October 7, 2022 • 24 mins
Home Care Growth: Scaling with Automation
Knowing the difference between growth and scale can have a significant impact to your senior care business, especially in the home care space. Today we will talk with David Schwartz about how to utilize technology to streamline repetitive services, grow your revenue and reduce recruitment costs in your agency.
Contact David:
dave@getschwartz.com
(973) 531-7317
________________________________________________________________________
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Website:
https://www.thebrionesgroup.com
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Knowing the difference between growth and scale can have a significant impact to your senior care business, especially in the home care space. Today we will talk with David Schwartz about how to utilize technology to streamline repetitive services, grow your revenue and reduce recruitment costs in your agency.
Contact David:
dave@getschwartz.com
(973) 531-7317
________________________________________________________________________
Sign up with EZactis (Background Checks)
https://clients.ezactis.com/register/bcg
Website:
https://www.thebrionesgroup.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebrionesgroup/
Join our Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/homecareaccelerator
Rapid Pay USA
https://rapidpayusa.com/BCG
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Right, good, good morning everybody, and welcome to the morning meeting.
We are here alive today with our good friend, recent friend,
David Schwartz. And you know how's a calm David. All right,
So we are going to actually sit and we're going
(00:25):
to have a conversation today about one of my favorite subjects.
Excuse me if I'm looking away, because I'm trying to
get everything. You know, technology is a wonderful thing and
until it decides not to cooperate, so I'm trying to
make sure we are ready to go. So one of
my favorite topics, how do you scale your business? So
(00:47):
scale versus growth. So the way I usually like to
describe this is when you're growing a business, you're taking
your increasing output and then you're taking resources that are
needed in order to support that output, versus scaling your
businesses where you're increasing output but really don't need more resources.
(01:08):
And one of the best ways to be able to
do this is through automations. Now we're not talking about
you know, streamlining your Facebook ad space or all of
this other wonderful marketing stuff. We're talking about systematic operations
and utilizing technology to increase your profits, increase your revenue
(01:29):
and reduce your need for staff like caregivers. All right,
So you know, I'm not really an expert on this,
I definitely know that it has its benefits and this
is why today we are sitting and we're going to
talk with David, and you know, rather than just go
on and on, David, just tell us a little bit
(01:51):
about you and tell us a little bit about you, know,
what you do, what's your background and why are we
so fortunate to have you here to talk about amazing subjects?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Absolutely, so thank you again very much for having me again.
I'm Dave, and so to give you a little bit of
my background. So, i have been in electronically safety industry
for now going on thirteen to fourteen years. I've worked
in a few different capacities. I've worked for medical alert companies,
I've worked for telehealth companies. I've worked for monitoring centers.
(02:22):
I've worked in commercial security. So I've been in and
around this technology space for a long time. And one
of my specialties has always been working in environments treating
people with chronic conditions, so people who have developmental disabilities,
post acute care seniors, children who need assistance. So I've
(02:46):
done quite a bit of work in affordable senior housing,
working through and navigating government subsidies. So my background is
in utilizing technology to improve safety and with that comes
working pretty closely with agencies that provide both medical and
non medical care in the home as well as we're
working with discharge planners at hospitals, hospice care, and a
(03:08):
variety of other adjacent businesses to help improve quality of care,
improve outcomes, and reduce readmissions.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
That's that's really important, especially, I mean the bulk of
the people that follow us and want us where there
are agencies you know, skilled and non skilled that are
moving into that private bay space, all right, So having
you know, being able to show that you can help
with rehospitalization reduction, that you can you know, provide that
(03:38):
better quality of care. And even if we're talking about
you know, assistant livings or dependent living facilities, same thing
that I mean, the standard is like here when you're
talking about CMS funded businesses, it's got to be up
here when we're talking about private pay and having you
know the framework and understanding what you're doing is it
really goes a long way with being to promote you know,
(04:01):
promote the that higher level of value and so you know,
in your vast experience, like, what are some ways that
we can implement some of this technology or what are
some of the technological events is out there that somebody
can come in and say, all right, great, hey, listen,
I want to be able to do you know, let's
(04:23):
say set up something we were talking about before we
went live, set up a medication reminder system. But I
don't want to have thirty careaivers to do this, you know,
so what are some options that somebody would have.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
For So one of the things I like to recommend
whenever I work with a new agency is first things first,
what what type of care are you providing that doesn't
require a human being? So, are there repetitive tasks that
are relatively low skill, low brain power that you're doing
on a regular basis? You know, are you say you're
(04:58):
are you providing non medical care, but you have a
client that you're going out to on a regular basis
just to check on them or to tell them to
take their pills. Maybe you're not licensed to actually administer
the pills, but you just want to go and tell
them to take their pills, or you're going and saying
it's time to check your blood sugar. It's time to
check your blood pressure.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You know, things that.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
You're not licensed to do, but you're telling them to do. Well,
if you're only booking, say thirty thirty five hours a week,
then at some point they're doing this season themselves or
someone's helping them, and they still you know, they still
need to monitor blood sugar when you're not in the home.
And clearly, if you're only there thirty thirty five hours
a week, they figured out some way to do that.
(05:38):
So tasks like this, I like to lean towards technology
and see number one, is there a way that you
can better utilize the time that you're on site? You know,
when you're in the home, are there higher skilled activities
that you can be performing with that client to improve
the value of your service and also use your time
more efficiently where maybe you have an opportunity to either
(05:59):
generate revenue or improve the relationship with that client when
you're not there. So, you know, a lot of people
when they hear technology in the home, they first immediately
lean toward they hear medical alert. That's what they think about.
But that's not necessarily what I'm talking about, you know,
I think medical alerts absolutely serve a purpose, but that's
not really where I go first.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
And you brought up an excellent point, which is medication.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Now, we all know that one of the biggest reasons
that people are readmitted to the hospital or admitted initially
is because of a medication adherence issue. They miss a pill,
they take the wrong pill, they take too many pills. So,
you know, especially if you're providing non medical care, you
might be able to go into the home and say,
you know, Julio, it's time to take your pills. But
(06:45):
that's pretty much in right. So what makes sense is
looking at what technology is out there that can help
assist with that. You know, if you have a client
who's more independent, maybe all they need is a phone
call or an automation, you know, a reminder on site
saying you know, Julio, it's time to take your pills.
Maybe they need a next level telling them what pills
have taken when. If they're home bound, maybe a medication
(07:08):
dispenser makes sense, where you actually have a controlled system
that determines exactly what to take when and how much.
That can actually say here's all you're taking and here's
all you're allowed to take, but navigating what's appropriate is
not always that simple.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
So one of the.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Services that I provide is helping to kind of navigate
those waters and see, based on the level of care
you're providing, what makes sense. So we're we were talking
a little bit earlier about you know, I like to
use the example of Phillips, who is an absolute mammoth
titan in the industry.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And you know, you could argue either way whether they.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Grew through acquisition organically, but everybody knew Phillips. You know,
ten years ago, if you had any sort of telehealth
or medical alert program, you were probably using Phillips. And
they were an enormous, enormous They work with every high hospital,
most home couragencies, most home health, most hospice. And one
of the ways they grew was they require their partners
(08:07):
to dedicate resources to their program, which at the time
was great, but in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Nobody wants to do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
And over the last maybe five or six years, they
really shrunk because every other company in the space came
out and said, why do you want to aren't you
running a business? Do you really want to take an
employee and say, now your job is to support this program.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
How many other things are you doing?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You're you're you know, you can't allocate those kinds of resources.
You're trying to grow a business.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
So when you look at when you look.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
At partners, you need to be able to find something
that's simple, something that folds into your business, that doesn't
require a lot of brain power, that you can incorporate,
that makes your life lives easier, makes your clients lives easier,
and generates an opportunity for you to grow that relationship
and hopefully grow some revenue.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Right and now, now on that note, you know, this
is something that particular A lot of the clients that
I work with, the small businesses, you know, they're cost conscious.
So we all understand that, especially in this industry, we're
trying to maintain that forty to fifty percent gross margin
as an owner that will translate into somewhere between you know,
(09:17):
thirteen to twenty percent net depending on a number of
different options. How how are these options? How expensive are
they do they have? Are their options out there with
low low, low barriers you know to get started? I mean,
is it's something that generally have to you know, generally
(09:39):
have to put in twenty thirty forty fifty dollars or
is it something that as a as a small agency
with maybe twenty thirty clients, that I can still put
into flooding.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
That's that's a great question. So I'll give a perfect example.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
So I had a client that I worked with as
a home care agency who coming into COVID, they said,
the only way, you know, we're the best way we
found to distinguish ourselves coming through COVID is to do
away with minimums. So we went from a four hour
care minimum to a fifteen minute minimum, which was great
because from a marketing perspective, you know, nobody else does
(10:15):
this right. But realistically, if anyone ever books me for
fifteen minutes, like I like.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I can't do that. I can't do that.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
There's no forget about margins, there's like, I'm just losing
money every time.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
We answer the phone.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So they said, there's got to be some way for
us to come out and capitalize on this. So we
looked at their client face and said, all right, who
do you have that you're going to the home that
you know? Like, would you would you actually drive an
hour to go see a client? And all you're going
to do is help with checking blood pressure. You know,
these are things that can be automated, can be managed
(10:50):
true technology. And if you look at say, you know,
the average home care client might be booking thirty thirty
five hours a week, and the average hourly rates usually
around you know better than I would say, twenty eight
thirty dollars an hour.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah, that's about right.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So if you use that and you look at say
you look at a client, you're going to be spending
less than two percent of that depending on what level
of service. If you're looking at say a medical or
medication management, whether it's a reminder or dispenser, say you're
looking at telehealth solutions, if you're looking at vital sign monitoring,
you're going to probably be looking about one to two
percent of that gross is going to be spent on
(11:27):
technology if you were if you were to go all
in to support that client. But the difference is if
you're doing that, you know, the most expensive solution out there. So,
say you have a client that is still capable of
living independently, but you want to go all the bells
and whistles in their home, but every single piece of
equipment you could possibly need you're still going to be
(11:48):
spending less per month, or they're going to be spending
less per month than one shift.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Of one of your caregivers.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
So s I mean, sometimes it's appropriate. You know, there
are a lot of companies out there that will base
want a marketing relationship where they'll say, if you have
clients and need a service, give them a brochure and
we'll take it. We'll take it from there. And sometimes
that's fine. But I also find that the more successful
businesses are the ones that go out and look at
(12:14):
it as an opportunity rather than a chance to just say, like,
you know, all right, I want one more thing on
my menu.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
They look at it as this will help.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Me, I'm going to provide it, and they put together
a bundle package where they say, for X number of hours,
either x number of hours that you're booking, or if
you're a certain distance away from my nearest caregiver, I'm
going to provide this piece of technology in the home,
whether it's some sort of fall prevention technology or medication
management or.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Vital sign monitoring.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
They look at it as a means to reduce reduce
their cost and improve their margins and something else to
keep in mind your clients aren't going to be with
you forever. At a certain point, even if they need
a higher level of care, they no longer need your care.
They can't afford you anymore, they don't qualify whatever the
reason is, right, if you put a piece of technology
(13:03):
in the home, even if you're paying for it, when
that relationship is over, it's an opportunity for you to
leave it there start earning revenue because you can go
to a client and say, look, we're no longer your
care provider. If you still need this, you can have
it for X amount of dollars per month.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
You are now generating revenue.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And if their needs ever change where they need service again,
why would they ever consider someone else?
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Well, you're absolutely right. I mean it's one of the
things I work a lot with my clients and I
tell them, listen, you know the people you're servicing today,
they may not need one hundred hours a week from you.
They might only need twelve to twenty hours. But nobody's
getting younger, nobody's getting healthier. So we don't live in
the world of Benjamin Buttons. Okay, So if you can't
(13:51):
figure out a way to capture their attention, go out
of your way and make those twelve hours a week
the best twelve hours they've had. There's no reason for
that to call you back. And that's a great point
you brought up. Implement technology, leave it in there, you know,
make small amount of money until they need you again.
And now when they do need that ninety one hundreds
(14:13):
hundred and sixty eight hours a week, you're going to
be their goal to because there they already trust, they've
already know that they can rely on. I don't.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So it's you brought up an interesting point, which is
that I don't necessarily look at implementing technology as a
way to make money. I look at it as a
way to improve your margins. So someone that goes in
and says, I'm going to go put a you know,
whatever it is, whether it's let's say medical or just
because that's easy, I'm going to go put one in
(14:43):
every one of my clients homes.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
It's not.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Really this is not a means to double your business
overnight and and you know, blow up your territory. But
but if you look at this as a way that look,
I you know, the cost of paying my employees is expensive.
The number of business I'm making is racking up. You know,
I want to be providing a higher level of care.
(15:08):
I don't want to keep going sending an employee out
for things that I really can't build for. This is
a way for you to provide around the clock care
without providing around the clock care.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I mean, yeah, I understand. Yeah, And that's kind of
where my point comes in. See, one of the big
things that I particularly focus on is the overall strategy
of your business. Where you know, with the marketing piece,
with the recruitment piece, with your operational piece, and it's
all geared towards the same purpose. Where can we justify
(15:38):
either the price point we currently have or extending services
out when the client needs so are if you have
a way to monitor your clients, like what you were
just saying, you know, whether it be through a reminder system,
a life alert system, or whatever. You know, it could
be something as simple as remote patient monitoring with a
(16:00):
with a tablet. All right, whatever it is that you
have there that gives you that access, that's how you're
going to grow your business. And yes, you know the
reality is you're not charging specifically for that to make money.
But if I can justify using me as a service
(16:20):
provider as opposed to you know, hiring random Jane down
the street that'll do it for fifteen eighteen dollars an
hour off the books. That is where you grow your business.
That reputation, that trust, that ability to provide the value
to the client, that becomes never ending.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, I mean I yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I'd also like to say so, like another example you
brought up a great point, which is, you know, if
there's a way to kind of streamline so like I
had a client who provided in home care to a
senior living community. They were contracted to go out and service.
It was a it was a CCRC, so if they
had varying levels of care, and they would literally pay
(17:04):
nurses to go knock on something like one hundred and
fifty doors every single morning literally for the purpose of
just saying, you know, we want to make sure missus
Smith made it through the night, which really all right,
I'll did she make it through the night, did she
get out of bed? Are we concerned about about missus
Smith just spending all day in bed?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Is she is she well today?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
What have you?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
You know, basically just checking just doing just doing a
wellness check. Right, and one hundred and fifty doors every
single day. That's a tremendous amount of man hours. Yes,
well we went in and for I don't remember what
the cost was, but for not hundreds of dollars, thousands
of dollars, ten for dollars, for dollars, we automated that
(17:48):
where we had the ability that every day the residents
would get a notification to check in and just simple,
all they simply do is press a button and say
I'm out of bed.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It was it was something.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
It was specifically a position that they couldn't reach it
from bed from their bedroom than to get out of
bed and check in, and if they didn't by a
certain time, they'd get a phone call saying, Julio, I
just want to make sure you're doing okay this morning.
If by a certain time they neither checked in or
answered the phone, their name would show up on a
list for the nursing team and they would say, all right,
(18:21):
here's our dashboard. Here are the patients that we have
to take care of today, you know. Here are the
ones that we need to monitor blood sugar. Here are
the ones we have to monitor blood pressure, Here are
here's the medications we're keeping track of and here's everybody
that checked in today, and here's everybody that didn't, and
now we're knocking on six doors instead of one hundred
and fifty.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Just the man our savings on that
you're looking at savings, you know, thousands of dollars per day.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Oh my god, you're paying less for this service. Then
you're paying for probably an hour of one of your employees.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Right probably. Yeah, that's fantastic. Yeah, So designing these systems,
understanding who vendors are, understanding who the key players are.
That that's really where you know, if you're looking to
implement something like this, do not try to do it yourself.
You know, it's it's one of those things I'm sure
you can find all sorts of because I hear it
(19:14):
all the time. Oh you can find all of this online.
You can, but you're not going to understand the technology.
You're not going to understand the benefit. You're not going
to have a custom design system for your agency or
for your building. And you know there's I got to
tell you, I've been doing this for thirty years and
Dave is you know, one of a handful of people
(19:35):
I've ever met the design system like systems like this,
So it really becomes a value overall if you want
to understand how to implement this into like said, regardless
whether it's your home care, your home health agency, your
hospice company, your independent living, assistant living, or any other
type of facility. And so we suggest you know, definitely
(19:57):
find a pro. You know, a hell, if you try
calling me, I'm going to just direct you to him anyway,
because this is a little bit beyond my scope of understanding.
I understand how technology comes into play, and I but
you know that's not definitely not to the extent that
the years of experience of working with his hands on
will bring you. And so, you know, thank you so much, Dave.
(20:20):
We really appreciate you coming on. Now. Our big question is,
and you know we we like to we like to
definitely add on at this on at the end. So
if somebody were to just completely lose their mind and
try to set something like this up, what are two
tips that you would give them if they really wanted
(20:41):
to attempt to do this on their own.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So just like any any of your any of your viewers,
you know they're going out, they're building a business trying
to develop a reputation and build a brand.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
You know, if you have a client who just says.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
All right, I need let's say homecare for mom, and
they go on to Google and they say home care
in Wichita, Wichita, Kansas, the results that they're going to
get are not necessarily who's the best in in Wichita, Kansas.
There results they're going to get are who's spending the
(21:15):
most on digital advertising. So you might be the absolute
best possible provider in Wichita, Kansas, but if you're not
spending enough on Google, they may not find you.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Well.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
The same is true in this space.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
So if I go out and I say, you know
what I think, I want to look into medication management
for my clients, and you go on Google and you
type in medication dispensers, your results are going to be
who's spending the most on Google. Your results are not
going to be who's the best switch for my client?
Which is why I like to I like to really
navigate because you know, there are a lot of companies
using the same technology, but they may give you different
(21:52):
answers on their capabilities. There are a lot of companies
who have proprietary technology that may not be around in
a year, so they're What I like to say is
you really need to do your due diligence. And I
would never just choose someone based on being the first
result on Google. I would also never just go with
the first vendor that I talked to just because I
get a friendly person on the other end. For the line,
(22:13):
you really want to talk to a few different companies
and not necessarily just.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Based on search results. You want to talk to references.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
And I gave the example earlier of the way Phillips
went to market back in the early two thousands.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
You need something that's simple. You can't. You need something.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
You need someone who understands that you're running a business
and is not expecting you to transform your business to
support their business. You need something that folds in easy,
that your staff can handle, doesn't require a lot of training.
And on the on the other end, your clients need
to be able to use it. If it's complicated for them,
they're not going to use it right.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Right that those are excellent tips. Definitely definitely something that is.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Not part Yeah, So in summarize number one, I would say,
don't just make your decision based on every don't trust
everything you're read online. And number two, anything you choose
needs to be easy.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
It needs to be I know, it doesn't mean it.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Needs to be you know, you don't necessarily want something
that doesn't. You want something that works, but it needs
to be easy to implement, easy to use.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Right, So comprehensive but simple, exactly exactly awesome, great tips. Well,
you know, thank you again for coming on. If anybody
is looking to get ahold of Dave, all his contact
information is either in the description box and if you're
watching us live on Facebook or if you're watching the
replay on YouTube, it'll definitely all be there in the
(23:39):
show notes. Same if you're just listening to the audio
of this on our podcast, Yo, thanks for watching, thanks
for joining, don't forget to hit the subscribe you know,
and gives like and follow, and if you're listening to
our podcasts, leave a comment. All this stuff helps helps
us grow the channel, helps us grow bring more information
(24:00):
to you and allows us to bring more informative guests
like David to bring you the best information to move
the needle forward in your home care agency. So everybody
have a great day, and you know, take care of
each other and we'll see you against
Speaker 2 (24:15):
So thank you very much for having me
Right, good, good morning everybody, and welcome to the morning meeting.
We are here alive today with our good friend, recent friend,
David Schwartz. And you know how's a calm David. All right,
So we are going to actually sit and we're going
(00:25):
to have a conversation today about one of my favorite subjects.
Excuse me if I'm looking away, because I'm trying to
get everything. You know, technology is a wonderful thing and
until it decides not to cooperate, so I'm trying to
make sure we are ready to go. So one of
my favorite topics, how do you scale your business? So
(00:47):
scale versus growth. So the way I usually like to
describe this is when you're growing a business, you're taking
your increasing output and then you're taking resources that are
needed in order to support that output, versus scaling your
businesses where you're increasing output but really don't need more resources.
(01:08):
And one of the best ways to be able to
do this is through automations. Now we're not talking about
you know, streamlining your Facebook ad space or all of
this other wonderful marketing stuff. We're talking about systematic operations
and utilizing technology to increase your profits, increase your revenue
(01:29):
and reduce your need for staff like caregivers. All right,
So you know, I'm not really an expert on this,
I definitely know that it has its benefits and this
is why today we are sitting and we're going to
talk with David, and you know, rather than just go
on and on, David, just tell us a little bit
(01:51):
about you and tell us a little bit about you, know,
what you do, what's your background and why are we
so fortunate to have you here to talk about amazing subjects?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Absolutely, so thank you again very much for having me again.
I'm Dave, and so to give you a little bit of
my background. So, i have been in electronically safety industry
for now going on thirteen to fourteen years. I've worked
in a few different capacities. I've worked for medical alert companies,
I've worked for telehealth companies. I've worked for monitoring centers.
(02:22):
I've worked in commercial security. So I've been in and
around this technology space for a long time. And one
of my specialties has always been working in environments treating
people with chronic conditions, so people who have developmental disabilities,
post acute care seniors, children who need assistance. So I've
(02:46):
done quite a bit of work in affordable senior housing,
working through and navigating government subsidies. So my background is
in utilizing technology to improve safety and with that comes
working pretty closely with agencies that provide both medical and
non medical care in the home as well as we're
working with discharge planners at hospitals, hospice care, and a
(03:08):
variety of other adjacent businesses to help improve quality of care,
improve outcomes, and reduce readmissions.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
That's that's really important, especially, I mean the bulk of
the people that follow us and want us where there
are agencies you know, skilled and non skilled that are
moving into that private bay space, all right, So having
you know, being able to show that you can help
with rehospitalization reduction, that you can you know, provide that
(03:38):
better quality of care. And even if we're talking about
you know, assistant livings or dependent living facilities, same thing
that I mean, the standard is like here when you're
talking about CMS funded businesses, it's got to be up
here when we're talking about private pay and having you
know the framework and understanding what you're doing is it
really goes a long way with being to promote you know,
(04:01):
promote the that higher level of value and so you know,
in your vast experience, like, what are some ways that
we can implement some of this technology or what are
some of the technological events is out there that somebody
can come in and say, all right, great, hey, listen,
I want to be able to do you know, let's
(04:23):
say set up something we were talking about before we
went live, set up a medication reminder system. But I
don't want to have thirty careaivers to do this, you know,
so what are some options that somebody would have.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
For So one of the things I like to recommend
whenever I work with a new agency is first things first,
what what type of care are you providing that doesn't
require a human being? So, are there repetitive tasks that
are relatively low skill, low brain power that you're doing
on a regular basis? You know, are you say you're
(04:58):
are you providing non medical care, but you have a
client that you're going out to on a regular basis
just to check on them or to tell them to
take their pills. Maybe you're not licensed to actually administer
the pills, but you just want to go and tell
them to take their pills, or you're going and saying
it's time to check your blood sugar. It's time to
check your blood pressure.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You know, things that.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
You're not licensed to do, but you're telling them to do. Well,
if you're only booking, say thirty thirty five hours a week,
then at some point they're doing this season themselves or
someone's helping them, and they still you know, they still
need to monitor blood sugar when you're not in the home.
And clearly, if you're only there thirty thirty five hours
a week, they figured out some way to do that.
(05:38):
So tasks like this, I like to lean towards technology
and see number one, is there a way that you
can better utilize the time that you're on site? You know,
when you're in the home, are there higher skilled activities
that you can be performing with that client to improve
the value of your service and also use your time
more efficiently where maybe you have an opportunity to either
(05:59):
generate revenue or improve the relationship with that client when
you're not there. So, you know, a lot of people
when they hear technology in the home, they first immediately
lean toward they hear medical alert. That's what they think about.
But that's not necessarily what I'm talking about, you know,
I think medical alerts absolutely serve a purpose, but that's
not really where I go first.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
And you brought up an excellent point, which is medication.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Now, we all know that one of the biggest reasons
that people are readmitted to the hospital or admitted initially
is because of a medication adherence issue. They miss a pill,
they take the wrong pill, they take too many pills. So,
you know, especially if you're providing non medical care, you
might be able to go into the home and say,
you know, Julio, it's time to take your pills. But
(06:45):
that's pretty much in right. So what makes sense is
looking at what technology is out there that can help
assist with that. You know, if you have a client
who's more independent, maybe all they need is a phone
call or an automation, you know, a reminder on site
saying you know, Julio, it's time to take your pills.
Maybe they need a next level telling them what pills
have taken when. If they're home bound, maybe a medication
(07:08):
dispenser makes sense, where you actually have a controlled system
that determines exactly what to take when and how much.
That can actually say here's all you're taking and here's
all you're allowed to take, but navigating what's appropriate is
not always that simple.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
So one of the.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Services that I provide is helping to kind of navigate
those waters and see, based on the level of care
you're providing, what makes sense. So we're we were talking
a little bit earlier about you know, I like to
use the example of Phillips, who is an absolute mammoth
titan in the industry.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
And you know, you could argue either way whether they.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Grew through acquisition organically, but everybody knew Phillips. You know,
ten years ago, if you had any sort of telehealth
or medical alert program, you were probably using Phillips. And
they were an enormous, enormous They work with every high hospital,
most home couragencies, most home health, most hospice. And one
of the ways they grew was they require their partners
(08:07):
to dedicate resources to their program, which at the time
was great, but in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Nobody wants to do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
And over the last maybe five or six years, they
really shrunk because every other company in the space came
out and said, why do you want to aren't you
running a business? Do you really want to take an
employee and say, now your job is to support this program.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
How many other things are you doing?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You're you're you know, you can't allocate those kinds of resources.
You're trying to grow a business.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
So when you look at when you look.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
At partners, you need to be able to find something
that's simple, something that folds into your business, that doesn't
require a lot of brain power, that you can incorporate,
that makes your life lives easier, makes your clients lives easier,
and generates an opportunity for you to grow that relationship
and hopefully grow some revenue.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Right and now, now on that note, you know, this
is something that particular A lot of the clients that
I work with, the small businesses, you know, they're cost conscious.
So we all understand that, especially in this industry, we're
trying to maintain that forty to fifty percent gross margin
as an owner that will translate into somewhere between you know,
(09:17):
thirteen to twenty percent net depending on a number of
different options. How how are these options? How expensive are
they do they have? Are their options out there with
low low, low barriers you know to get started? I mean,
is it's something that generally have to you know, generally
(09:39):
have to put in twenty thirty forty fifty dollars or
is it something that as a as a small agency
with maybe twenty thirty clients, that I can still put
into flooding.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
That's that's a great question. So I'll give a perfect example.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
So I had a client that I worked with as
a home care agency who coming into COVID, they said,
the only way, you know, we're the best way we
found to distinguish ourselves coming through COVID is to do
away with minimums. So we went from a four hour
care minimum to a fifteen minute minimum, which was great
because from a marketing perspective, you know, nobody else does
(10:15):
this right. But realistically, if anyone ever books me for
fifteen minutes, like I like.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I can't do that. I can't do that.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
There's no forget about margins, there's like, I'm just losing
money every time.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
We answer the phone.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So they said, there's got to be some way for
us to come out and capitalize on this. So we
looked at their client face and said, all right, who
do you have that you're going to the home that
you know? Like, would you would you actually drive an
hour to go see a client? And all you're going
to do is help with checking blood pressure. You know,
these are things that can be automated, can be managed
(10:50):
true technology. And if you look at say, you know,
the average home care client might be booking thirty thirty
five hours a week, and the average hourly rates usually
around you know better than I would say, twenty eight
thirty dollars an hour.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah, that's about right.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So if you use that and you look at say
you look at a client, you're going to be spending
less than two percent of that depending on what level
of service. If you're looking at say a medical or
medication management, whether it's a reminder or dispenser, say you're
looking at telehealth solutions, if you're looking at vital sign monitoring,
you're going to probably be looking about one to two
percent of that gross is going to be spent on
(11:27):
technology if you were if you were to go all
in to support that client. But the difference is if
you're doing that, you know, the most expensive solution out there. So,
say you have a client that is still capable of
living independently, but you want to go all the bells
and whistles in their home, but every single piece of
equipment you could possibly need you're still going to be
(11:48):
spending less per month, or they're going to be spending
less per month than one shift.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Of one of your caregivers.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
So s I mean, sometimes it's appropriate. You know, there
are a lot of companies out there that will base
want a marketing relationship where they'll say, if you have
clients and need a service, give them a brochure and
we'll take it. We'll take it from there. And sometimes
that's fine. But I also find that the more successful
businesses are the ones that go out and look at
(12:14):
it as an opportunity rather than a chance to just say, like,
you know, all right, I want one more thing on
my menu.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
They look at it as this will help.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Me, I'm going to provide it, and they put together
a bundle package where they say, for X number of hours,
either x number of hours that you're booking, or if
you're a certain distance away from my nearest caregiver, I'm
going to provide this piece of technology in the home,
whether it's some sort of fall prevention technology or medication
management or.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Vital sign monitoring.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
They look at it as a means to reduce reduce
their cost and improve their margins and something else to
keep in mind your clients aren't going to be with
you forever. At a certain point, even if they need
a higher level of care, they no longer need your care.
They can't afford you anymore, they don't qualify whatever the
reason is, right, if you put a piece of technology
(13:03):
in the home, even if you're paying for it, when
that relationship is over, it's an opportunity for you to
leave it there start earning revenue because you can go
to a client and say, look, we're no longer your
care provider. If you still need this, you can have
it for X amount of dollars per month.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
You are now generating revenue.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And if their needs ever change where they need service again,
why would they ever consider someone else?
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Well, you're absolutely right. I mean it's one of the
things I work a lot with my clients and I
tell them, listen, you know the people you're servicing today,
they may not need one hundred hours a week from you.
They might only need twelve to twenty hours. But nobody's
getting younger, nobody's getting healthier. So we don't live in
the world of Benjamin Buttons. Okay, So if you can't
(13:51):
figure out a way to capture their attention, go out
of your way and make those twelve hours a week
the best twelve hours they've had. There's no reason for
that to call you back. And that's a great point
you brought up. Implement technology, leave it in there, you know,
make small amount of money until they need you again.
And now when they do need that ninety one hundreds
(14:13):
hundred and sixty eight hours a week, you're going to
be their goal to because there they already trust, they've
already know that they can rely on. I don't.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So it's you brought up an interesting point, which is
that I don't necessarily look at implementing technology as a
way to make money. I look at it as a
way to improve your margins. So someone that goes in
and says, I'm going to go put a you know,
whatever it is, whether it's let's say medical or just
because that's easy, I'm going to go put one in
(14:43):
every one of my clients homes.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
It's not.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Really this is not a means to double your business
overnight and and you know, blow up your territory. But
but if you look at this as a way that look,
I you know, the cost of paying my employees is expensive.
The number of business I'm making is racking up. You know,
I want to be providing a higher level of care.
(15:08):
I don't want to keep going sending an employee out
for things that I really can't build for. This is
a way for you to provide around the clock care
without providing around the clock care.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I mean, yeah, I understand. Yeah, And that's kind of
where my point comes in. See, one of the big
things that I particularly focus on is the overall strategy
of your business. Where you know, with the marketing piece,
with the recruitment piece, with your operational piece, and it's
all geared towards the same purpose. Where can we justify
(15:38):
either the price point we currently have or extending services
out when the client needs so are if you have
a way to monitor your clients, like what you were
just saying, you know, whether it be through a reminder system,
a life alert system, or whatever. You know, it could
be something as simple as remote patient monitoring with a
(16:00):
with a tablet. All right, whatever it is that you
have there that gives you that access, that's how you're
going to grow your business. And yes, you know the
reality is you're not charging specifically for that to make money.
But if I can justify using me as a service
(16:20):
provider as opposed to you know, hiring random Jane down
the street that'll do it for fifteen eighteen dollars an
hour off the books. That is where you grow your business.
That reputation, that trust, that ability to provide the value
to the client, that becomes never ending.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah, I mean I yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I'd also like to say so, like another example you
brought up a great point, which is, you know, if
there's a way to kind of streamline so like I
had a client who provided in home care to a
senior living community. They were contracted to go out and service.
It was a it was a CCRC, so if they
had varying levels of care, and they would literally pay
(17:04):
nurses to go knock on something like one hundred and
fifty doors every single morning literally for the purpose of
just saying, you know, we want to make sure missus
Smith made it through the night, which really all right,
I'll did she make it through the night, did she
get out of bed? Are we concerned about about missus
Smith just spending all day in bed?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Is she is she well today?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
What have you?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
You know, basically just checking just doing just doing a
wellness check. Right, and one hundred and fifty doors every
single day. That's a tremendous amount of man hours. Yes,
well we went in and for I don't remember what
the cost was, but for not hundreds of dollars, thousands
of dollars, ten for dollars, for dollars, we automated that
(17:48):
where we had the ability that every day the residents
would get a notification to check in and just simple,
all they simply do is press a button and say
I'm out of bed.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It was it was something.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
It was specifically a position that they couldn't reach it
from bed from their bedroom than to get out of
bed and check in, and if they didn't by a
certain time, they'd get a phone call saying, Julio, I
just want to make sure you're doing okay this morning.
If by a certain time they neither checked in or
answered the phone, their name would show up on a
list for the nursing team and they would say, all right,
(18:21):
here's our dashboard. Here are the patients that we have
to take care of today, you know. Here are the
ones that we need to monitor blood sugar. Here are
the ones we have to monitor blood pressure, Here are
here's the medications we're keeping track of and here's everybody
that checked in today, and here's everybody that didn't, and
now we're knocking on six doors instead of one hundred
and fifty.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Just the man our savings on that
you're looking at savings, you know, thousands of dollars per day.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Oh my god, you're paying less for this service. Then
you're paying for probably an hour of one of your employees.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Right probably. Yeah, that's fantastic. Yeah, So designing these systems,
understanding who vendors are, understanding who the key players are.
That that's really where you know, if you're looking to
implement something like this, do not try to do it yourself.
You know, it's it's one of those things I'm sure
you can find all sorts of because I hear it
(19:14):
all the time. Oh you can find all of this online.
You can, but you're not going to understand the technology.
You're not going to understand the benefit. You're not going
to have a custom design system for your agency or
for your building. And you know there's I got to
tell you, I've been doing this for thirty years and
Dave is you know, one of a handful of people
(19:35):
I've ever met the design system like systems like this,
So it really becomes a value overall if you want
to understand how to implement this into like said, regardless
whether it's your home care, your home health agency, your
hospice company, your independent living, assistant living, or any other
type of facility. And so we suggest you know, definitely
(19:57):
find a pro. You know, a hell, if you try
calling me, I'm going to just direct you to him anyway,
because this is a little bit beyond my scope of understanding.
I understand how technology comes into play, and I but
you know that's not definitely not to the extent that
the years of experience of working with his hands on
will bring you. And so, you know, thank you so much, Dave.
(20:20):
We really appreciate you coming on. Now. Our big question is,
and you know we we like to we like to
definitely add on at this on at the end. So
if somebody were to just completely lose their mind and
try to set something like this up, what are two
tips that you would give them if they really wanted
(20:41):
to attempt to do this on their own.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So just like any any of your any of your viewers,
you know they're going out, they're building a business trying
to develop a reputation and build a brand.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
You know, if you have a client who just says.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
All right, I need let's say homecare for mom, and
they go on to Google and they say home care
in Wichita, Wichita, Kansas, the results that they're going to
get are not necessarily who's the best in in Wichita, Kansas.
There results they're going to get are who's spending the
(21:15):
most on digital advertising. So you might be the absolute
best possible provider in Wichita, Kansas, but if you're not
spending enough on Google, they may not find you.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Well.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
The same is true in this space.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
So if I go out and I say, you know
what I think, I want to look into medication management
for my clients, and you go on Google and you
type in medication dispensers, your results are going to be
who's spending the most on Google. Your results are not
going to be who's the best switch for my client?
Which is why I like to I like to really
navigate because you know, there are a lot of companies
using the same technology, but they may give you different
(21:52):
answers on their capabilities. There are a lot of companies
who have proprietary technology that may not be around in
a year, so they're What I like to say is
you really need to do your due diligence. And I
would never just choose someone based on being the first
result on Google. I would also never just go with
the first vendor that I talked to just because I
get a friendly person on the other end. For the line,
(22:13):
you really want to talk to a few different companies
and not necessarily just.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Based on search results. You want to talk to references.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
And I gave the example earlier of the way Phillips
went to market back in the early two thousands.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
You need something that's simple. You can't. You need something.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
You need someone who understands that you're running a business
and is not expecting you to transform your business to
support their business. You need something that folds in easy,
that your staff can handle, doesn't require a lot of training.
And on the on the other end, your clients need
to be able to use it. If it's complicated for them,
they're not going to use it right.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Right that those are excellent tips. Definitely definitely something that is.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Not part Yeah, So in summarize number one, I would say,
don't just make your decision based on every don't trust
everything you're read online. And number two, anything you choose
needs to be easy.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
It needs to be I know, it doesn't mean it.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Needs to be you know, you don't necessarily want something
that doesn't. You want something that works, but it needs
to be easy to implement, easy to use.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Right, So comprehensive but simple, exactly exactly awesome, great tips. Well,
you know, thank you again for coming on. If anybody
is looking to get ahold of Dave, all his contact
information is either in the description box and if you're
watching us live on Facebook or if you're watching the
replay on YouTube, it'll definitely all be there in the
(23:39):
show notes. Same if you're just listening to the audio
of this on our podcast, Yo, thanks for watching, thanks
for joining, don't forget to hit the subscribe you know,
and gives like and follow, and if you're listening to
our podcasts, leave a comment. All this stuff helps helps
us grow the channel, helps us grow bring more information
(24:00):
to you and allows us to bring more informative guests
like David to bring you the best information to move
the needle forward in your home care agency. So everybody
have a great day, and you know, take care of
each other and we'll see you against
Speaker 2 (24:15):
So thank you very much for having me
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