By Stephen Tweed

As longtime readers know, we’ve been following the path of the “Digital Disruptors” in home care.  These are the companies that have attempted to use technology to “Uberize” Home Care.  Over the past few months, Home Hero called it quits, and left the home care marketplace. Honor has announced it has changed its business model and is working to partner with existing home care companies to manage the caregiver side of their business.

Now, HomeTeam, a technology focused home care company serving New York and New Jersey has announced several changes:  

• Their founder, Josh Bruno has stepped aside.
• They have hired a new CEO, Randy Klein.  Klein joined HomeTeam in the past few weeks, and comes from Remedy Partners, a company that managed bundled payments for managed care, government, and providers who accept risk
• The company announced that they are not accepting new private pay clients, and will focus on Dual Eligible beneficiaries.  These are seniors who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.  In New York State, there is a demonstration project to bundle services for dual eligible beneficiaries.

It will be interesting to see how effectively HomeTeam can move into this space which is occupied by a number of large established organizations.  At Leading Home Care, we have worked with several large not-for-profit home care agencies that are part of larger social services agencies, and that have established relationships with the MLTC – Managed Long Term Care – companies in New York serving dual eligible home care clients.  Stay tuned for more details.

More Disruptive Trends we are watching

• Consolidation in Private Pay – we are seeing the very early stages of consolidation in our sector.  We’ve been watching this for a decade, but little has happened until the past year.  Now we are seeing more and more private pay home care companies growing by acquiring other independent companies. We see home health agencies and senior living organizations acquiring independent agencies. And we see several franchise companies acquiring independent home care companies and operating them as company owned offices under the franchise brand name.
• Increase in Government Payers – we have been watching as more and more larger home care companies have moved into the Medicaid Waiver sector.  The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has opened some new opportunities for home care companies that have previously focused on private pay.  Then we heard the announcement in April 2018 that CMS was going to allow Medicare Advantage plans to offer in-home support services.  (See our article on Home Care Services under Medicare Advantage.)
• Caregiver Turnover Continues to Rise – the 2018 Home Care Benchmarking Report from Home Care Pulse just came out, and they report that Caregiver Turnover increased again this year, to 66.7%.  The report also shows that the biggest threat to home care companies is the Caregiver Shortage.  The report also for the first time shows a correlation with pay rates and retention.

Stay On Top of the Trends with a Home Care CEO Mastermind Group

To stay on top of the forces and trend shaping the future of the home care industry, you need to be in regular communication with other thought leaders in the industry.  The best way to do that is to be part of a Home Care CEO Mastermind Group.  The Home Care CEO Forum now has openings in several of our CEO Mastermind Groups:  

• The Strategic Growth Group – this is a group of up to 14 companies that generate between $1.5 and $3 million in annual revenue, and who want to be in the Top 5% of the industry.  We have four openings in this group.
• The Top 10% Group – is a group of 12 companies between $3 million and $7 million in annual revenue. We have two openings in this group.
• The Top 7% Group is our newest group and is forming in the summer of 2018.  This will be 12 companies between $5 million and $8 million in revenue.  We currently have 9 companies that have expressed an interest in being charter members of this group.
• The Top 5% Group is the oldest and largest group. There are 12 companies that generate between $7 million and $25 million in annual revenue. This group is full, with a waiting list, and that is why we have decided to start the Top 7% Group.

Each group meets twice a year face to face to share ideas, solve problems, and support one another. A big topic of conversation at our mastermind meetings is the trends shaping the future of our industry. These groups also meet in between formal meetings by online video conference to have discussions about specific issues that the group has identified.

If you are a non-franchise, independent home care company in the top tier of our industry, and you would like to be connected with other CEOs and COOs in the top tier, consider becoming a member of a Home Care CEO Mastermind Group.  There is no where else in our industry where you can have access to the latest ideas, strategies, and trends to grow your business and get ready for the future. Join a Mastermind Group Today!