CUSTOMER STORY

Right at Home of Midlothian, TX Makes Clients Their #1 Referral Source

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About Right at Home – Midlothian, TX:

Whitney Krupala had worked as ICU nurse for years when she realized that her work was satisfying her desire to help people but wasn’t engaging her entrepreneurial passion.

On a flight to see her grandmother, she saw an ad for Right at Home and made her decision. Whitney understood the work and what it involved; she’d worked as a caregiver during college and her mom was the primary caregiver for Whitney’s great-grandparents. Whitney joined Right at Home as a franchisee and opened her own home care agency.

Today, her agency is recognized as one of the top sources of care in the area. In addition to being a certified Trusted Provider by Home Care Pulse, they qualified as a 2018 Best of Home Care – Leader in Excellence, as well as an Employer of Choice and a Provider of Choice. They also received the 2018 Caring Stars Award for being one of the top-rated agencies on Caring.com.

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When Right at Home partnered with Home Care Pulse to conduct monthly client surveys for all Right at Home locations, Whitney Krupala, owner of the Right at Home location in Midlothian, Texas, quickly recognized the value of this.

“I really wanted to know what our clients and caregivers thought of our service,” says Whitney. “There are a lot of people who don’t have the ability or don’t feel comfortable communicating their needs. I think this is true especially on the caregiver side.”

Even though she always extended open invitations to caregivers to come talk to her if there were any problems, she says, “I knew that probably wasn’t going to garner the honest feedback I was looking for. I wanted to see a bigger picture.”

While she was only mandated to have Home Care Pulse survey 5% of her clients each month, she quickly upped this number to 10% and enrolled in caregiver surveys as well. Although the feedback she received was largely positive, it confirmed that she was right to believe that both clients and caregivers felt reluctant to approach her about some of the most important problems.

Whitney believes that part of the secret to perfecting the experience they provide to clients has been to double down on the needs of their caregivers.

Finding Patterns in the Feedback

One pattern that emerged from the feedback is that caregivers felt they couldn’t reach the office when they needed help, or that the office staff was changing too often. That baffled Whitney. “I knew we were responsive during the day,” she says. “We knew we were answering the phones. We knew we weren’t one of ‘those’ agencies. During the first 18 months we were open, I was taking the calls myself.”

After discussing the feedback with her staff and her Customer Success Manager at Home Care Pulse, Whitney realized that while her staff was responsive during the day, their after-hours answering service was disruptive for her caregivers. When caregivers called after hours, they were talking to a different person every time which left them confused. Whitney decided to go back to phones that were answered live 24/7 by a member of her staff. The complaints promptly disappeared.

Closing the Loop

Based on caregiver feedback, Whitney and her staff have implemented various other changes to better adapt to the needs of her clients and caregivers. Among other tweaks to training and orientation, these changes include holding a monthly in-service where referral partners come in and educate her caregivers on care-related topics.

Whitney’s agency has seen a strong drop in turnover as they’ve closed the loop by acting on feedback. “When we do have to reduce hours, our caregivers aren’t jumping ship to another agency,” reports Whitney. “In the past, we had caregivers who were gone when anything happened.”

Our biggest referral source is our clients. As long as we keep a good pulse on if our clients are satisfied, they’re going to continue to be our #1 referral source.

Whitney KrupulaWhitney Krupala, Owner, Right at Home - Midlothian, TX

Making Clients Their #1 Referral Source

Both client and caregiver feedback played a role in driving client referrals. Whitney believes that by using surveys to better listen to the needs of her caregivers, she also improved the experience the caregivers provided to clients.

Ultimately, this focus on listening has played a strong role in the agency’s growth. “Our biggest referral source is now our clients,” says Whitney. “It wasn’t always that way, but using [Home Care Pulse’s] surveys to listen and know where to improve has helped us. As long as we keep a good pulse on if our clients are satisfied, they’re going to continue to be our #1 referral source.”

Getting scores, reports, and testimonials from Home Care Pulse has helped with professional referral sources, too. “Medical referral sources are data-driven people. How are they going to distinguish us from other agencies? I think when they see that we have an outside source that is overseeing our satisfaction scores, it just brings instant credibility. We have a company that oversees the satisfaction of our clients and caregivers, and we have achieved their highest award.”

Whitney’s Advice to Other Home Care Owners

“As a business owner, you take pride in your business and you can be blind to what’s going on. As much as it stings, we need to know what the gaps are and we can’t always see that with our own eyes.”

“I think [gathering feedback through a third party] is one of the most important things you can do for your business, because you’ve got to be able to see your business from the consumer and the employee perspective. And you can only do that if you’ve got an unbiased analysis of what you’re doing.”

As a business owner, you take pride in your business and you can be blind to what’s going on. As much as it stings, we need to know what the gaps are and we can’t always see that with our own eyes.

Whitney KrupulaWhitney Krupala, Owner, Right at Home - Midlothian, TX

HCP’s Care Intelligence Platform offers RN-developed training, satisfaction surveys, and reputation management tools to help you become the best employer and provider in your area—and make sure everyone knows about it.

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About Right at Home – Midlothian, Texas

Whitney Krupala had worked as ICU nurse for years when she realized that her work was satisfying her desire to help people but wasn’t engaging her entrepreneurial passion.

On a flight to see her grandmother, she saw an ad for Right at Home and made her decision. Whitney understood the work and what it involved; she’d worked as a caregiver during college and her mom was the primary caregiver for Whitney’s great-grandparents. Whitney joined Right at Home as a franchisee and opened her own home care agency.

Today, her agency is recognized as one of the top sources of care in the area. In addition to being a certified Trusted Provider by Home Care Pulse, they qualified as a 2018 Best of Home Care – Leader in Excellence, as well as an Employer of Choice and a Provider of Choice. They also received the 2018 Caring Stars Award for being one of the top-rated agencies on Caring.com.

When Right at Home partnered with Home Care Pulse to conduct monthly client surveys for all Right at Home locations, Whitney Krupala, owner of the Right at Home location in Midlothian, Texas, quickly recognized the value of this.

“I really wanted to know what our clients and caregivers thought of our service,” says Whitney. “There are a lot of people who don’t have the ability or don’t feel comfortable communicating their needs. I think this is true especially on the caregiver side.”

Even though she always extended open invitations to caregivers to come talk to her if there were any problems, she says, “I knew that probably wasn’t going to garner the honest feedback I was looking for. I wanted to see a bigger picture.”

While she was only mandated to have Home Care Pulse survey 5% of her clients each month, she quickly upped this number to 10% and enrolled in caregiver surveys as well. Although the feedback she received was largely positive, it confirmed that she was right to believe that both clients and caregivers felt reluctant to approach her about some of the most important problems.

Whitney believes that part of the secret to perfecting the experience they provide to clients has been to double down on the needs of their caregivers.

Finding Patterns in the Feedback

One pattern that emerged from the feedback is that caregivers felt they couldn’t reach the office when they needed help, or that the office staff was changing too often. That baffled Whitney. “I knew we were responsive during the day,” she says. “We knew we were answering the phones. We knew we weren’t one of ‘those’ agencies. During the first 18 months we were open, I was taking the calls myself.”

After discussing the feedback with her staff and her Customer Success Manager at Home Care Pulse, Whitney realized that while her staff was responsive during the day, their after-hours answering service was disruptive for her caregivers. When caregivers called after hours, they were talking to a different person every time which left them confused. Whitney decided to go back to phones that were answered live 24/7 by a member of her staff. The complaints promptly disappeared.

Closing the Loop

Based on caregiver feedback, Whitney and her staff have implemented various other changes to better adapt to the needs of her clients and caregivers. Among other tweaks to training and orientation, these changes include holding a monthly in-service where referral partners come in and educate her caregivers on care-related topics.

Whitney’s agency has seen a strong drop in turnover as they’ve closed the loop by acting on feedback. “When we do have to reduce hours, our caregivers aren’t jumping ship to another agency,” reports Whitney. “In the past, we had caregivers who were gone when anything happened.”

Making Clients Their #1 Referral Source

Both client and caregiver feedback played a role in driving client referrals. Whitney believes that by using surveys to better listen to the needs of her caregivers, she also improved the experience the caregivers provided to clients.

Ultimately, this focus on listening has played a strong role in the agency’s growth. “Our biggest referral source is now our clients,” says Whitney. “It wasn’t always that way, but using [Home Care Pulse’s] surveys to listen and know where to improve has helped us. As long as we keep a good pulse on if our clients are satisfied, they’re going to continue to be our #1 referral source.”

Getting scores, reports, and testimonials from Home Care Pulse has helped with professional referral sources, too. “Medical referral sources are data-driven people. How are they going to distinguish us from other agencies? I think when they see that we have an outside source that is overseeing our satisfaction scores, it just brings instant credibility. We have a company that oversees the satisfaction of our clients and caregivers, and we have achieved their highest award.”

Our biggest referral source is our clients. As long as we keep a good pulse on if our clients are satisfied, they’re going to continue to be our #1 referral source.

Whitney Krupala

Whitney Krupala
Owner
Right at Home – Midlothian, TX

As a business owner, you take pride in your business and you can be blind to what’s going on. As much as it stings, we need to know what the gaps are and we can’t always see that with our own eyes.

Michelle Tagge

Whitney Krupala
Owner
Right at Home – Midlothian, TX

Whitney’s Advice to Other Home Care Owners

“As a business owner, you take pride in your business and you can be blind to what’s going on. As much as it stings, we need to know what the gaps are and we can’t always see that with our own eyes.”

“I think [gathering feedback through a third party] is one of the most important things you can do for your business, because you’ve got to be able to see your business from the consumer and the employee perspective. And you can only do that if you’ve got an unbiased analysis of what you’re doing.”