By Stephen Tweed 

A few weeks ago I spoke at the closing general session for the annual conference of the third largest franchise company in our industry on the topic of “Scaling Your Home Care Business with Data Oriented Decision Making.”  I began with a question:

“Which referral source gives you the most new clients with the highest hours per week and the longest length of stay?”

Over the past two years, we have learned that in a post-Covid world with an extreme shortage of caregivers, you will need to do one thing to grow our business:

Find New Clients who give you the Highest Hours Per Week and the Longest Length of Stay.

We’ve learned that the best caregivers in our industry who really want to do this work are looking for home care companies that can give them a consistent schedule with the same client over a long period of time.  In order for you to attract and retain those caregivers, you need to find new clients with high hours and long length of service. How do you do that?

Begin by Looking at Your Own Data

• How many clients did you admit to service last year?
• Which referral source brought you the most clients?
• Which referral source brought you the clients with the highest hours per week of service?
• Which referral source brought you the clients with the longest length of stay?
• What was your average hours per week per client last year?
• What was your average length of stay for the clients you served last year?

In preparation for my presentation, I spent a significant amount of time looking at data from home care companies that are members of our Home Care CEO Mastermind Groups.  I learned that there is a significant variance between the companies in our groups. As I analyzed the largest companies, and fastest growing companies, and the most profitable companies, I began to see some very clear patterns.

I learned that the largest, fastest growing, and most profitable companies are those that are focused on attracting and retaining clients who want high hours per week and long length of service, and they focus on attracting caregivers who want to work 40 or more hours per week and who want to have a long term relationship with one client.

Which Referral Sources Should you Target?

As part of this analysis, we also looked at a number of examples of home care company data on the dollar value of a client.  We looked at their list of clients served in one year, and separated they my referral source.  Then we analyzed that data to find the referral sources that provided the most valuable clients.

While we don’t have any industry wide data, we have some anecdotal examples that show us a pattern.  The clients with the highest hours per week and the longest length of stay tend to come from a small group of referral sources: 

• Specialty Advisors
• Geriatric Care Managers
• Bank Trust Officers
• Current Employees
• Current and past Clients

This list came from an analysis of one company.  To get a clear picture of your most valuable referral sources, you need to analyze your own data.

For More on This, Join me at HCAOA in Orlando in September

If you would like to explore this concept of finding high value clients by analyzing your own data, join me in Orlando Florida on Monday, September 19, 2022 at the Home Care Association of America Annual Conference where I will again be presenting, “Scaling Your Home Care Business with Data Oriented Decision Making.”  I’ll have some new data and insights that will be even more valuable in growing your business.