Best of 2019 Roundup: 10 Articles to Help You Build a Better Agency
Home Care Pulse
As we wrap up another year, we’re highlighting 10 articles that have helped agencies improve in areas including: recruitment, retention, sales & marketing, operations, and finances. Not only can these articles can act as a recap of an exceptional year, but they can also act as a springboard to fine tune your 2020 strategies.
Home Care Marketing Doesn’t Work the Way it Used To – Here’s What You Can Do About It
Here’s what it all boils down to: If you’re trying to attract more clients and caregivers, what you say about your business doesn’t matter nearly as much as what your current clients and caregivers say about your business.
To keep growing in this changing marketing climate, you’ll need to do two things: first, place an even greater emphasis on client experience; and second, facilitate ways for thrilled clients to share their experiences with potential clients through… Read More
7 Things You Need to Do Before You Meet with a Professional Referral Source
Home care agency owners we talk to frequently lament that simple strategies which used to be great at building inroads with referral sources rarely get them through the front door nowadays.
You don’t need a completely different approach or a bold new strategy that no one has heard of before. What you do need is a deliberate approach that combines simple fundamentals into a powerful, consistent process.
While the circumstances of your agency might dictate the need for additional plans, here’s a basic list of steps you need to take before… Read More
27 Eye-Opening Quotes from Home Care Clients
A few highlights:
“I had one caregiver who tried to vacuum my floor with a broom. Does the agency know who they’re hiring?”
“I started looking at other agencies after the caregiver lost my mom’s teeth.”
“One of the caregivers fell asleep in the middle of the night, and her phone was ringing off the hook while she was supposed to be watching my husband. My kids had to wake her up.”
Top Ten Mistakes Home Care Owners Make
If you’re making 7-8 of these mistakes, we might need to talk.
If you’re making 5-6 of these mistakes, you’re probably in the same boat as most agencies.
If you’re making 3-4 of these mistakes, keep up the great work!
If you’re making fewer than three of these mistakes… Read More
How Much Should You Be Paying Your Caregivers in 2019?
Not only does paying more help you attract more applicants, but it makes your current employees more likely to stick with your agency. According to the 2019 Home Care Benchmarking Study, every $1/hour increase in pay for your caregivers results in a 10% decrease in caregiver turnover. A year ago, a $1/hour increase only resulted in a 5% decrease in turnover.
And with the average cost of replacing a caregiver at $2,600 once you factor in hidden and indirect costs, the cost of not paying… Read More
When Will the Caregiver Turnover Crisis End?
The question we’re addressing is this: Regardless of the steps that individual agencies can take to combat turnover, at the end of the day there are still a lot of agency owners wondering how they’re going to keep filling cases. At a big-picture level, what needs to happen that would end this problem?
Here are three key factors which we think have the potential to solve the caregiver turnover/shortages problem… Read More
9 Questions to Ask When Interviewing Millennial and Generation Z Caregivers
At least 35% of caregivers are Millennials or Generation Z. When interviewing Millennial and Generation Z caregivers, it’s critical that you know who you’re speaking to and how to speak to them.
Understanding the passion these younger generations have to serve and volunteer could make a lasting impact on your agency and on this service-based industry. Start by asking… Read More
Top Ten Complaints from Home Care Clients
“#1 is one of the easiest things to fix—yet many agencies overlook it.
Hearing the negative truth from your clients isn’t easy for any agency owner but receiving client feedback is invaluable to your agency’s improvement and success. Read More
Are 30% of Home Health Agencies Going Out of Business by March 2020
Our purpose in this article isn’t to get into the weeds of how to tackle PDGM.
Instead, we’re focusing on educating others who are adjacent to the space (non-medical home care providers or other professionals/vendors in the home care space) who might have missed some of the early discussion on the topic and are looking for a Cliff notes-style rundown, as well as how PDGM could affect… Read More
3 High-Impact Recruitment/Retention Initiatives You Can Launch Without Spending a Dime
It’s important to recognize that there are no shortcuts; to be a competitive employer, you need a good culture, competitive pay/benefits, and good scheduling, among other things. However, if you’re competing against an array of other businesses that offer these, you might benefit from something that goes above and beyond.
Agencies around the country are increasingly using these initiatives to drive results. Are you? Read More
Stay Tuned… There’s More
2019 has been an incredible year, full of good experiences and lessons learned. As we look ahead, our team at Home Care Pulse is excited to continue supplying thousands of agency owners with actionable data and resources.
If you haven’t yet, subscribe below to stay up to date on new articles and resources to propel your agency forward. See you in the new year!
