much opportunity. The common denominator is that we’re all in this to help provide the very best care for the seniors and the clients we’re serving.”

Another great resource has been Senior Helpers CEO Peter Ross.

“While he was in town visiting a family friend, he had lunch with me over the holidays,” Rigler said. “What other CEO would take the time out of a personal trip to come have lunch with me, provide some mentoring and hear about my experience?”

In his time as owner, Rigler has been able to double the number of caregivers and the number of clients at his franchise location. Revenue is up almost 50% year over year from a growth standpoint, he said.

“I’m thrilled with the growth that we’ve had, and there’s still so much more opportunity,” he said. “We’re positioning ourselves for future growth. I’m not concerned about recessions because the service that we’re providing to seniors to help them live independently and safely in their homes is something that’s here to stay.”

Linda Craig, Always Best Care

Linda Craig had been in the pharmaceutical field — specializing in oncology — for 35 years.

First she worked on the sales side as a specialty sales representative. She’d eventually become a district manager, and then regional manager working in laboratories. Oncology remained her specialty.

“That pertains to the deep-end molecular tests that had to be conducted for a patient in order to find out, maybe, what type of cancer they had, or the specifics about the tumor in order to give the right medication,” Craig said.

While Craig loved her work, and its ability to help people, she wanted the opportunity to help people more directly.

“[Home care] was a direct way to touch people’s lives,” Craig said. “I think what really made me realize that was the fact that my parents were getting older. I saw that my dad had dementia. [My parents] wanted to stay in their home, it was their castle. It put me in a whole different world of how to take care of seniors — the first two being my parents.”

Craig looked into a number of home care franchises and landed on Always Best Care. She has been the owner of Always Best Care of Wallingford and New Haven in Connecticut since 2018.

The biggest challenge of stepping into the home care space was simply understanding the business, according to Craig.

“Coming into the business arena, it’s just a matter of taking things one at a time, and maybe breaking down the model and putting it back together,” she said.

However, Craig had the advantage of understanding disease states in her back pocket.

“When you’re in oncology, that’s sort of the top rung of pharmaceutical sales,” she said. “You have to really understand how the body works, and the different disease states in order to promote your medications. [In home care], knowing the disease states enables me to go back to write a very good robust care plan, so that the best care can be delivered.”

Her sales background was also an asset when she first started out in home care.

“I knew you had to be out interviewing, introducing yourself, asking for business from Day 1, so that’s what I did,” Craig said. “I hired one person to be in the office, and I was out calling on every referral source possible, going to every networking event, being involved everywhere, in order to make the business grow. Even to this day, I believe that sales is vital to growing your business.”

And this belief has resulted in success for Always Best Care. In the first year, Craig was able to double her business. In her second year, she increased the business by 65% over the previous year.

Craig views her growth goals as “lofty.”

“I’m almost looking to increase my business by 150% more each year, so making my quota and then doing it again the following year, and adding 50% more on top of that,” she said. “Do I think I can achieve it? Absolutely, I’m ahead of my goal right now.”

Moving forward, Craig hopes to expand the other part of her location’s business.

“We just don’t do home care, we also do placement into assisted living services,” she said. “It’s like the second half of our business, and I will be expanding this because the baby boomers typically have money at their discretion. They’re going to stay at home, or they’re going to go into assisted living, so I expect growth to continue at a very sharp, increasing uphill rate over the next five years.”

Amar Patel, Right at Home

Amid the COVID-19 emergency, many were forced to leave the hospitality industry as restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels shut down temporarily, and in some cases, permanently.

It was around this time when Amar Patel considered his next career move.

“COVID kind of proved that the hospitality industry is definitely at risk,” he said.

Throughout his career, Patel held a number of positions in hospitality. His more recent role, prior to entering the home care sector, was the food and beverage manager at Essex County Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.

Patel is fond of saying that hospitality is in his blood.

“I actually pretty much grew up in the hospitality industry,” Patel said. “My parents, along with many uncles and other relatives all work in the industry, specifically hotels. Since I was born, my dad’s been owning and operating hotels of different levels. In my middle school and high school years, I would spend my weekends at my dad’s hotels, helping clean rooms, doing maintenance and all sorts of things.”

He would eventually go on to earn a degree in business management with a minor in hospitality management, as well as a masters in global hospitality management.

Now, Patel owns Right at Home Eastern Worcester County. He’s been a franchisee for five months.

His attraction to home care was partly influenced by his cultural background.

“I was born and raised into a Hindu culture and household,” Patel said. “In our culture, we don’t really like to, or are not familiar with, sending our loved ones into nursing homes and other other facilities. This type of industry, and Right at Home specifically, tied all those things together.”

Looking ahead, Patel has plans to grow his territory and he is looking into bringing on more skilled services.

While Patel stressed that he is far from having mastered home care, he has been able to connect the dots between franchise owner and hospitality manager.

“I look at this as a new product, or a new service, but the same kind of concept, in the sense of building relationships and providing the best type of service that you can,” he said.

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Signify Health (NYSE: SGFY) has named Paymon Farazi – the former chief product officer at UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) OptumInsight – as its own chief product officer.

Farazi has over 15 years of experience in similar roles at OptumInsight, Cargill and Dell.

In his role at Signify Health, he will be responsible for “product strategy, development and marking across the company’s business segments,” according to a press release.

“We exist to help our clients succeed in any risk-based or value sharing model,” Signify Health CEO Kyle Armbrester said in the release. “To do this, we are building a platform that connects providers and payors in accountable relationships. Paymon’s deep experience in health care payment and technology will be critical as we expand our portfolio of tools and services to help our clients tie together post-acute, primary and specialty care to improve quality and outcomes for the people they serve.”

The Dallas-based Signify Health, as Armbrester noted, works with health plans and providers to create value-based payment programs through analytics and technology, among other capabilities.

“With its ACO and episodes of care capabilities, Signify Health is uniquely positioned to offer an end-to-end total cost of care platform for all providers and payers, regardless of where they are in their value-based care journey,” Farazi said in the release. “This platform, together with the company’s ability to fill the gaps across the continuum reaching all the way into the home, offers a powerful opportunity to make every care encounter more effective.”

Always Best Care names VP of franchise financial management

Always Best Care, a home care franchise based in Roseville, California, has announced Lisa Hafetz as its VP of franchise financial management.

The position is a newly formed one. Hafetz will lead Always Best Care’s performance group program, which intends to give “participating franchise owners support and training to strategically grow their business.”

Hafetz previously owned a consulting and coaching business, where she worked with larger corporations and small business owners.

“The performance group model at Always Best Care has been a key driver of success for the franchisees who have taken advantage of the opportunity so far, and I look forward to expanding its reach within the system,” Hafetz said in a release. “This level of business planning and analysis is a game-changer for these small business owners.”

Always Best Care has 225 locations in its network throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company also recently announced a new VP of franchise development in Sean Hart.

“We have always focused our training and support on a powerful combination of corporate and local professionals working together with a vested interest in our franchisees’ growth,” Jake Brown, the president and CEO of Always Best Care, said in a release. “Bringing on a financial professional like [Hafetz] who can offer expert business consulting and facilitate the opportunity to network with other franchise owners adds another level to our comprehensive plan for success.”

Monogram Health brings on new CFO

Monogram Health – a value-based specialty provider of in-home nephrology, primary care and benefit management services for individuals with chronic kidney and end-stage renal disease – has named Bhavesh Shah as its chief financial officer.

Shah previously served as the CFO and executive vice president for Compassus, which is a home health provider. He also had worked at CVS Health and Aetna. Before being embedded in the health care side of things, he worked as a health care investment banker at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. He also served for five years in the U.S. Army.

“I’m inspired by Monogram’s demonstrated success in lowering medical expense and commitment to improving the quality of life for patients across the 34 states it serves,” Shah said in a press release. “I’m excited to put my expertise to work as part of this innovative, in-home care delivery model.”

The Nashville, Tennessee-based Monogram Health is one of the largest providers of in-home kidney care in the country. The company has raised over $170 million in funding to date.

VNA of Care New England names interim president

VNA of Care New England, a home health and hospice agency based in Warwick, Rhode Island, has named Jennifer Lee as its interim president and executive director.

The move comes after its current CEO and president, Kathy Pierce, announced her retirement, which will become effective on Aug. 9.

Lee is a physical therapist by training. She joined VNA of Care New England in 2006. She became the home health director for the agency in 2016.

“I am proud of the work that we do at the VNA and the quality of care we provide to the community, and am honored to lead us through this transition,” she said in a statement.

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The Roseville, California-based Always Best Care – a home care franchise company – has named a new vice president of franchise development.

The company announced this week that Sean Hart will lead the brand’s national growth strategy in new and existing markets across the country.

“We have many untapped markets ripe for development,” Jake Brown, president and CEO of Always Best Care, said in a press release. “Sean has a proven track record for building relationships that drive performance. His aptitude for strategy and results puts Always Best Care in an excellent position to capitalize on our momentum.”

Always Best Care currently operates across 224 territories in 30 states and Canada.

Hart most recently served as the vice president of sales and development at American Family Care.

“Always Best Care presents a strong business model for entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in the lives of families in their communities,” Hart said in the press release. “I look forward to working with them and this growing brand to maximize the opportunities available.”

Modivcare names new VP of investor relations

Modivcare Inc. (Nasdaq: MODV) has a new head of investor relations in Kevin Ellich. He will take on the duty as the company continues to grow its supportive care platform.

Based in Denver, Modivcare offers technology-enabled health care services and provides NEMT, personal care and nutritional meal delivery services.

“Kevin brings to Modivcare in-depth healthcare industry knowledge, financial and analytical acumen, strong Wall Street relationships and practical experience managing successful investor relations programs,” Dan Greenleaf, president and CEO of Modivcare, said in a press release. “Kevin’s appointment reflects our commitment to strengthening financial community engagement as we continue to grow Modivcare’s one-of-a-kind, supportive care platform.”

Before joining Modivcare, Ellich served as the managing director for health care services and technology at the capital markets advisory firm ICR Westwicke.

“Modivcare is addressing significant markets supported by strong industry tailwinds while focusing on the social determinants of health and providing supportive care services to the nation’s most vulnerable patient populations,” Ellich said in a press release. “I am eager to help the dynamic Modivcare team share the company’s exciting growth story with the investment community.”

AlerisLife names new interim president, CEO

Amid shakeup at AlerisLife Inc. (Nasdaq: ALR), the company has announced an interim replacement for former President and CEO Katie Potter.

Jeff Leer will serve as the interim president and CEO. Leer has served as the executive vice president, CFO and treasurer of AlerisLife since 2019 and will continue those responsibilities as well.

Potter resigned from the company on April 30.

AlerisLife also announced that its board of directors will consult with the global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) for a comprehensive operational review of the company.

“Jeff’s experience as the company’s CFO positions him well to lead the business on an interim basis and work with A&M as they review AlerisLife’s operations,” Adam Portnoy, chair of the AlerisLife board, said in a press release. “Given the dynamic shifts in the senior living industry and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that now is the right time to undertake an operational review to ensure that the company will deliver enhanced financial performance and value creation over the long term.”

Earlier this year, Five Star Senior Living changed its name to AlerisLife to better reflect its organizational restructuring that occurred over the previous two years.

The Newtown, Massachusetts-based AlerisLife operates two main business segments. The first is a “residential segment” and the second is a “lifestyle services segment.”

The former includes 20 owned and 120 managed senior living communities, while the latter is largely built off AlerisLife’s “Ageility” brand and includes home care service offerings

Jet Health appoints sales leaders for East, West territories

Jet Health announced the promotion of two of its sales leaders — Mark Jacoby and Misty Wade — to vice president of sales roles.

Jacoby and Wade will lead growth initiatives in two separate geographical service areas. Jacoby will lead the sales strategies in Colorado, Idaho and New Mexico. Wade will do the same in Texas.

Founded in 2016, Fort Worth, Texas-based Jet Health is a home health, hospice and personal care provider.

“Both Mark and Misty proved their capabilities in a short period of time with Jet Health,” Stacie Bratcher, Jet Health’s CEO, said in a press release. “Each exhibited high levels of confidence, strong leadership and solid results, which earned them these promotions to newly created posts within the Jet Health structure.”

Jet Health recently acquired the Arlington, Texas-based Blessings Hospice. The deal was the company’s eighth overall acquisition — and its fifth hospice deal — since its founding in 2016.

Monogram Health adds to its executive leadership team

Monogram Health announced the addition of Karen Abbott as its chief administrative officer and chief compliance officer.

Monogram Health is a kidney care management company based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company currently operates in 28 states and its expansion plans will bring that number up to 34 by the end of 2022.

“Karen is a demonstrated leader and her long history of supporting growth stage and private equity-backed health care companies underscores her sharp acumen for the complexities of our rapidly evolving industry,” Mike Uchrin, Monogram Health’s CEO said in a press release. “Karen has a keen understanding of the unique needs and dynamics among our patients, health plan partners, clinicians and employees. She will be a key leader in our daily efforts to transform the way care is delivered to Americans living with kidney disease.”

Abbott most recently served as the chief legal officer, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary at American Addiction Centers.

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Now times have changed, as home care services have proven to be an integral part of the overall system, especially during the public health emergency.

And with changing times comes evolution. For home care leaders, this means identifying what types of investments will move the needle forward for their companies. Some have set their sights on beefing up their telehealth services, while others are positioning themselves to tackle the growing needs of seniors living with dementia.

To get a better understanding of where home care companies are headed, Home Health Care News asked leaders in the space to tell us about the service lines they want to invest in — or are already investing in — and why it’s important for their businesses.

* * *

Our relatively young home care industry has earned a critical seat at the continuum-of-care table. Even if we weren’t there before, the pandemic and the age-in-place phenomenon certainly put us there. In the coming years, we are going to play an even greater role as the baby boomers — followed by Gen X — continue to move towards the later years of their lives. 

We especially need to focus on dementia-related care. The Alzheimer’s Association shared last week that as the nation’s 65+ population grows from 58 million today to 88 million by 2050, the number of people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia will more than double to 13.8 million. By 2030, the number will increase from 6.1 million today to 8.5 million.

To be ready, we need to expand our understanding of the disease and dementia-related care. We must also continuously update the care options and programming. For example, Synergy HomeCare is rolling out an updated memory-care program for our more than 400 franchisees. We have added a variety of new caregiver trainings, access to remote patient monitoring devices and robotic companion pets, as well as other tools and resources. We are also providing marketing materials to attract caregivers and enhance our ability to engage and assist adult children and referral partners.

We know we will have to continue to evolve the program and constantly review it to ensure our franchisees have the greatest opportunity to provide outstanding care. As science evolves and needs change, we have to be ready.

 — Rich Paul, chief partnership officer, Synergy HomeCare

* * *

In his famous book, “Start with Why,” Simon Sinek minted the phrase, “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”

What we do is provide caregivers. Why we do it is to keep people safe and comfortable in their homes. We lose to assisted living or another facility when we are unable to keep people safe and comfortable at home in a cost-efficient way.

In the personal care space, we are investing in technology partnerships and people to accomplish two things. By leveraging technology, we want another set of eyes to monitor our clients in a cost-efficient way, whether we are in the home or not. Plus, we can capture and harness data to drive predictive analytics on the client’s condition. We are not only trying to be better in the present – but also in the future.

We know there is a lot of discussion around alternative payers, and many will ask, “Are you doing this to tap into Medicare Advantage programs?”  The answer is no. We are doing this because of our why.  We are indifferent to who pays us for our services. We are confident that if we focus on our why, the business will take care of itself.

— Michael Slupecki, CEO, Griswold Home Care

* * *

At Senior Helpers, we need to investigate several new service lines as we continue to experience excellent growth along with meeting the needs of the future. One of the new service lines could be home health clinical services, now that we are owned by Advocate Aurora, which has experience in this area. This new service line would open the door for more collaboration with hospitals and managed care organizations throughout the country. In addition, this service line would provide additional revenue sources for our franchisees and corporate stores.

Another area of investment would be technology solutions to augment our service when we are not in the home or facility. We are currently testing several technologies that we could bundle with our services that show great promise in this area.

Finally, we are looking at ways to leverage virtual care so that we can have caregivers support multiple clients at the same time. This would address the workforce challenge and provide opportunities to offer more full-time work with better pay and benefits. With the demand for services and the supply of caregivers in the workforce, we need to find a way to change the caregiver to client ratio where it makes sense in the future. The home care market continues to change, and the country continues to age. Every home care leader should not just be satisfied with where they are, but should be looking to adapt to future needs and opportunities.

— Peter Ross, CEO, Senior Helpers

* * *

We’re investing in programs, like HealthyMATCH, created to proactively identify condition changes and social determinants of health needs through data analytics with the goal to deter adverse incidents — ultimately improving cost, quality outcomes and client satisfaction. There’s a long-term opportunity to expand services to manage chronic populations through connecting care and value-based care strategies that enhance the quality of in-home, personal care offered in the industry today. This model will uniquely position home care to enable a successful shift away from institutional long-term care settings to home-based care.

Another robust opportunity we’re committed to is the further development of family care and/or self-directed care approaches to meet the varying needs and interests of our clients, building on the breadth and depth of our experience in several states as a leading operator of the traditional agency model alongside the self-directed care model.

— Tim O’Rourke, president, Help at Home 

* * *

Always Best Care is continuing to focus on our transitional care program, which encompasses a broad range of services and environments designed to promote the safe and timely passage of patients between levels of health care and across care settings. We have had our eye on telehealth developments over these last couple of years with the pandemic, and late last year we began deploying our own unique remote patient monitoring (RPM) solution across our franchise network of 225+ territories.

Adding telehealth capabilities to our in-home care services allows us to provide a new level of clinical oversight. We now offer in-home care that includes real-time monitoring of vital statistics, fall alert/fall detection services, medication management, and two-way communication between client, clinician and physician. It’s an invaluable resource for our clients.

We will continue to look for opportunities to invest in technologies like this that can benefit our clients and our franchisees. Another area of interest for our franchisees is extending their relationships with their local referral sources to include staffing. Several of our owners have had great success over the past year contracting with their local nursing homes, assisted living facilities and residential care homes to provide caregivers for their teams. In the face of the continuing labor shortage, there are opportunities to provide short-term staffing to these facilities while giving our care teams invaluable training in those environments.

— Jake Brown, president and CEO, Always Best Care

* * *

As we look to the future of HouseWorks, every day we strive to find new ways to better support and invest in the service offerings we deliver to our clients and, in particular, figuring out how we can improve in delivering these services. Whether it is opening a new office location to better service clients in a new geography, working with a new payor/client type, or continuing to invest in our caregiver recruiting and retention efforts, we constantly self-reflect and evaluate to see where we can improve.

In the current labor environment, we expect to see additional investment into our workforce, both out in the field and in our corporate office. Over the last year, we witnessed firsthand the positive improvements and growth that come from strengthening both our field and corporate employees. It’s not so much that there are new service lines we want to invest in. For HouseWorks, it’s how do we further invest in our current services and employees to continue to be the provider and employer of choice within our footprint.

Overall, I feel there is a tremendous opportunity for HouseWorks as we continue to grow into the Medicaid-based business we have entered in via the Connected and Greater Boston acquisitions, while also not losing focus on the core private pay business HouseWorks built its reputation on.

— Mike Trigilio, CEO, HouseWorks

* * *

As a leader in the private pay home care market in Greater New York City, we continue our commitment to provide exceptional service to clients with long-term chronic care conditions. Those circumstances significantly impact our clients, their families, and the overall health system. This includes various neurological and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, and TBI/Spinal Cord Injury. Our hybrid model of care management and best-in-class caregiving is ideal for those looking to thrive at home and remain out of the hospital and acute rehabs. Our care managers provide home therapists, mental health providers, home visiting physicians, spiritual leaders, social stimulus, art, music, and other dynamic support elements beyond the basic activities-of-daily-living needs of our client population. Our care team’s kindness and compassion is needed most in a time like this.

Lastly, we continue expanding our technology capabilities, providing our clients greater access to care from home, access to their families and tracking critical information to help support their physician and specialist teams to remain at home safely.

— Gregory Solometo, CEO, Alliance Homecare 

* * *

At Home Instead, we are investing heavily into the integration of the Honor operating systems and technology platform into the Home Instead franchise network.

The Honor tech platform is helping us provide a greater work experience for Care Professionals by giving them more control of their work schedule, benefits and take-home pay. By empowering Care Pros, we are seeing increased job satisfaction, reduction in call-offs and greater retention rates. Our efforts and investment are reflected in the results from our latest survey of Care Pros — 82% said they are likely or very likely to recommend us to friends as a great place to work.

Reduced turnover and higher Care Pro job satisfaction are leading to greater consistency and higher-quality care for our clients.

The tech platform will also help us centralize administrative functions like scheduling, payroll and billing. By doing this, Home Instead franchise owners will have more time to dedicate to quality assurance visits, care plan assessment and relationship building with clients, families and their communities.

— Jeff Huber, CEO, Home Instead

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