Careswitch | Home Care Industry FAQs

Q: What should a good caregiver retention program look like?

While the needs of every agency are different, there's a common set of mistakes agencies make regarding caregiver retention:1. Neglecting retention in the applicant pipeline stage.2. Failing to focus enough on the first 90 days of employment.3. Communicating for logistics only once caregivers are hired, and failing to build strong individual relationships with them. With these in mind, we've designed a caregiver retention program focused on these two critical times: the hiring stage and first 90 days of employment.We developed this plan from our own research as well as interviews with Jeff Wiberg, president of the Home Care Association of America board, and inspiration from a retention plan put together by Stephen Tweed of Leading Home Care and the Home Care CEO Forum.If the imag... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Q: How much should I pay the office staff in my home care agency?

While the circumstances of every agency are different, we've put together the most in-depth guide we're aware of—anywhere—to how much other agencies are paying and how this affects how much you should be paying.Breakdown of office staff rolesFirst, a quick note on roles/job titles. While the division of roles might look slightly different in every home care agency, the org chart will generally include some or all of these roles:1. Owner (may be active or non-active)2. Non-owner executives3. Admin (billing, reception. etc.)4. Scheduling/care coordinator5. HR/Recruitment6. Sales/marketing7. Field supervisors8. Clinicians (may or may not be the same as field supervisors)This are the roles we'll be providing compensation data for and generally speaking to.A quick note on our dat... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 1

How can I get traction in my efforts to build referral pipelines?

Gabrielle Pumpian · Accepted Answer

Here’s an overview of some of the different areas you should think about—as well as telltale signals that each area might be what’s holding you back.Note from Connor at Careswitch: This piece draws heavily from a recent interview on our podcast, Home Care U, with three-time home care marketer Gabrielle Pumpian who currently works as Chief Development Officer at Cheer Home Care in California. You can listen to the full episode here; we’ll also link a list of related resources at the end of this article. While this was written by our team, we&#x27;ve credited her as the author because her knowledge formed much of the subject matter.Before we get started: working through the different areas of the referral marketing/sales process requires us to hit some points that might sound painfully obvio... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 2

Which marketing activities should be done in-house and which ones should be outsourced to a marketing agency?

Marissa Snook · Accepted Answer

To answer this question, we separated the typical marketing activities that home care agencies engage in into a handful of categories. While the answers will always depend somewhat on the circumstances of the individual agency, these are generally applicable across the board.Note from Connor at Careswitch: We compiled this article from a recent interview with Amy Selle and Marissa Snook of corecubed care marketing solutions. While it was put to paper (so to speak) by our team, we’ve listed Marissa as the author because her and Amy&#x27;s knowledge formed the subject matter of the article (and we can only list one author).Also, we’re writing to all sizes/levels of sophistication of agencies here. If something feels ridiculously basic, assuming we’re speaking to someone who needs it but have... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 3

How can I implement performance-based compensation in my home care agency?

Ilya Vakhutinsky · Accepted Answer

First, let’s clarify a few things:When we say performance-based compensation, we’re not referring to an occasional sporadic reward or a holiday bonus—we’re referring to a formal plan in which employees can earn extra pay based on hitting specific metrics or goals.This is relatively new in home care; aside from marketers, less than 10% of agencies report paying their staff performance-based compensation. However, it’s beginning to take off and more industry leaders are calling for it to become a standard.Benefits of performance-based compensationWhy should agencies consider performance-based pay?It allows you to pay competitively without committing to pay scales that might be unsustainable if there’s a period where company goals aren’t being reachedIt helps focus employees on driving result... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 4

How can I make sure I’m maximizing my ROI from online lead sites like APlaceForMom.com?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Online lead sites like APlaceForMom.com are one of the foundational ways for home care agencies to consistently grow their client base.The transactional nature of their operations is appealing for a reason; it typically yields results much faster than strategies like referral marketing, which can take many visits over time to start yielding results.However, as Lori Eberly of A Place For Mom says: “We get agencies who tell us that almost all of their business comes from our site: ‘We love this, we’ve built our business on it.’ And then in the same day we’ll get a call from somebody who says ‘We’ve spent hundreds of dollars on this and gotten nothing.’ Why is one agency having wild success and another agency isn’t? It all comes down to a difference in their processes."While lead website... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 5

What are some ways I can improve the scheduling processes in my agency?

Brett Ringold · Accepted Answer

Scheduling is one of the core processes at the heart of a home are agency. As such, it’s one of the most essential workflows to get down to a science.This piece will walk you through various schedule optimization tips throughout the process, which our team divides into three phases: pre-scheduling, scheduling, and post-scheduling.We’ll be drawing heavily from an interview with Brett Ringold, VP of A Long Term Companion and a member of the Home Care Association of America Board; those familiar with our content will recognize him as a frequent flyer on our podcast, webinars, and other articles.The best way to explain Brett’s expertise (which comes from experience in every role at a home care agency as a well as a recipient of home care himself) is that if scheduling is like solving a Rubik’s... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 6

What should a good caregiver retention program look like?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

While the needs of every agency are different, there&#x27;s a common set of mistakes agencies make regarding caregiver retention:1. Neglecting retention in the applicant pipeline stage.2. Failing to focus enough on the first 90 days of employment.3. Communicating for logistics only once caregivers are hired, and failing to build strong individual relationships with them. With these in mind, we&#x27;ve designed a caregiver retention program focused on these two critical times: the hiring stage and first 90 days of employment.We developed this plan from our own research as well as interviews with Jeff Wiberg, president of the Home Care Association of America board, and inspiration from a retention plan put together by Stephen Tweed of Leading Home Care and the Home Care CEO Forum.If the imag... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 7

How much should I pay the office staff in my home care agency?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

While the circumstances of every agency are different, we&#x27;ve put together the most in-depth guide we&#x27;re aware of—anywhere—to how much other agencies are paying and how this affects how much you should be paying.Breakdown of office staff rolesFirst, a quick note on roles/job titles. While the division of roles might look slightly different in every home care agency, the org chart will generally include some or all of these roles:1. Owner (may be active or non-active)2. Non-owner executives3. Admin (billing, reception. etc.)4. Scheduling/care coordinator5. HR/Recruitment6. Sales/marketing7. Field supervisors8. Clinicians (may or may not be the same as field supervisors)This are the roles we&#x27;ll be providing compensation data for and generally speaking to.A quick note on our dat... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 8

What should the ideal caregiver hiring process look like?

Jeff Wiberg · Accepted Answer

Written by Connor Kunz based on interviews with Jeff Wiberg. The full interviews are available as podcast interviews here and here. What should an ideal hiring process look like? In a word: fast.Anyone working in an agency knows just how competitive it can be to attract and hire the right caregivers. According to Rachel Gartner, CEO of recruitment firm Carework, only 25% of caregiver applicants show up to interviews. One of the most crucial elements of getting caregivers from application to first shift is speed.It&#x27;s common for hiring processes to take weeks. Several stages, such as background/reference checks and orientation, can slow up the process significantly. Likewise, it&#x27;s not uncommon to ask the caregiver to show up to an unpaid orientation while their first paid shift is ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 9

How much do home care agency owners earn?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

While the amount a home care agency owner varies based on size of agency, how they&#x27;re compensated, and a variety of other factors, we have good data to help answer this question.The short answer: the average home care agency owner earns a salary of $101,400.By the way: we have this data thanks to our Home Care Compensation Report, which you can check out free here.Back to the question of how much home care owners earn. To start with, here&#x27;s a graph showing our current data on average salary for home care agency owners, split up by agency size (as measured by weekly billable hour ranges).Unknown block type "image", specify a component for it in the `components.types` optionIt&#x27;s also important to recognize there are various ways home care owners are paid, and not all are even ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 10

How should I decide which referral partners to work with and which to avoid?

Debbie Miller · Accepted Answer

Finding the right referral partners can have an incredible impact on your business. Unlike digital marketing such as Google Ads or SEO, which target consumers directly, building relationships with referral partners can give you access to a steady stream of consumers in need of care services. The question is: who should I target and how do I build relationships with them?Dominate at the Point of NeedLet’s start with targeting. Put simply, you should target those who interface with seniors and their families at their “point of need”. The reality is that the home care industry is driven by seniors in crisis.Sadly, it’s usually after some major event such as a fall, hospital visit or illness before seniors and/or their families consider home care. A referral from a health care professional who... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 11

What are the best (and worst) talking points to use with each type of referral source?

Debbie Miller · Accepted Answer

Targeting the right people within your referral / influence centers who can refer seniors and their families to your services is a critical part of growing any home care company. The trick is visiting them often enough with the right message to develop a true referral partnership.Referrals come from relationships and relationships come from frequent touchpoints. Most facilities worth calling on have weekly, if not daily needs. Centers where more than ten patients a week are being discharged should be called on as often as possible.  Overall, I believe that weekly touchpoints are what it takes to develop and maintain a referral partner.The question is, what do I talk about each week?I’ll start by pointing out what NOT to talk about.Avoid talking about yourself. You are calling on very busy ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 12

What roles should I hire for in my home care agency's office staff and when should I hire them?

Brett Ringold · Accepted Answer

I could give the cop-out answer by saying it depends on the circumstances of every agency and I’d be right, but we’re not here for cop-out answers. :)While it does depend on the circumstances of every agency, we interviewed Brett Ringold, an experienced agency administrator in Pennsylvania, to get the dirty details on exactly when and why he hired for each role, and what he’d do differently if he went back.Brett is the VP at A Long Term Companion, an agency he runs alongside Michele Kilstein, his mother. They’ve been in business since 2010 and are handling over 6000 weekly billable hours.Here’s how we’ll break this down:Eight key roles in a home care agencyWhat division of roles might look like with only two administrative staffWhen A Long Term Companion hired each role and what prompted t... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 13

What basic financial statements should I be using for my home care agency and where can I get templates?

Mark Johnson · Accepted Answer

The main financial statements that Home Care business owners should be familiar with are:Profit & Loss account (P&L)Balance SheetBank reconciliationNote: Click here to download a spreadsheet with template P&L and Balance Sheets built for a home care agency.Within the P&L you should pay close attention to your:Gross Profit (GP) = Billable Sales-Caregiver wagesGross profit margin = GP/SalesNet Profit (NP) = GP-Administrative Expenses (what is left for the owner)Net Profit margin = NP/SalesKnowing what is going on in your P&L would allow you to know how well your business is doing and what actions you would need to take in order to improve your situation if needs be.In the Balance Sheet you want to ensure that your bank accounts in your accounting software are saying what ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 14

What can I do to make sure my home care agency's Google My Business Profile is top-notch?

Jason Chagnon · Accepted Answer

(From the Careswitch team):You&#x27;re familiar with the Geico car insurance slogan that says "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance?"Well, 15 minutes of optimizing your Google My Business Profile could easily drive 15% (or much more) of your new client inquiries.It&#x27;s probably one of the highest-ROI marketing activities you can do because a few simple steps can determine whether you show up first and are easy to contact.We asked Jason Chagnon, CEO of Home Care Marketing Pros, to record a quick video showing the exact steps you need to take to make sure your home care agency&#x27;s Google My Business profile is driving maximum benefit for you.Watch the video here. (will open a new tab) Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 15

What are some good professional referral sources my home care agency can partner with?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Here&#x27;s a list of professional referral sources you can use.Healthcare referral sources:Home health agenciesHospicesAssisted living facilitiesContinuing care retirement communitiesHospital discharge plannersDoctors officesSkilled nursing facilitiesIndependent living facilitiesHouse call physiciansRehab centers (outpatient)Rehab facilities (inpatient)PharmaciesOther home care agenciesDiagnosis-specific support groupsNeurologistsOther non-healthcare professional referral sources:Social service agenciesWorkers compensation providers/case managersBank trust officersReal estate agenciesCPAsVA programsFinancial plannersGeriatric care managersAdult day care centersChurches/clergyOccupational therapistsFuneral directorsFiduciariesElder law attorneysEstate plannersCountry clubsHouse cleaning se... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 16

Should I pay my caregivers for time spent on training if I'm not legally required to?

Becki Harrington-Davis · Accepted Answer

Short answer: Yes.Here’s why:#1: You want caregivers to take training seriously.Caregiver training is not just checking a box for compliance purposes—it’s critical skill building. You want to ensure that you’re fulfilling your company&#x27;s promise to provide the highest quality care. And that means employing caregivers who are trained and qualified in the skills and knowledge to provide that care. By paying for training, you are setting the expectation that caregivers will give training their full attention and do their best work—just as you expect when they’re working in a client’s home.#2: You’re competing for employees.With steep competition from other agencies, as well as other industries such as retail and restaurants, it’s often a struggle for home care agencies to keep candidates ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 17

How can I avoid payroll-related lawsuits and make sure my home care agency is on the up-and-up?

Sabrina Sattler · Accepted Answer

There are several very important, very specific ways. Before we get to that, let’s talk briefly about why it’s important:The Department of Labor (DOL) has significantly ramped up its audits of home care agencies over the past several years.Here’s what happened: with several major legislative changes to home care in the 2010s, such as removing companion care overtime exemption and mandating that home care workers be treated as W-2 employees rather than 1099 contractors, home care become a Wild West as agencies tried to adapt to the new landscape.In 2021, the DOL became aware of this and announced a new Home Care Initiative aimed specifically at wage and payroll compliance within our industry. As of September 2022, 7% of all DOL audits in the last year have been within the home care industry... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 18

Can I pay my caregivers as 1099 contractors or do they need to be W-2 employees?

Ilya Vakhutinsky · Accepted Answer

There&#x27;s a simple, unequivocal answer: home care agencies are legally required to classify and pay their employees as W-2 employees, not 1099 contractors. This law has been in effect for several years and makes no exceptions.It&#x27;s useful to draw the distinction between home care agencies and home care registries.An agency employs caregivers and has an admin staff that is responsible for scheduling the caregivers and coordinating with clients. A registry essentially offers access to a list of caregivers, who act autonomously to set their own schedules with clients. These are separate business models with many differences, but the easiest litmus test is whether caregivers set their own schedules with no help/direction/intervention from you, or whether you&#x27;re creating their sched... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 19

Where can I get a sample template for a caregiver job ad that will help my agency stand out to applicants?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Right here.There are a couple common mistakes home care agencies make when they&#x27;re writing their caregiver job ads: they make it too much about the agency&#x27;s needs instead of speaking to what the applicant wants, and they often use long bulleted lists of qualifications and responsibilities that no one actually reads. This description is shorter, to the point, and makes sure to focus on what&#x27;s in it for the caregivers.You&#x27;ll notice it also doesn&#x27;t require experience. In today&#x27;s day and age, you&#x27;re shooting yourself in the foot if you force your caregivers to have prior experience or arbitrarily require certifications that you could help them get in a few nights of training. There aren&#x27;t enough caregivers out there for you to require a set level of expe... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 20

When is it time to hire a recruiter for my home care agency?

Rachel Gartner · Accepted Answer

The most basic answer: when you&#x27;re not getting caregivers hired quickly enough.If you can&#x27;t give every caregiver a call the same day as they apply, you need to hire a recruiter. If you as an agency owner are spending hours every day on Indeed or other platforms every day, a bottleneck in recruiting will become the bottleneck for your entire agency&#x27;s growth.Caregiver recruitment is a funnel; applicants drop off at every stage, from not responding to a phone call to not showing up to an interview. While recruiting is extremely important, your time as the owner is better spent with the caregivers who do show up and do get hired. Similarly, other staff members like care coordinator or schedulers are better off to spend their time with the caregivers who show up as well. The cuto... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 21

I just started my agency. How should I go about getting my first five clients?

Gregg Mazza · Accepted Answer

I would take a two-pronged approach: internet lead sites and direct relationships with referral partners.Consider Internet lead sites includes sites like Caring.com and A Place For Mom or others like it. These sites require you to contact the leads quickly (because the sites typically pass leads to multiple agencies) and the quicker you contact them the more effective you&#x27;ll be in closing them. However, if you&#x27;re just starting your agency you probably have an advantage in being able to focus your time and energy on these leads at a level that a more established agency might not.An advantage of internet lead sites is that they could work quickly. If you&#x27;re a startup, you want to get out of the red as quickly as possible. You have all these expenses and you might not even have... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 22

What should a good job ad look like for a home care marketer?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Below is a template you can steal.A quick note: the specifics of role responsibilities can vary quite a bit between home care agencies, especially with marketing and sales roles. The role of a home care "marketer" is usually that of a sales rep and community liaison who spends most of their time building partnerships with referral sources and conducting other community outreach, and we&#x27;ve structured this job ad with that role in mind.However, it&#x27;s not unusual for the marketer&#x27;s role in to include closing with potential clients or leading out on consumer marketing efforts like Google Ads. If this is the case with your agency, make sure to adapt the job ad accordingly.By the way, here&#x27;s a great piece on when to hire a marketer for your home care agency and how t... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 23

Where can I get a good job description template for a Director of Operations at my home care agency?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Right here!I&#x27;ve worked in recruitment and hiring for over ten years, and (if I can toot my own horn a little here) have excelled. I&#x27;ve hired people at all seniority levels during two major labor crises, and I&#x27;ve developed my own theories about why some companies have such an easier time hiring good talent than others.I think a lot of comes down to the way you communicate the job, and while there&#x27;s no substitute for having a reputation as being a great place to work, I&#x27;ve baked my ideas into this job description.You&#x27;ll find that it&#x27;s shorter, more casual, and more personable than most job descriptions; it also talks a lot more about the candidate than it does about the company.My experience is showing you understand the candidate and what they want says mo... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 24

What should a good job ad for a home care coordinator/scheduler look like?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Here&#x27;s a sample scheduler/home care coordinator job ad template you can use.Note some agencies may treat the roles of scheduler and care coordinator as separate positions, or even have overlap with the position of a field supervisor.The trend I&#x27;m seeing is to have one focal point for the administrative work (care coordinator, who also does scheduling) and one focal point for field work (field supervisor); as such, I&#x27;ve written our job ad template to reflect this. Feel free to change them as you see fit.You can copy and paste the template below or click here to download it as a Word document.Home Care Coordinator/Scheduler Job Description TemplateYou like solving tough puzzles, you’re meticulously organized, and you love people. Not to mention you’re happiest when you can see... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 25

Are there any financial statements I might not be using that would give me a leg up in my home care agency's financial health?

Jennifer Ramos · Accepted Answer

Yes! A breakeven analysis and a Chart of Accounts are both valuable. Here are some templates of these statements built specifically for home care agencies.Download Chart of Accounts templateDownload Breakeven Spreadsheet template Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 26

Are there any value-adds home care owners overlook that can help maximize the value of their agency?

Jennifer Ramos · Accepted Answer

There are 9 areas to get right before you put your business on the market.1. Financial performanceConsider having audited financial statements prepared to give a buyer confidence in your bookkeeping. Your history of producing revenue and profit combined with the professionalism of your record keeping is critical. A buyer&#x27;s first barrier to entry are the business financials.Stop using your company as an ATM. Many business owners run trips and other perks through their business, but if you’re planning to sell, these treats will artificially depress your earnings, which will reduce the value of your company in the eyes of a buyer by much more than the value of the perks. Their job is to poke holes - and they will to decrease your asking price.Know and protect your margins: Understand if ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 27

How do I know if I should fire a client?

Brett Ringold · Accepted Answer

As home care agency owners, the concept of firing a client practically goes against everything that we believe to be true.After all, we are in a service industry, and so we’re committed to providing exceptional care to each and every client that we serve. And in many ways, telling an elderly client that we are no longer able to help them can feel like we’re letting them down.Even when we take emotions out of the equation and put on our objective small business owner hat, we never want to voluntarily turn away a sales opportunity.But part of being a good business person is also being aware of our limitations. We must recognize that not every client is going to be a good fit for us and vice versa.Unfortunately, knowing when it’s time to fire a client is rarely cut and dry.Sure, there are som... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 28

How much should I pay a home care marketer?

Erica Horner · Accepted Answer

The base pay for a home care marketer could be as low as $50,000 because ideally, a significant portion of their compensation should come from bonuses for growth (more on that later). A best practice for determining an appropriate base salary is to stay in tune with your market.If you have a smaller organization and budget is tight, yet you’re ready for more community outreach, you don’t need to let budget be a show-stopper for you. Find someone with potential, but not necessarily years of experience, and train them yourself.Quality sales training and coaching resources are available to help develop your marketer’s skills and execute a sales plan. If a person has the right personality, resilience, a strong work ethic, and an understanding of the players, they can learn to implement effecti... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 29

At what point should I hire a marketer for my home care business?

Erica Horner · Accepted Answer

If you’re asking this question, I’d like to say “congratulations” on your growth! To understand if it’s the right time to hire a marketer, you need to evaluate if you can accomplish the two MUSTs of building sustainable referral relationships, now and in the near future.The Two MustsStrengthening Existing Relationships. Consider if you are able to adequately nurture existing referral relationships. Sure, at this point you’ve probably developed some dependable referral sources who send a somewhat steady stream of new clients your way. But keep in mind that this is a competitive industry; your competitors are knocking on the same doors as you. Don’t take your current referral sources for granted; they require ongoing communication and continued nurturing. If you aren’t able to invest time in... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 30

How can I decide how many referral partners to work with?

Brett Ringold · Accepted Answer

When it comes to determining the ideal number of referral sources to work with, there’s good news and there’s bad news.Let’s start with the bad news first - there is no ‘magic number’ of referral sources that an agency should aim to work with.And now, the good news - there is no ‘magic number’ of referral sources that an agency should aim to work with.No, this isn’t a typo. Nor is this meant to confuse you. Simply stated, there is not a one size fits all approach that will work for every single agency.For new agency operators, it’s a good idea to call on as many potential referral sources as possible. Tell them about yourself and what sets your agency apart from others in your market. Most importantly, you should ask questions about them and try to identify how you can be helpful to their ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 31

What’s the biggest mistake home care owners make when preparing to sell an agency?

Jennifer Ramos · Accepted Answer

While a business owner may never know when a personal crisis will strike, they should always be ready to exit. The biggest mistake we see home care owners make is they begin the selling process when it’s too late to really prepare. Here are four suggestions that any business owner can start today, regardless of when they are looking to exit, whether 5, 10, or 20 years from now. You might want to take an annual day of reflection to consider the following:1. Consider Your Next ChapterTake some time to figure out the next phase of your life. For example, if you want some time to travel and relax before starting a new chapter, you may want to have a project always lined up. This can help remind you that the current business is only a chapter in your life.Here are some questions to get you star... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 32

Should I apply for Employee Retention Credits and how do I know if my home care agency qualifies?

Angelo Spinola · Accepted Answer

The employee retention credit (“ERC”), enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, is a fully refundable tax credit that can be as high as $26,000 per employee. Originally, the ERC was equal to 50% of up to $10,000 in wages paid to each employee before January 1, 2021. However, Congress has since extended and expanded the ERC through subsequent COVID-19 legislation.As a result of the new legislation, eligible employers can now claim a refundable tax credit against the employer share of Social Security tax equal to 70% of the qualified wages paid to employees after December 31, 2020, through September 30, 2021. Qualified wages are limited to $10,000 per employee per calendar quarter in 2021 for the first 3 calendar quarters. Thus, the ma... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 33

What are the most important things a home care agency owner should be thinking about now if they want to sell in five years?

Jennifer Ramos · Accepted Answer

The decision to exit is only the first step in a series of critical decisions you as an owner must make. How you prepare yourself and the business for exit plays an important role in determining company value.Areas to focus on to prepare your exit:Your personal financial goalsPersonal Life and Social GoalsInvolvement after exitEmployees well-beingYour personal financial goalsMany business owners talk about their business like it’s one of their children. Ask virtually all parents, and they will state that they can’t assign value to their children. Similarly, some owners believe their business is invaluable and think of the highest number they will get offered for the business rather than the lowest they are likely to accept. I encourage you to define a “minimum number” as the lowest number ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 34

What's the best way to tell our clients that we're increasing our rates?

Adam Corcoran · Accepted Answer

Here's a template letter you can use to inform clients about a rate increase.You can copy and paste the text below or click here to download the letter as a Word Document. Beyond filling in the blank fields, we encourage you to personalize it as much as possible.Dear [client's name],On behalf of the team we want to thank you for being a valued client. We strive to provide the highest level of home care services in our area and we hope we are meeting your needs. is committed to growth and development in the home care industry and we are pleased to announce some exciting advancements within our agency.As you may know, our hiring process is rigorous and we aim to hire the most qualified Home Health Aides and Certified N... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 35

If there's an economic recession this year, how will that impact my home care agency?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Short answer: it&#x27;ll put some pressure on you in terms of getting/keeping clients but it&#x27;s likely to have an overall net positive effect on your business because it would alleviate caregiver shortages.While there&#x27;s no one-size-fits-all answer, here are some facts and factors to consider.Another recession would almost certainly be easier on home care providers than the COVID-19 recession in 2020. That recession was an anomaly because it reduced demand while also reducing availability of workers - an effect that runs counter to "normal" recessions.According to Stephen Tweed, founder of Leading Home Care and the Home Care CEO Forum, "major economic upheaval has not had a significant impact on the home care industry," based on his experience working in home ca... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 36

What's a good profit margin for a home care agency and how big a cut should I take as the owner?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Short answer: 36-50% gross profit margin and 10-15% owner&#x27;s cut—if you&#x27;re at the stage where you&#x27;re reliant on your business to support you financially and the business has gotten off the ground.Let&#x27;s give a little context for that since it varies from business to business.During a forum on this year&#x27;s Home Care Growth Summit I asked this question to two veteran home care leaders: Jeff Wiberg, CEO of Family Resource Home Care and a member of the Home Care Association of America board, and Tim Murray, Co-founder of Aware Senior Care.Here are some key points from what they told me:According to Tim, a good target to aim for is 50% gross profit margin and 15% owner&#x27;s cut (depending on how you calculate your finances and allocate profits, this may be near-synonymou... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 37

How much does it cost to start a home care agency?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

It&#x27;s actually crazy how much estimates on this vary; however, the general number sits around $60k for the initial capital investment. To give you an accurate idea of what to expect, I&#x27;ve pulled together as many estimates as I could find as well as my own experience working with home care agencies. Here are some estimates:Kenyon Home Care Consulting: $60k averageHome Care How-To: $45k minimum to start an independent agency or $35-48k for a franchisee license plus most of the cost of starting an independent agency.SeniorServiceBusiness.com: $900 if you&#x27;re willing to do things extremely cheaply and take the absolute lowest-cost options in every instance.(In my opinion, this number is inaccurate because you&#x27;ll quickly to have to add other overhead and infrastructure, but it... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 38

If there's an incident and the client and the caregiver disagree over what happened, what should I do?

Greg Coopman · Accepted Answer

The phone rings, and Mrs. Smith’s daughter is calling to accuse her mother’s caregiver of stealing jewelry out of the jewelry box on Mrs. Smith’s nightstand.As time goes on throughout your home care journey, you will ask ‘What really happened?’ on many different occasions. And more so, as a leader, you are often expected or even required to take action.It could be an accusation of theft. An issue with client/caregiver boundaries. The caregiver brought their child to work. The client was inappropriate towards the caregiver. The client has bruises all over and the family claims it is the caregiver’s fault. Etc.The list is truly never-ending.What really happened? And what should you do about it?If there is an incident and there is a disagreement between the client and the caregiver over what ... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 39

What should be included in a new client assessment?

Miriam Allred · Accepted Answer

I’ve spent the last few weeks exploring client intake and assessment processes with a handful of well-known, highly-successful agencies. Interestingly, their processes and how/when they collect the information vary quite a bit.Based on the experience, I’ve compiled a comprehensive new client assessment workflow that could work well for anyone building this process in their own agency or looking for ways to streamline their existing process.One caveat to remember is that your state may have other specific requirements.A quick overview of typical client assessment documents and when you complete them:New Client Inquiry - phone call / website inquiryClient Intake Form/Pre-Care Assessment - can be sent electronically and filled out by the client/family OR completed over the phone by a member o... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 40

When does my home care agency legally have to provide employees with healthcare benefits?

Brian Cottone Jr. · Accepted Answer

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a comprehensive healthcare reform law passed by the U.S. Congress in 2010 and has the primary goal of providing access to affordable healthcare to all Americans.The ACA requires all employers with more than 50 full-time employees to offer health insurance coverage to their employees or pay a penalty.A common pitfall for home care agencies, in staying compliant with ACA, is the misclassification of their employees. In home care, it’s not uncommon to have employees including:Full-time employees (work on average 30 hrs. per week or 130-hours per calendar month)Part-time employeesFull-time equivalent employees (work part-time hours that are equivalent to a full-time employee)Seasonal employeesSeasonal employees (temporary)Independent contractors (1099)(Informat... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 41

What are the essential steps to starting a home care agency?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

Our team created an in-depth guide to starting a home care agency covering even the minute, boring administrative stuff.Read the guide here. Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 42

Are there mistakes I'm making with my website that could be hurting my ability to get new business?

Jeremy Fuller · Accepted Answer

It&#x27;s very possible that there are. We asked Jeremy Fuller, Managing Director of Grow Home Care Marketing, to make an overview of the biggest mistakes home care agencies make with their websites and what they should be doing instead. How well does your website measure up?Watch the video here Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 43

Is there a spreadsheet I can download to easily calculate how much I need to charge to break even?

Julio Briones · Accepted Answer

There sure is. We have a breakeven spreadsheet with a detailed list of potential expenses. Enter in your expenses, caregiver pay, weekly hours per client, and billing rate, and immediately see how many clients you need to break even.This was put together by Julio Briones of Briones Consulting.Download the spreadsheet here. Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 44

I want to contribute an FAQ response to this page. What are the guidelines?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

We welcome contributions from all corners of the industry - but we do have high standards.There&#x27;s a lot of content online about how to run a home care agency, but too much of it is vague, generalized, and just generally watered-down. We get it—rarely does one piece of advice apply equally to every home care agency, so it&#x27;s safer to speak in general principles.However, we&#x27;d rather err on the side of providing really specific advice, even if it puts the responsibility on agencies to use judgment in applying it. Our mission with Home Care FAQs is to provide more specific, actionable, and prescriptive content than is generally available online.A few guidelines:1. Credibility is important. You should have experience and success running a home care agency or else another type of v... Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Question 45

I have a question I'd like to get answered. How do I submit it?

Connor Kunz · Accepted Answer

We love requests. Email me (connor@careswitch.com) with your question and include &#x27;Home Care FAQ Suggestion&#x27; in the subject line. Click to view the full answer from our home care industry expert.

Home Care Owner FAQs