Home Care Owner FAQs
We've brought together a team of educators and home care experts to answer the burning questions that you and every home care owner will ask at some point.
Jeff Wiberg President of the Home Care Association of America board and CEO of Family Resource Home Care
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Debbie Miller Former pharma sales rep who built a $10M home care company and founded 52 Weeks Marketing
Debbie Miller Former pharma sales rep who built a $10M home care company and founded 52 Weeks Marketing
Brett Ringold Vice President of A Long-Term Companion
Mark Johnson EA specializing in home care agencies
Jason Chagnon CEO of Home Care Marketing Pros; digital marketing consultant to senior care businesses
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Becki Harrington-Davis Senior Content Marketing Manager at CareAcademy
Sabrina Sattler Account Executive at Careswitch, home care agency advisor specializing in startup success and longevity
Ilya Vakhutinsky Careswitch CEO, home health aide's son, Forbes 30 Under 30, caregiver advocate
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Rachel Gartner Former home care recruiter who was so successful that she founded her own recruitment firm (Carework)
Gregg Mazza Founded a home care agency, almost ran out of capital after two years, figured things out and scaled past $5M
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Jennifer Ramos Managed and sold three different home care agencies; CEO of JR3 Consulting
Jennifer Ramos Managed and sold three different home care agencies; CEO of JR3 Consulting
Brett Ringold Vice President of A Long-Term Companion
Erica Horner Home care sales consultant & project manager at corecubed
Erica Horner Home care sales consultant & project manager at corecubed
Brett Ringold Vice President of A Long-Term Companion
Jennifer Ramos Managed and sold three different home care agencies; CEO of JR3 Consulting
Angelo Spinola Home health, home care and hospice chair at Polsinelli
Jennifer Ramos Managed and sold three different home care agencies; CEO of JR3 Consulting
Adam Corcoran Director of Business Development at Golden Care, owner of Home Care Flyers, helped build a multimillion dollar agency from the ground up
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Greg Coopman President at SeniorCareCX
Miriam Allred Head of Partnerships @Careswitch, former host of Vision: The Home Care Leaders Podcast
Brian Cottone Jr. Benefits expert at VItable Health
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Jeremy Fuller Managing Director of Grow Home Care Marketing; website, SEO, and digital marketing expert
Julio Briones Home care consultant specializing in helping 7-figure home care agencies grow
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
Connor Kunz VP @Careswitch, former head of education @ Home Care Pulse, scaled a service business 7 figures in 3 years
How can I decide how many referral partners to work with?
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 clients or patients.
For established providers, I know of agencies who receive over 90% of their client referrals from one single referral source. This could be a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), or Managed Care Organization (MCO).
If one referral source can generate enough client referrals for your organization, well that’s wonderful, however that’s not going to be the case for most agencies.
Most agencies, such as ours, have strong relationships with dozens of referral sources, from those listed above, to discharge planners, estate attorneys, and social workers. The key words to pay attention to in this paragraph are strong relationships.
It is crucial to understand that much more important than the quantity of relationships with referral sources is the quality of those relationships. There is a big difference between being on a CCRC’s list and having a great relationship with the social workers and nurses who work there.
Here are two questions that you should be asking yourself on an ongoing basis:
1 - Do I want to grow my client census?
2 - Does my agency have the bandwidth to do so?
If the answer to either question is no, then continue to work with the referral sources you have, and consider building out your team before introducing yourself to new ones.
If the answer to both questions is yes, then stop reading this and go introduce yourself to Sally the social worker.
Ask Sally about a frustration that she is experiencing, and share how you can help relieve that pain point. Once you receive that first referral, do everything you can to provide the best possible experience for her client. Because you only get one first chance, and if her client isn’t happy, you will not get a second chance.