Home Care Strategy Lab

How Coastal Care Partners Built a One-of-a-kind Integrated Care Model (Amy Pierce)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 12 May 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#60 Amy Pierce spent more than 20 years as a nurse and saw firsthand how fragmented healthcare makes it incredibly difficult—especially for older adults—to navigate.

In 2018, she and her husband Scott set out to fix that. They started with nurse-led care management, quickly growing to ~10 clients before expanding the team—and within just six months realized they needed to bring caregiving in-house to control quality and outcomes.

About 1–2 years later, they added clinical oversight so they could handle situations like a 4pm Friday change in condition without sending clients to the ER.

Fast forward 8 years, Coastal Care Partners has grown to 340+ employees and become the largest single-site home care company in Georgia, with an integrated team that includes physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and therapists—even operating multiple primary care practices and specialty services.

Their caregivers go through a 100-hour internal training program, reinforcing their reputation as “elite” providers in their market. Amy shares how they built this model step-by-step—“building the airplane while flying it”—why hiring and communication are everything, and how integration allows them to manage rising conditions like dementia, Parkinson’s, and heart disease more effectively at home.

She also breaks down the operational lessons, leadership challenges, and why she believes integrated care is the future of aging services.

Show Notes:

Amy Pierce on LinkedIn
Coastal Care Partners
Book: The Aging Care Blueprint for Families by Amy Pierce
EOS—Entrepreneurial Operating System for businesses

Sponsors:

Mertz Taggart—Value Accelerator Program

Scaling to $13M Without Investors, Diversified Payers, or Traditional Playbooks (Scott Pierce)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 05 May 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#59 Scott Pierce didn’t come from home care—he came from broadcasting and healthcare software. But after navigating his parents’ complex health needs, he and his wife Amy built something entirely different in Savannah, Georgia. Eight years later, Coastal Care Partners is doing nearly $13M in revenue and 7,000 hours of care per week—all from a single location.

Scott breaks down some of the unconventional decisions behind their growth:

Why he focused on hours and Google reviews—not margins or EBITDA
How staying 100% private pay shaped their model
The early bets on caregiver pay, training, and infrastructure
Lessons from distractions, failed ideas, and scaling without outside capital
And why most agencies stay stuck—and what it actually takes to break through

Scott Pierce on LinkedIn
Coastal Care Partners
Book: The Aging Care Blueprint for Families by Amy Pierce
Book: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

The Office Team, SOPs, and Networking that Took Him from 700 to 3,000 Hours/Week (Conant Schoenly)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#58 His father founded the first home care company in Connecticut in 1985. After leaving to pursue a career in finance and private equity, Conant rejoined the family business in 2018. What he walked into? Whiteboards, minimal systems, and plenty of opportunity. In less than eight years, he’s helped 4x the business, driven by thoughtful change management, stronger office staff, and continuous process improvement. Conant breaks down how he hires and develops his office team, how they approach micro vs. macro SOP changes, and why regularly visiting other home care operators has been a game-changer for challenging his thinking and bringing fresh ideas back to the business.

Sponsors:

Phoebe

The 6 Preventable Gaps Driving 30-Day Readmissions (Ethan Guerrieri)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#57 The federal government invested $500 million to understand why seniors are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days—and uncovered six key “preventable” gaps driving the problem. Ethan Guerrieri, VP of Operations at Preferred Care at Home, breaks down the research, explains each gap, and shares how his team turned these insights into their Smooth Transition Care Program. Designed for hospitals and SNFs, this evidence-based approach equips case managers and discharge planners with the tools and education they need to reduce readmissions—and shows why home care is the missing link in keeping clients safely at home.

Ethan Guerrieri
Preferred Care at Home
Smooth Transition Care BROCHURE
Smooth Transition Care FLYER
Smooth Transition Care PERSONAL HEALTH RECORD

Sponsors:

GUIDE-Ready Respite Provider Program (Debbie Miller + Harmonic Health)
CMS GUIDE Participant List (spreadsheet download)

What 110,000+ Caregiver Applicants are Telling Us (Jen Waldron)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#56 From 110,713 caregiver applicants, 76% of those hired live less than 20 miles from the center of an agency’s service area. Location, hours, and pay are a few of the most important things applicants care about according to Jen Waldron, Co-Founder of Augusta. Every quarter, Augusta publishes the Recruitment Benchmark Report that details top recruitment channels, interview preferences, time-to-hire stats, previous caregiving experience, and top benefits applicants are looking for. Jen shares data and insights she’s gleaned having seen nearly 1 million caregiver applications over the years—the results are simple, yet staggering.

Jen Waldron
Augusta - Home Care Recruitment Operating Solution
Augusta Q4 2025 Caregiver Recruitment Benchmark Report

Sponsors:

Mertz Taggart—check out their Value Accelerator Program
PocketRN—team up with a GUIDE partner

How CareAdvantage Integrates Virtual Assistants into Recruiting and On-Call (Olivia Jones)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#55 Adding virtual assistants hasn’t just been a cost-strategy, it’s become a growth strategy for CareAdvantage. EVP Olivia Jones shares how initial skepticism gave way to a fully integrated model supporting both recruiting and on-call operations. Today, a team of 6 VAs drives the top of the recruiting funnel—each completing ~220 calls per week and collectively bringing in 40+ new caregivers weekly, while also placing dozens into their new caregiver training program. Olivia explains down how they hire, onboard, and train VAs like any other team member, and why that’s critical to success. She also unpacks how they’re unraveling a 30+ person, reactive on-call model with a proactive, live-answer approach that improves both cost and quality. The integration of VAs is creating a new hybrid operating model that’s helping CareAdvantage cut costs, improve quality, and increase accessibility.

Olivia Jones
CareAdvantage
Helper Heroes - Home Care VAs / mention the Lab

Sponsor:

Phoebe—mention LAB for 10% off

How Debbie Miller is Approaching $1M from GUIDE—And Giving Away Her Exact System

Miriam Allred — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#54 So you joined the GUIDE Program…but referrals aren’t coming in like you expected. Now what? That’s exactly where Debbie Miller—Owner of Senior Helpers Nashville and Founder of 52 Weeks Marketing—found herself. Instead of waiting, she got to work.

After running into gaps during implementation, Debbie didn’t just “figure it out”—she built a complete system around GUIDE:

A step-by-step process to train her team
A way to onboard and track every referral
Proven marketing to sell GUIDE to current clients, referral partners, and new families
Ongoing coaching and support

She partnered with Harmonic Health to bring it all together—and the results speak for themselves: 1) over $500K generated (and climbing toward $1M) from GUIDE clients and 2) significant additional revenue from added hours. Debbie calls GUIDE “the best thing to hit home care in 20 years”—but only for providers who take action.If you’re sitting on GUIDE and waiting for it to work… this is what it actually looks like to make it work.

Debbie Miller on LinkedIn
SIGN UP HERE for GUIDE-Ready Respite Provider Program
Podcast slide deck
52 Weeks Marketing—turnkey home care sales system
Helper Heroes—home care trained virtual assistants

Sponsors:

Acrisure—mention the 'LAB'

Should Home Care Build, Buy, or Partner with Care Management (Steve Barlam)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#53 “Care managers turn chaos into clarity—bridging what families want with what their loved ones truly need.” Steve Barlam, a 40+ year geriatric care management leader, former ALCA president, and CEO of JFS Care, shares lessons from building one of the most integrated care management–led home care models in the country. He breaks down the critical differences between home care management and aging life care management, and why clarity in terminology and scope are essential for both families and providers. We unpack the business realities of adding care management—from recruiting the right talent to navigating pricing, market demand, and referral dynamics. Steve also explains how care management can both drive home care growth and coexist with external partners when done thoughtfully. He offers a forward-looking perspective on the industry, adapting to technology, coaching families, and the urgent need to scale care management to meet the growing demand.

Steve Barlam on LinkedIn
JFS Care
Thoughtful Engagement Program
ALCA—Aging Life Care Association
Care Management Certification bodies:
NACCM
CCMC
NASW

Sponsors:

Phoebe—mention 'LAB' for 10% off

The Story of Halcyon Home: From Flyers on a College Campus to 1,000 Employees (Amy Sweet)

Miriam Allred — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#52 What began as a personal mission to find young, hip caregivers for her aunt quickly turned into a business opportunity—and eventually the founding of Halcyon Home, now the 4th largest woman-owned business based in Austin, TX. CEO Amy Sweet shares how her clinical background as a physician assistant led her to quickly add geriatric care management, home health, and hospice to her home care company—and what she learned navigating the complex Texas licensing process. She discusses the leadership challenges of scaling multiple service lines, hiring the right people to grow each department, and communicating how home care, home health, and hospice work together both internally and externally. Today, Halcyon provides thousands of visits every day and employs nearly 1,000 people across its services. Amy also shares her long-term vision of building an intergenerational community where seniors, students, and children thrive together.

Amy Sweet on LinkedIn
Halcyon Home

Sponsors:

PocketRN

Mommy Side Hustle Turned Thriving Nurse-Led Home Care Business (Jenny Johnson)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#51 Jenny Johnson was an ICU nurse when a traumatic health crisis in her family changed the course of her career. After discovering private in-home nursing care, she decided to launch her own home care company, Heart of Gold Nursing. Jenny shares the leadership lessons she learned transitioning from hospital culture to running a home care business—building strong communication systems, prioritizing high-need clients, empowering her office team to make decisions, and creating growth opportunities for caregivers. She also explains how adding care management became a game-changing service line, helping her team address both the task-based needs of clients and the bigger clinical picture families struggle to navigate. She’s just a few years into her journey and she’s building an inspiring nurse-led model of care with a story and success everyone can learn something from.

Sponsors:

Mertz Taggart

How One Home Care Provider is Adapting to the MCO Medicaid Model in Indiana (Christian Sullivan)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 07:00:00 -0500

#50 Indiana switched its Medicaid home care system to Managed Care in 2024—and two years later, many providers say the transition is still a “hot mess,” to put it mildly. Christian Sullivan, an office manager at one of Altra Home Care’s four Indiana locations, shares what it’s really been like on the ground: navigating new MCO relationships, managing operational complexity, supporting clients stuck on long waiting lists, and what this shift could mean long term. Relevant for any home care operator—but especially those serving Medicaid or operating in managed care states.

Sponsors:

What’s Happening in Home Care M&A And How it Impacts Operators (Cory Mertz)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 07:00:00 -0600

#49 Every home care business will go through a transition at some point in time via buy, sell, or exit. Cory Mertz, Managing Partner at Mertz Taggart shares why owners often overestimate “the multiple” and underestimate risk, and how factors like reimbursement exposure, transition planning, and management depth quietly drive value. We talk about common blind spots in profitable agencies, why highly unique businesses aren’t always the most attractive acquisition targets, and how buyers are thinking differently today than they were a few years ago. Cory also opens up about the emotional side of selling, the life events that change an owner’s timeline, and what transition risk really looks like before, during, and after a sale.

Sponsors:

A Masterclass on the Medicare GUIDE Program for Home Care (Jenna Morgenstern-Gaines)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 07:00:00 -0600

#48 You’ve probably heard about the Medicare GUIDE program—but you may still be wondering: Is my agency a fit? And how do we actually participate? PocketRN Co-Founder and CEO Jenna Morgenstern-Gaines delivers one of the clearest breakdowns I’ve heard on how GUIDE really works. We unpack the program model, the difference between participants and partner organizations, patient eligibility and enrollment, what services are actually included, and how home care agencies can use GUIDE to strengthen and differentiate their dementia care. If dementia is part of your caseload, this is an episode you can’t afford to miss. GUIDE isn’t just another program—it’s an early signal of where dementia care, reimbursement, and home care integration are heading.

Sponsors:

Helper Heroes - high-quality virtual assistants that know home care
Mertz Taggart - the leading home care M&A firm advising sellers at every stage

Home Care Leaders Are Sleeping on Social Media (Nick Bonitatibus)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 07:00:00 -0600

#47 If you’re building a strong culture, social media is easy. If you’re not, social media feels impossible—and most leaders opt out. Nick Bonitatibus breaks down how home care leaders should actually be using social platforms: not as a sales channel, but as a weekly business tool. We talk about what content really performs right now, why raw posts build more trust than polished ones, how to attract referrals and talent, and what real relationship-building looks (and it’s not cold DMs). We talk about how to translate visibility and credibility into real business outcomes—tune in.

Sponsors:

Acrisure

Why Higher Rates Don’t Always Mean Higher Revenue (Jesse Walters)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 07:00:00 -0600

#46 There’s more to private pay rates than most people think. Jesse Walters, CEO of Hillendale Home Care, shares what it’s like to operate as both a low-cost provider and a premium provider—and the challenges that come with each. Jesse walks through acquiring Hillendale, scaling the business by 600% in just three years, and how pricing decisions impacted competition, staffing, and continuity of care along the way. He also discusses opening multiple de novo offices in his California market—by the way, de novo means starting from the beginning—and what that taught him about rates as a long-term strategy, not just a short-term revenue lever.

About Hillendale
Hillendale Home Care provides trusted, relationship-based in-home care for older adults throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, serving Contra Costa, Alameda, Sonoma, Santa Clara, and San Mateo Counties. The agency offers personalized support designed to help seniors live safely and comfortably at home, including companionship, personal care, dementia care, and assistance with daily living. Hillendale is known for its thoughtful caregiver matching, high standards of care, and deep commitment to the local communities it serves.

Sponsors:

How AI Is Actually Being Used for Scheduling Tasks in Home Care (Dave Dworschak)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 07:00:00 -0600

#45 In the past 6-12 months, AI has gone from interesting and useful to reliable and effective. Dave Dworschak from Phoebe explains what that actually means for operators. It’s not a replacement for people, but a teammate that takes repetitive work off administrator’s plates. Dave breaks down three real scheduling workflows where AI is already being used today: last-minute call-out outreach, proactive shift confirmation, and missed clock-in and clock-out cleanup. Tasks that used to take schedulers 1.5 to 2 hours are now being handled in under 15 minutes. We focus on how agencies can integrate AI into their existing systems, workflows, and culture to reduce constraints, protect revenue, and give teams their time back without adding headcount.

If you're interested in learning more about Lab Partners—email me at miriam@homecarestrategylab.com.

He Started in Home Care at 17—Now He Oversees 113 Referral Accounts (Nick Provost)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 07:00:00 -0600

#44 Nick Provost started in home care as a teenager at his family’s business and has now spent his entire adult life working his way up in home care, eventually stepping into his current leadership role at Gratitude Homecare in New Jersey. The core of his care philosophy is: every family should look back and say working with us was “the best money we ever spent.” We dig into the reality of private-pay business development in home care and the two hats every great BD leader must wear: building referral relationships and converting those referrals into clients. Nick had no formal sales training, but he explains how active listening, being a true resource, and deep industry knowledge have helped him thrive in a highly competitive market. He breaks down what’s working with his top referral accounts, how he asks for and earns business, and the feedback loops that keep referrals coming back consistently.

Sponsors:

Why Hours is a More Effective Metric than Revenue (John Bennett)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 07:00:00 -0600

#43 - He’s scaled Sunny Days In-Home Care to more than 37,000 hours of care each week across five offices through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions. In this episode, CEO John Bennett breaks down exactly how he’s centralized his back office, structured his org chart, and defined a clear set of North Star KPIs. He shares why hours—not revenue—drive alignment across the organization, how shift coverage acts as a real-time pulse check on culture, and how RACI thinking brings clarity as teams grow. John also walks through the challenge of getting buy-in during periods of change, especially when roles evolve and specialization increases. And he shares the teams' simple but powerful focus: maximizing the “hours of good” they delivers to individuals and families who need care most.

John Bennett on LinkedIn
john@dlemholdings.com
Sunny Days In-home Care

Sponsors:

Mert Taggart
Phoebe—10% off, mention the Lab

Hard Lessons Learned After Exiting Daily Operations And What Came Next (Justin Currie)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 07:31:00 -0600

#42 He grew the business impressively for five years, exited daily operations, and then things didn’t go as planned. Justin Currie, CEO of Thema Home Care opens up about what happened after he stepped away, the people and process issues he discovered, and how he ultimately tuned the business around. He gets detailed and prescriptive on people in the wrong seats, processes not being followed, hard decisions and conversations he had to have, and the results of re-engaging in daily operations. He also shares an exciting update about partnering with the American Health at Home fund to expand his business and open new doors for accelerated growth.

Sponsors:

Helper Heroes—virtual assistants trained for home care operations
Phoebe—AI scheduling assistant for call-out coverage, shift confirmation, clock in/out reminders, and more

An Inside Look at Legal and Compliance of an Eight-Figure Home Care Company

Miriam Allred — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 07:30:00 -0600

#41 Lawyers. Home Care. California. Need we say more… I sat down with Angelo Spinola, ‘the lawyer of home care’, shareholder at Poslinelli, and one of his clients, Yazmin Hamilton, VP of Compliance at industry giant, 24 Hour Home Care. Angelo talks about audit pitfalls, misunderstood regulations, when to bring in outside counsel, and how to be proactive before it’s too late. Yazmin breaks down her 20-person compliance team, what they’re focused on, how they operate, and lessons learned scaling across states, services, and payor sources. These two keep what could be a dry legal episode, fresh with stories and frameworks applicable to any home care business.

Angelo Spinola on LinkedIn
Polsinelli: Home Health, Home Care & Hospice
POSH: Polsinelli Online Solutions for Home Care
Yazmin Hamilton on LinkedIn
24 Hour Home Care

Sponsors:

Phoebe—AI assistant for scheduling communication
Acrisure—leading insurance broker for home care

Why Agencies Are Drowning in Tech and How to Fix It (Denise DiSano)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 07:15:00 -0600

#40 A $5M home care company can have upwards of 300-500 communication touch points in a single day. It’s not uncommon for an agency to be using 8-12 tech tools and for caregivers to interphase with 3-5 every week. Technology often feels like the root of many issues, even turnover, but often times it’s actually the integration and implementation of these tools. Denise DiSano, the Founder and CEO of enCappture breaks down her 3 C’s framework to analyze and improve your tech selection, adoption, and consolidation.

Denise DiSano on LinkedIn
info@encappture.com
enCappture website
PDF: Caregiver Retention Day 1 Checklist

Sponsors:

How Chronic Disease Support Groups Became a Growth Engine for This Agency (Melissa Morante)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 07:10:00 -0600

#39 Melissa Morante didn’t come from home care—she came from New York PR—but since joining her family’s agency in 2016, she’s become one of South Florida’s go-to experts on Parkinson’s and chronic illness care. In this episode, she shares how that deep dive into Parkinson’s led to her building a network of support groups that now serve hundreds of families looking for education, community, and relief from caregiver burnout. We talk about what it really takes to run effective support groups, why consistency matters more than structure, where she hosts these groups, and how these gatherings have become one of the agency’s most meaningful differentiators. Melissa also opens up about the challenges and the opportunities ahead as they expand into other chronic illnesses and community partnerships.

Episode brought to you by:
SmartAutomations.Care smartautomations.care
Helper Heroes helperheroes.com

Only 5% Can Afford Traditional Home Care with Clay Foutch

Miriam Allred — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 07:15:00 -0600

Live @ HCAOA—20-minute conversation with Clayton Foutch, CEO of Home Matters Caregiving

Clayton Foutch on LinkedIn
Home Matters Caregiving
Home Matters started as a family business in 2007, franchised in 2020, and now has 39 locations nationwide.
Built on a nurse-guided, innovation-focused model shaped by Clayton’s engineering background.
Traditional care mainly serves the top 5% who can afford $10–30K/month, leaving a huge access and labor gap.
The team has reviewed ~40 emerging technologies and formally tested several to close these gaps.
Passive tech matters most—anything clients must wear, charge, or interact with quickly fails.
Sensi leads in audio-based passive monitoring, but roughly 25% of clients still resist it.
Operators must shift from reactive to proactive care models using tech to prevent incidents.
Agencies can partner with discharge planners by offering tech-forward solutions for families who can’t afford full-time care, proving value through metrics like readmissions.

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

Why Home Care Leaders Need to Play the Long Game with Michelle Cone

Miriam Allred — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0600

Live @ HCAOA—20-minute conversation with Michelle Cone, SVP of Industry Engagement at HomeWell Franchising, Inc.

Michelle Cone on LinkedIn
HomeWell Franchising
The investment that’s paid off in home care: 1) learning to lead with patience and 2) learning to play the long game
Leading with patience:
- Don’t scrap ideas or initiatives after a matter of weeks, give important things more time
  - Measure everything and make decisions off of quantity and quality
- Find mentors who embody patience and shadow them
- Home care is reactive and we want to solve problems quickly, but give yourself time and space to think, reflect, and process issues accordingly
- Systematize ‘how you process’ as a leader, so you can improve over time
Playing the long game:
- In sales: building relationships, processes, and trust that lasts
- In operations: short term goals, long term initiatives, and both require clear expectations and a plan of execution
- Put in place: monthly, quarterly, annual, and 5-year goals
Michelle’s personal mission: educating anyone and everyone on the impact and benefit of home care
The time is now for home care—we’ve put in the work, time to double down on what’s working.
Keeping an eye on CMS Guide Program in 2026. Partnered with PocketRN with a focus on reducing hospital readmissions.
The 3-legged stool: non-medical, skilled, hospice > personal care pulling apart from companionship, palliative care taking on a bigger role > the nature and structure of home care is shifting

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

Focus More on Hours Per Client Per Week with Stephen Tweed

Miriam Allred — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0600

Live at HCAOA—30-minute conversation with Stephen Tweed, Founder/CEO of Leading Home Care

Highlights

Stephen Tweed on LinkedIn
leadinghomecare.com
Home Care CEO Forum
The big metric: Hours per week = the currency of home care
Lesson common but more important: Hours per client per week = the health of the business
- It indicates:
  - Where clients are coming from
  - Which referrals give the longest hour clients
- Which referrals and clients have the longest length of stay and LTV
Hours per client per week + length of stay = $ value of the client
Next comes: Hours per caregiver per week
3 types of caregivers: professional caregivers (40-60/hrs a week), half-time professional caregivers (20-30 hours a week), part-time intermittent caregivers (come and go)
4 levels of your ‘data stream’
- Level 1: raw data
- Level 2: information
- Level 3: knowledge
- Level 4: wisdom
Clients and families want 2 things: reliability and continuity
Clients go through ‘5 phases of flow’:
- Phase 1: attraction
- Phase 2: conversion
- Phase 3: staffing
- Phase 4: caregiving
- Phase 5: collections
2026 Future of Home Care Study
System = process + people
If you do a task weekly in your business, you need to systematize it.
Applying AI: the task, the internal systems, and the competitive ecosystem (differentiation)

Scaling a Specialized Home Care Model Leveraging Medicaid Waivers (Jamie Arber)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0600

#38 Most home care agencies talk about “differentiation,” but the Supported Living Group in Connecticut is actually doing it. In this episode, Executive Director Jamie Arber breaks down how his team built a high-acuity, high-retention brain-injury program anchored by Medicaid waivers (ABI), brick-and-mortar program sites, creative arts and vocational services, and an in-house clinical team. He explains the financial model (including $60K–$350K waiver budgets), how programs extend client lifetime value, and why specialization protects margins. Jamie also shares what Medicaid waiver work really requires—operational sophistication, rapid responsiveness, the ability to bolt on profitable private-pay and workers’ comp layers and more.

Sponsors:

Acrisure / midwest.acrisure.com/home-care
SmartAutomations.Care

Positioning the Rising Cost of Care to Families in Hawaii with Jenny Cambra

Miriam Allred — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 07:30:00 -0600

Live at HCAOA—15 minute conversation with Jenny Cambra, CEO of Senior Helpers Honolulu

Highlights:

Jenny’s hospitality background and personal family experience with dementia care led her into home care.
She sees strong overlap between hospitality and home care—both people-centered service industries.
She went to nursing school to better understand and support her caregivers.
Early growth came quickly: a referral on day two and she hired 12 caregivers ahead of demand.
Her philosophy: don’t overthink it—listen to what families say they need.
Hawaii’s high cost of care requires transparency; she openly explains why they aren’t the cheapest.
Their pricing reflects strong caregiver investment: fair wages, 401(k), recognition, training, and a real career path.
They emphasize that the agency carries the liability—something families often don’t see.
Goal: keep clients safe at home with the right tools, hours, and support.
They now recommend an 8-hour/week minimum and do 90-day reassessments to track changes in condition.
Close collaboration with DME companies helps maintain safety in the home.
Aiming for CHAP certification in 2026 to validate their patient-centered standards.
jcambra@seniorhelpers.com

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

Can You Get Into a ‘Closed’ VA State or Not with Carmen Perry

Miriam Allred — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 07:15:00 -0600

Live at HCAOA—45 minute conversation with Carmen Perry, the VP of Provider Engagement @ Paradigm

Highlights:

Carmen started in skilled nursing, where she saw how many seniors wanted to stay home but couldn’t afford care—driving her to learn funding options like Aid & Attendance.
Veterans often distrust the VA due to past inconsistencies; bringing in TriWest and Optum improved operations and triggered an influx of providers.
Many markets are now oversaturated, but veterans still have choice—agencies can find and enroll veterans directly, even in “closed” states like CA and TX where rural gaps still exist.
Biggest myth: getting credentialed brings instant referrals. Reality: you earn growth through excellent care and strong relationships with case managers.
Success depends on communication, advocacy, and becoming the local expert—engage with VFW posts, American Legion, and Wounded Warrior groups.
Credentialing varies widely by state and timeline; you need proper licensing, NPI, compliance, and patience.
First referrals are high-stakes: follow VA rules (no OT, no holiday pay, correct billing cycles) to avoid risking credentialing.
Nationwide, VA hours and authorizations are tightening; incomplete caregiver notes can result in lost hours because case managers lack context.
Providers must tell the full story in documentation and prepare for stricter screening and re-credentialing processes that are popping up at more and more VA offices.
Paradigmseniors.com / vault.paradigmseniors.com
National Aging in Place Council: https://ageinplace.org/

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

What Home Care Employers Need to Know About Offering Major Medical (Joseph Kitonga)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 07:15:00 -0600

#37 42% of Direct Care Workers rely on public health coverage and on average only 32% of agencies doing $1.6-4.9M in annual revenue are offering major medical. Joseph Kitonga, CEO of Vitable, breaks down what small, medium, and large agencies need to know about ACA compliance, nuances for part-time and FTEs, major medical plan options, and other advice and warnings when it comes to offer major medical. (See the chapter highlights below to skip to the content relevant to your size.)

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Home Care and Health Insurance
06:09 Joseph's Journey and Founding Vitable Health
15:23 Common Misunderstandings in Health Insurance for Home Care
20:50 Exploring Health Insurance Options for Home Care Agencies
27:41 Understanding ACA Compliance and Employee Classification
30:40 Strategies for Small Home Care Agencies
38:51 Navigating Compliance for Mid-Sized Agencies
44:58 Benefits and Challenges for Large Home Care Companies
50:36 Preparing for Future Changes in Medicaid and Employee Needs

Sponsors:

SmartAutomations.Care
24/7 Solutions 247solutions.co

Social Media Recruitment Does Work with Chaim Gewirtzman

Miriam Allred — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 07:30:00 -0600

Live at HCAOA—20 minute conversation with Chaim Gewirtzman, CEO @ NCE Home Care

Highlights:

00:00 Introduction to His Home Care Journey
03:42 Relating to Caregivers: His Nursing Perspective
06:42 Innovative Recruitment Strategies
09:35 The Importance of Online Presence
12:35 Social Media Investment and Strategy
15:38 Employee Referral Programs with Personal Touch
18:49 Valuing Caregivers Goes Beyond Monetary Incentives

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

How a Phone-Based AI Care Pilot is Decreasing Loneliness for Older Adults with Connor Sweeney

Miriam Allred — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 07:05:00 -0600

Live from HCAOA—45 minute conversation with Connor Sweeney, Co-Founder at CallBaba.Com

Highlights:

His grandma’s stroke pulled him into caregiving with his mom and grandfather.
He cloned her voice to create AI speech-therapy agents tailored to her needs.
Fascinating stat: dementia rates are higher among people who are deaf.
Baba is an AI companion for questions, prayer, conversation, emotional support, and care advocacy.
Seniors and families can connect through Baba to a network of doctors, nurses, and doulas.
Works on any phone—even landlines.
A personalized “friend” that listens, remembers, and adapts.
Common use cases: prayer, conversational role-play, Q&A, nudges, reminders.
Care teams can get alerts when health concerns show up in conversations.
Try it: text hi to 833-355-2676.
Advocacy services are Medicare-covered for many conditions.
Key partners include MIT economist Jonathan Gruber and Johns Hopkins physician Peter Abadir.
Ongoing study tracking loneliness, anxiety, cortisol levels, and emergency call trends.
Home care agencies are a key distribution path to get Baba into clients’ homes.
35:38 Personal stories of reduced loneliness and meaningful emotional support.
Organizational outcomes: lower loneliness, better retention, fewer readmissions.
For Medicare-eligible seniors: access to a full-time advocate and 24/7 customizable support—lightening caregiver load.
Contact: connor@callbaba.com or callbaba.com.

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

Turn Caregivers Into Your Brand Ambassadors with Jennifer Axelrod

Miriam Allred — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 07:15:00 -0600

Live from HCAOA—15 minute conversation with Jennifer Axelrod, with A Place at Home

Highlights:

Jennifer brings 3 years in home care and 15 years in franchising.
She began as a franchise business coach at A Place at Home and now leads partnerships and national accounts.
Home care is personal—her grandmother’s difficult Alzheimer’s journey shaped her “why.”
Build a culture of recognition from day one, every day.
Caregivers enter the field with purpose; they stay when they feel valued and supported.
Tailor the interview and onboarding process to meet caregivers where they are.
Learn their goals and create personalized career paths.
Know caregivers personally and professionally; support whole-person wellbeing.
As you scale, leverage tech to standardize training, recognition, check-ins, and feedback.
Daily operations often push recognition aside—don't let it slip.
Many agencies lack feedback loops to truly understand caregiver needs.
Treat retention and recognition as a core operational pillar and document your process.
Contact: jenniferaxelrod@aplaceathome.com.

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

The Wage and Bonus Structure Fueling a Top-Performing Home Care Agency (Gabby Hoing)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 07:15:00 -0600

#36 Too many home care leaders struggle to offer wages and benefits that truly support and retain their care staff. In this episode, Gabby Hoing, CEO of Kore Cares in South Dakota, breaks down her detailed wage, bonus, and benefits programs and explains why they work. She also shares how her office team conducts quarterly check-ins with every caregiver to gather feedback, understand their needs, and ensure meaningful support. It’s a highly informative and also inspiring conversation with a leader who started as a CNA and is now committed to elevating and supporting the people who care for our aging population.

Sponsors:

Helper Heroes / helperheroes.com
24/7 Solutions / 247solutions.co

Pivoting From Transactional Care to Solutions-Based Services with Matt Ericksen

Miriam Allred — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 08:00:00 -0600

Live from HCAOA—20 minute conversation with Matt Ericksen, VP of Sales at Griswold Home Care Corporate Office in Blue Bell, PA.

Highlights:

He’s been in home care for 13, at Griswold for 5 years
Griswold is 40 years in, founded by Jean Griswold, 230 locations in 32 states
He got a history degree, but his wife urged him into health care scheduling, the rest is history
Home care has been his intersection for purpose, creativity, and coaching
We have to do away with transactional caregiving, transactional scheduling
We have to pivot to solutions-based services and position it as such to families
The transition includes hourly care + remote monitoring to familiarize families with alternative, solutions-based services
13:40 - Example: Parkinson’s Care
- A Parkinson's patient who avoids a serious fall or aspiration event might prevent 2-3 additional hospitalizations over the next 18 months.
- The ROI: One prevented hospitalization often cascades into preventing 2-4 more. That's $40,000-$140,000 in cumulative savings. That's when affordability flips from cost-center to investment.
We have to communicate the story the numbers tell in a human-centered way that clients and families understand
Agencies that are succeeding are nimble, adaptable, and solutions-focused

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

How HomeSight’s Wellness Hub Saved A Client's Life with Janice Rehkopf

Miriam Allred — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 08:00:00 -0600

LIVE from HCAOA—45 minute conversation with Janice Rehkopf, Director of Client Services at Comfort Keepers in Traverse City, MI.
Highlights:

People are talking about aging sooner
Every family, every client, every caregiver has a unique set of needs
People want solutions-based care, not just more hours
Many seniors don’t need a caregiver right away, some times technology or a supplemental solution can come first
99% of homes have TVs in them
7/10 homes already have cameras in them
The HomeSight Wellness Hub connects to the TV, has 2-way communication, a privacy shutter, and loads of applications and tools to manage medication reminders, family video calls, caregiver training, office communication, personalized calendars and more
23:14 - Primary Use Case: Wellness Calls
34:12 - HomeSight is saving client's lives
They created a blended care model which includes multiple solutions to meet the clients needs: i.e. nutritional support, meals, emergency response pendents, hourly care, the wellness hub, etc.
Learn more about HomeSight or get in touch with Janice directly: janicerehkopf@comfortkeepersnwmi.com

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

He Took Over a CNA School, Did it Pay Off with Carl Bossung

Miriam Allred — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 08:00:00 -0600

LIVE from HCAOA—15 minute conversation with Carl Bossung, Co-Founder of Senior1Care in Indiana.

Highlights:

20 year family owned business, 6 offices, 600 employees
Former leader in a CPA firm, grew it from 20 people to 6,000
Got into home care for care for his mom and anticipating the demand of the baby boomer generation
The bought a CNA school, because whoever gets the best employees in a service business wins
The CNA school was winding down, they were already hiring out of the school, so they decided to buy it, 11 years ago
To date, since they took it over, they’ve trained 5,000 CNAs and hire about 15% of them
They’ve never made money on the school, but the small loss, is worth sourcing the talent
The other 85% are going out and getting jobs, and it’s a great way to give back to the community
The school has a 99% pass rate
Senior1 sources many high school and college students out of the school, only challenge is many want fixed hour work weeks
There are 72 procedures for CNAs to learn, in the school they learn it in one week
The investment hasn’t paid off, but it’s their recruiting engine
They’ll offer caregivers the option to get their CNA paid for if they work consistently, with no call-offs, for 3-6 months

Sponsors:

Baba (callbaba.com): AI phone-based co-pilot for seniors to prevent loneliness, create support, and connect them with professionals
Paradigm (paradigmseniors.com): Credentialing, billing automation, and revenue cycle management for VA and Medicaid payments
HomeSight (vantiva.com/homesight): TV-based wellness hub for blended care—video visits, health monitoring, and daily reminders for the family and care team

The Days of Dual Entry from Phone Call to Scheduling Software Are Over (Spencer Roth)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 07:15:00 -0600

#35 Technology is ending the era of dual-entry between phone calls and scheduling platforms in home care. Spencer joined the family-owned home care business three years ago and identified a handful of manual processes that needed attention immediately. Fast forward, he’s built a tool called SmartAutomations.Care that connects the phone system to your scheduling software and automates the documentation and communication of every single call that comes into the office so that nothing gets missed. He explains the workflows, the data that’s captured, success stories, and the results. This is the future of home care—removing dual entry, increasing efficiency, making office members 2-4x more efficient, and elevating the quality of care.

Sponsors:

Acrisure midwest.acrisure.com/home-care
24/7 Solutions 247solutions.co

What $15M Senior1Care Did When Culture Started Falling Behind Operations (Jane Francis)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 07:05:00 -0600

#34 People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Jane Francis, EVP of Business Development at Senior1Care in Indiana, is newer to home care, but she brings deep experience in nursing, sales, leadership development, and scaling businesses. She took over a newly acquired, underperforming Medicaid office and transformed it into a 75% private pay operation, achieving 100% year-over-year growth. Along the way, she rebuilt the culture, redesigned processes with people at the center, and is now applying these strategies across six offices. Jane shares her process, the people who inspired her, and the decisions behind Senior1Care’s cultural turnaround, despite being an established successful company.

Jane Francis on LinkedIn
Senior1Care
Books:
- Leadership: Rocketfuel by Gino Wickman
- Leadership: Mindset by Carol Dweck
- Sales: Sales Simplified by Mark Weinberg
- Marketing: Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim
- Culture: Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
- Aging: Forever Young by Mark Hyman

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Jane Francis and Senior One Care
01:51 Lessons Learned from a Diverse Career
12:53 Joining Senior One Care: A New Chapter
13:47 First 90 Days: Building Relationships and Trust
18:32 Shifting the Business Model: From Medicaid to Private Pay
22:49 Leadership and Culture: The Secret Sauce
29:44 Operational Improvements: Structuring the Intake Call
35:18 Re-structuring Office Roles and Responsibilities
40:57 Re-building a Strong Leadership Structure
45:34 Focusing on People for Profits
52:25 Creating a Growth Mindset Culture
56:43 Navigating Change in Established Companies
01:00:59 Innovating Home Care for Longevity
01:03:20 Future Trends: Holistic Aging

Episode brought to you by:
SmartAutomations.Care smartautomations.care
Helper Heroes helperheroes.com

How to Break Through 6 Common Growth Plateaus in Home Care (Becky Reel)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 07:15:00 -0500

#33 Becky Reel is the former CEO of North America’s #1 home care agency and in this episode we unpack six of the most common growth challenges home care owners face—and how to overcome them. We talk through the pushing through revenue plateaus, the caregiver exodus, the burned-out founder, the corporate competition crisis, the success trap of growing too fast, and the work-life collision that happens when your agency becomes your identity. Becky shares real stories from her first hand-experience and practical systems she’s used to help owners regain time, rebuild culture, and grow sustainably.

Becky Reel on LinkedIn
reelhomecareconsulting.com

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:37 Becky's Journey in Home Care
04:04 The Startup Phase of Home Care Agencies
08:03 Addressing the Caregiver Exodus
29:38 Overcoming Revenue Plateaus
37:28 Balancing Quantitative and Qualitative KPIs
40:36 Navigating Corporate Competition in Home Care
52:36 The Success Trap: Growing Too Fast
01:02:18 Work-Life Collision: Finding Your Identity Beyond the Agency

Episode brought to you by SmartAutomations.Care (www.smartautomations.care)
It's a seamless software that captures everything from phone calls to in-person visits and logs it directly into your scheduling software. No extra steps. No missed details.

How Immigration, Affordability, and 80/20 Are Reshaping Home Care’s Future (Eric Reinarman)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 07:15:00 -0500

#32 Eric Reinarman, VP of Government Relations at HCAOA, covers the most pressing policies being talked about on Capitol Hill. From immigration reform and workforce shortages to affordability of care and the controversial 80/20 Medicaid rule, he breaks down what’s happening in Washington and how it could reshape the industry. We also talk about the power of advocacy, why storytelling moves policy forward, and how every provider—big or small—can make their voice heard. Plus, he covers a major win with the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act and shares practical ways to stay informed and involved at the state and federal level.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Home Care Advocacy
03:04 The Immigration Challenge in Home Care
06:10 Advocacy and Legislative Efforts
08:58 The Importance of Storytelling in Immigration
11:58 The Affordability of Home Care
17:03 Innovative Solutions for Affordability
23:43 Current Legislative Landscape on Non-Competes
29:41 Understanding Non-Compete Agreements in Home Care
34:11 The Controversy of the 80-20 Rule
39:39 Preparing for Potential Changes in Medicaid Regulations
50:53 The Impact of the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act
01:00:07 The Value of Advocacy and Association Membership

This episode is brought to you by 24/7 Solutions (www.247solutions.co)
What do they do:

Consulting—1:1 tailored consulting from an expert team who's been in your shoes
Training—monthly training for your team on leadership, ownership and operations
Powerhouse Peers—accountability for staff with weekly KPI check-ins, expert coaching, peer collaboration, and a monthly audit

You Can’t Lead Your Way Out of a Management Problem (Emily Isbell)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0500

#31 Running a home care agency can feel like running a marathon—at a 7-minute mile pace, on a treadmill, underwater. Most owners are stuck because they fall into one of two traps: the “set it and forget it” manager who assumes vision is enough, or the “I’ll just do it myself” manager who can’t let go of control. Emily Isbell, CEO of 24/7 Solutions breaks down why both fail and what it takes to build a management culture that actually sustains growth. She explains how to apply the TTOE framework—Teach, Train, Observe, Evaluate—and implement real training, grounded processes, and meaningful KPIs. If you’re half leading and half managing, this conversation is especially for you.

Emily Isbell on LinkedIn
24/7 Solutions (www.247solutions.co) - Learn more and inquire about their services
24/7 Solutions Summit (www.247solutions.co/247-solution-summit) - Hands-on intensive to learn and apply proven solutions for your business / Feb 5-6 in Nashville, TN
24/7 Solution Book on Amazon (available everywhere)
24/7 Solution Audible on Audible (available everywhere)

This episode is brought to you by 24/7 Solutions (www.247solutions.co)
What do they do:

Consulting—1:1 tailored consulting from an expert team who's been in your shoes
Training—monthly training for your team on leadership, ownership and operations
Powerhouse Peers—accountability for staff with weekly KPI check-ins, expert coaching, peer collaboration, and a monthly audit

Leadership Lessons from Three Top Home Care Tech CEOs

Miriam Allred — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 07:15:00 -0500

#30 Being an entrepreneur is full of unknowns and leadership can be lonely, challenging, and push you to your limits. The CEOs of AxisCare, Nevvon, and Caribou—three leading home care tech companies—share how they started their businesses, the frameworks they use to make tough decisions, the skills they’ve had to master, and how they’ve built moats around themselves in a competitive market. They also offer candid advice for home care leaders navigating their own entrepreneurial journey.

Todd Allen
James Cohen
Alex Oosterveen
AxisCare—operational software
Nevvon—caregiver training platform
Caribou—caregiver rewards and recognition tool
Book: Give and Take by Adam Grant

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Home Care Entrepreneurs
02:08 Motivations Behind Starting a Business
08:51 Embracing Pain and Discomfort in Entrepreneurship
17:08 Navigating Change: Push Through vs. Pivot
24:44 People Management: The Heart of Business
34:35 Hiring for Culture vs. Skill
39:39 Developing Hard Skills for Success
40:33 Curiosity and Pattern Recognition in Business
41:32 The Importance of Forecasting and Growth
44:12 Navigating Financials and Corporate Governance
48:31 Understanding the Moat Framework for Business Success
55:26 Operational Excellence and Customer Retention
01:00:16 Balancing Current Needs with Future Opportunities
01:09:58 Entrepreneurial Advice for Home Care Leaders

This episode is brought to you by 24/7 Solutions (www.247solutions.co)
What do they do:

Consulting—1:1 tailored consulting from an expert team who's been in your shoes
Training—monthly training for your team on leadership, ownership and operations
Powerhouse Peers—accountability for staff with weekly KPI check-ins, expert coaching, peer collaboration, and a monthly audit

The Retention Playbook of a $32M Home Care Agency (Jen Kulig)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 07:05:00 -0500

#29 Jen Kulig, Director of Market Operations at Tribute Home Care, shares how a $32M agency hires and retains only the top 1% of caregiver applicants. She walks through their 7–10 day hiring process, driven by situational interviews that surface grit, empathy, and motivation, and explains why referrals make up 40% of new hires. Jen also highlights the Caregiver Excellence Department’s 90-day support program, quarterly awards, annual happiness surveys and the Everyone Out program. She also breaks down their Salary Program, Tribute Secure, that guarantees caregivers 30 or 40 hours per week.

Jen Kulig on LinkedIn
Tribute Home Care

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Tribute Home Care
00:55 Jen Kulig's Journey in Home Care
07:12 Overview of Tribute Home Care's Operations
09:36 Caregiver-First Mentality at Scale
10:05 Hiring Process and Recruitment Strategies
18:17 Retention Strategies and Caregiver Excellence
44:32 Innovative Retention Programs
01:11:06 Future of Home Care and Workforce Challenges

This episode is brought to you by The Home Care CPAs.
Are you managing your bank account, or is it managing you? The Home Care CPAs specialize in helping home care agencies—from startups to $40 million businesses—optimize cash flow, streamline billing and payroll, and build scalable financial strategies. Whether you need full-service bookkeeping or expert coaching, their team ensures your finances are working for you, not against you.

Why He Needed to Reinvent His 30-Year Old Home Care Business (Bob Roth)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 07:20:00 -0500

#28 After two decades in the home care industry, Bob Roth found himself at a crossroads. Bob shares why he had to completely reimagine Cypress Home Care, from rebuilding operations post-Honor Care Network to transforming caregiver recruitment using machine learning and automation. He shares his candid take on today’s workforce challenges, the generational shifts shaping senior care, and why “home care is hard” but worth doing right. He opens up about the power of community partnerships, rewriting the narrative on aging, and the importance of self-care from his own lived experiences.

Bob Roth on LinkedIn
Cypress Home Care Solutions website
Book: The Potentialist by Ben Lytle
Book: Ambiguous Loss by Pauline Boss
Book: Negotiate This by Caring, But Not that Much by Herb Cohen

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Home Care Strategy Lab
00:55 Bob Roth's Journey into Home Care
06:17 Reimagining Cypress: The Last 18 Months
11:36 Challenges in Home Care Workforce
17:13 Innovations in Home Care Services
24:06 Changing Perceptions of Aging
29:40 Rewriting the Narrative on Aging
36:39 Community Engagement and Partnerships
44:23 Building Awareness in Home Care
48:44 Self-Care for Home Care Owners
56:01 Advice to Younger Bob, Starting Out

This episode is brought to you by AxisCare.
Running a home care business is challenging enough—your software shouldn’t be part of the struggle. That’s why top-performing home care leaders and enterprise agencies choose AxisCare, rated the #1 home care operating system for the past two years. With powerful, scalable tools, best-in-class customer support, and a team that truly understands home care, AxisCare helps agencies streamline operations and scale with confidence.

How to Keep Caregiver Applicants from Dropping Off (Louie Frank)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 07:15:00 -0500

#27 If you’re waiting hours (or worse, days) to follow up with caregiver applicants, you’re already losing the best talent. Louie Frank of Activated Insights breaks down why “24 minutes is the new 24 hours” when it comes to caregiver recruiting—and how agencies can fix mid-funnel drop-off before it costs them hires. You’ll learn how to audit your own application process, speed up first contact, and use culture as a conversion tool, not just a retention play. You’ll take away practical, data-backed steps to improve applicant-to-hire ratios and keep your pipeline moving.

Chapters:
02:32 Understanding Workforce Analytics in Home Care
08:21 Analyzing Turnover Rates and Their Implications
12:33 The Importance of Culture and Mission Alignment
16:42 Mid Funnel Challenges in Recruitment
22:43 Effective Communication Strategies for Applicants
23:29 Engaging Applicants Through Text Messaging
30:27 Scheduling and Conducting Interviews
36:30 Automating Background Checks and Metrics
42:04 Qualitative vs Quantitative Hiring Metrics
50:28 The Future of Recruitment in Home Care

This episode is brought to you by 52 Weeks Marketing.
80% of home care revenue is driven by referral marketing. Yet, less than 50% of home care businesses have a dedicated sales person focused on building relationships with referral partners. That’s where 52 Weeks Marketing comes in, providing a complete referral marketing system designed by Debbie Miller, who built a $10 million home care business in just 10 years. With done-for-you marketing tools, a healthcare referrer database, and a CRM to track results, 52 Weeks helps you build a scalable marketing engine that drives real, long-term growth.

6 Tools, 3 Workflows, and 1 Formula to Scale Up with AI in Home Care (Matt Ericksen)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 07:15:00 -0500

#26 AI is transforming how home care agencies operate. Matt Ericksen, VP of Sales and Operations at Griswold, breaks down the exact AI tools, workflows, and formulas he’s using to reclaim hours, improve recruiting, and scale franchise operations. You’ll hear how he built a job ad grader that boosts hiring results, layered Microsoft Copilot across internal systems to save 17 hours a week, and created a compliance companion tool in under 30 minutes. Matt also shares the “Overall Productivity Index” formula for calculating AI ROI and the six-step anatomy of a winning prompt. If you’ve been tinkering with AI but aren’t sure how to make it stick, this episode is your blueprint for adoption and measurable results in home care.

Matt Ericksen on LinkedIn
Griswold website
Practical AI podcast

Matt’s AI preferred tools:

Microsoft co-pilot - works best for those using the Microsoft business suite
chatGPT - writing text, summarizing text, data analysis, simple tasks, and more
Claude - write, edit, finesse written copy, emails, etc.
Decktopus - create presentations
Replit - easy to use AI app builder

The Anatomy of a Prompt:

Role
Task
Context
Reasoning
Output / format
Stop conditions

AI Overall Productivity Index (OPI):

Overall Productivity Index = (Hours Reclaimed × Avg. Hourly Cost) − Weekly AI Tool Cost

Chapters:
02:46 Matt's Journey in Home Care
05:46 The Impact of AI on Career Development
08:58 First Aha Moment with AI
12:04 AI Adoption in Home Care
14:51 Essential AI Tools for Home Care
17:52 Anatomy of Prompting in AI
23:53 Overall Productivity Index (OPI) for AI Tools
34:36 Understanding OPI and Its Importance
37:12 The Role of Natural Language in AI
37:52 Introducing the Job Ad Grader Tool
44:20 Leveraging Microsoft Copilot for Internal Operations
49:18 Creating Effective Meeting Summaries with AI
51:48 Developing a Companion Tool for Compliance
59:15 Future of AI in Home Care
01:04:32 AI Experiment Challenge for Business Owners

How to Crack the Community Care Model Inside Independent Living (Rob Rister)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0500

#25 What if you could replace dozens of scattered hourly shifts with one scalable model inside an independent living community? In this episode, Rob Rister of HomeWell Care Services shares how he built his “Support On Site” program—turning caregiver shortages into retention wins, driving 45% margins, and embedding his agency in 10 communities across three states. He breaks down the numbers, the operations, and the technology (hello CINCH) that made it possible. Whether you’re frustrated with the limits of hourly care or curious about expanding into new markets, this is a blueprint for cracking the community care model.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Home Well Care Services
01:06 The Aha Moment: Transitioning Business Models
10:31 Scaling the Community Care Model
18:35 Understanding the Financials and Billing
20:13 Building Relationships with Communities
31:50 The Role of Caregivers in Community Care
32:21 Finding the Right Caregivers
37:09 Building a Career Path for Caregivers
41:12 Innovative Scheduling and Technology in Care
45:56 Client Retention and Referral Dynamics
51:06 Navigating Community Relationships and Management Changes
55:51 Current Operations and Future Growth Plans
59:55 Identifying the Right Fit for Community Care

This episode is brought to you by Caribou.
Do you want to build a high-performing team through the power of recognition? Caribou helps home care agencies boost recruitment, retention, and performance by tapping into simple to use technology and powerful data to engage your care team in the behaviors that matter most to your business. With Caribou, you can build a culture of appreciation that keeps caregivers engaged, connected, and committed for years, not months.

From Unread Emails to a Seat at the Table at the Nation’s Number Two Rehab Hospital

Miriam Allred — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0500

#24 Wayne Morgan opens up about the persistence, mistakes, and lessons that finally got him in the door at Spaulding, the nation’s #2 rehab hospital. Alongside Breanne Muchemore, who led Spaulding’s care management team, they share what actually matters to hospital partners and why most agencies never make the cut. This is an inside look at the conversations, questions, and trust-building that turn ignored emails into a first-class referral relationship.

Wayne Morgan on LinkedIn
Amada of Central NJ website
Breanne Muchemore on LinkedIn‍
Spaulding Rehabilitation Earns #2 Rank in U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals"

Chapters:
02:10 Wayne Morgan's Career Journey
06:42 Breanne Muchemore's Background and Expertise
10:00 Building Long-Term Relationships in Home Care
11:18 Initial Approaches to Spalding Rehabilitation
18:15 The Importance of Passion and Understanding
21:39 Understanding Spalding's Patient Population
23:18 Follow-Up Strategies After Initial Meetings
29:19 Discovery Phase Insights from Breanne
35:43 Key Questions for Building Relationships
37:26 Understanding Managed Care Admissions
42:46 Building Relationships with Referral Sources
46:07 Addressing Social Determinants of Health
50:31 Identifying Key Community Partners
54:47 Maintaining Relationships for Continued Success
01:06:18 Learning from Mistakes and Growth

The Story and Strategies Behind Live Well Scaling to $25M in 2.5 Years (Reggie Mackey)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 08:15:00 -0500

#23 An unheard of home care success story—Reggie Mackey and his team have built Live Well Home Care to a projected $25M in annual revenue in just two and a half years. The company is 98% VA funded, works mostly in rural markets across 30 states, and credits its growth to one thing: customer service—taking care of people who take care of people. Reggie shares how they approach recruiting in hard-to-staff areas, why their branch managers are measured on more than just dollars, and their “old-school” methods that still work today. He also talks about their next chapter—helping other agencies with staffing and recruiting with Staff Well.

Reggie Mackey on LinkedIn
Live Well Home Care website
Staff Well—contact Reggie directly for more information

Chapters:
01:23 Reggie's Personal Journey and Background
05:25 The Decision to Start LiveWell Home Care
06:34 Building a Founding Team for Success
09:25 Initial Vision and Early Challenges
10:19 Early Growth and Client Acquisition
13:15 Focus on VA Clients and Unique Approach
16:39 Expanding into New Markets and States
23:56 Surprises in New Markets and Business Model
25:39 Business Structure and Branch Management
28:33 Branch Manager Roles and Responsibilities
32:34 Compensation Structure for Branch Managers
34:44 Credentialing and Financial Management
36:01 The Journey to Success: Overcoming Initial Hurdles
37:35 Navigating Credentialing and Contracting Challenges
38:38 Understanding Market Dynamics: Rural vs. Urban
40:36 Organic Growth: Building a Profitable Business
42:39 Simplicity in Home Care: Focusing on Core Functions
46:26 Recruitment Strategies: Finding Talent in Rural Areas
52:33 Staffing Challenges: The Never-Ending Rubik's Cube
59:19 Customer Service: Taking Care of the Team
01:03:35 Old School Methods in a New Age
01:05:59 Doing Life Together: Building a Strong Team Culture
01:08:09 Future Aspirations: Expanding and Supporting Others

This episode is brought to you by Acrisure.
90% of home care businesses are not properly insured for their operational needs—yet insurance is often overlooked or underappreciated until disaster strikes. Acrisure’s Home Care Practice Group specializes in insurance solutions designed to protect home care businesses from lawsuits, data breaches, employee injuries, and more. With expert home care guidance and comprehensive coverage, Acrisure helps you safeguard your business so you can focus on what you do best—providing great care.

7 Things Leaders Need to Stop Doing in Their Home Care Business (Clint Nobles)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 08:00:00 -0500

#22 Clint Nobles has worked closely with upwards of thousands of home care leaders and in this episode we talk about leadership behaviors—particularly the bad ones. He shares things that he’s seen and experienced firsthand that he advises home care leaders to actually stop doing. We tackle triage, trust, productivity, delegation, and other unique-to-home-care leadership lessons. He also shares his formula for the speed of success and a handful of other simple but effective frameworks to implement in your business now.

Clint Nobles on LinkedIn
scalemyhomecare.com

Chapters:
02:45 Building a Business by Design
05:48 The Importance of Trust and Faith in Leadership
08:38 Transforming Leadership Behaviors
11:41 Overcoming Barriers to Change
14:27 The Role of Trust in Business
17:08 Empowering Teams to Make Decisions
20:31 Avoiding the Savior Mentality
23:19 Managing Beyond Triage Mode
26:23 Understanding Production vs. Productivity
38:56 Understanding Size and Structure in Business
40:50 The Shift from Production to Productivity
45:53 Emotions in Leadership: The CFO Dilemma
49:31 Mastering Emotion for Effective Leadership
56:08 Decisions vs. Choices: A Leadership Framework
59:33 Delegation: From Tasks to Decisions
01:02:24 Redefining Success: A Continuous Journey

How Smart Home Technology is Redefining Aging in Place

Miriam Allred — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 07:15:00 -0500

#21 Smart home technology is reshaping how aging adults live—and how home care agencies serve them. In this episode with Jim Conti, Shea Gregg, and David Eby, we explore the most adopted tools, emerging trends, and what’s becoming standard in aging-in-place environments. We dive into the ethical and practical challenges agencies face as technology changes communication, care responsibilities, and client autonomy. We also talk about the future where tech isn’t just a tool, but a foundational part of the care plan.

Jim Conti on LinkedIn
HomeSight by Vantiva
Shea Gregg on LinkedIn
FallCall
David Eby on LinkedIn
CookTop Safety (CTS)

Three Current Home Care Insurance Trends You Shouldn’t Ignore (Gavin Studner)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 07:50:03 -0500

#20 Not enough home care leaders are thinking about or talking about insurance. Why? They think it’s a commodity, they haven’t had a claim filed against them, or they don’t know what questions to be asking. Gavin Studner, Client Advisor at Acrisure dives into changes in workers compensation, increased rates for general and professional liability, and why carriers are limiting their appetite for home care risks. It’s not good enough to think about insurance at renewal—talk with your broker, build a risk management plan, and be proactive.

Gavin Studner on LinkedIn
Reach out directly: gstudner@acrisure.com
Acrisure for Home Care

What the Top 10 Right at Home Offices are Doing to Attract and Retain Caregivers

Miriam Allred — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:14:26 -0500

#19 Jessica Schultz, Director of Franchise People Strategy at Right at Home, and Paul Blom, a 24-year franchise owner, share what they’ve learned about caregiver recruitment and retention. Jessica unpacks the “Top 10 Project,” a system-wide deep dive into what the best-performing offices are doing differently. Paul shares the specific tactics that have helped his agency maintain exceptional retention and caregiver satisfaction—including weekly personal emails, birthday phone calls and annual events.

Jessica Schultz on LinkedIn
Paul Blom on LinkedIn
Right at Home website
Caribou.care—caregiver rewards and recognition tool

How an $11M Agency Reduced Time-to-Hire by 40% Using Virtual Assistants (Debbie Miller)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0500

#18 Debbie Miller, CEO of Senior Helpers in Franklin, TN, shares how her team strategically integrated seven virtual assistants across recruiting, scheduling, billing, and after-hours support. She walks through their step-by-step approach—from starting with just two VAs to scaling to a fully embedded offshore team. Debbie breaks down key results like a 40% reduction in time-to-hire, 25% fewer cancelled shifts, and stronger after-hours coverage. She also explains why they launched their own VA company, Helper Heroes, to solve the biggest flaw in the traditional VA model: turnover.

Why Private Pay Referrals are Earned, Not Asked For (Gabrielle Pumpian)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 07:00:00 -0500

#17 Gabrielle Pumpian, a former 7-figure home care business development rep, shares how she got started, what kept her motivated, and what most home care owners misunderstand about sales. She breaks down her top-performing health care referral sources—and exactly how she stood out—then dives into the non-health care partners and offers tactics for selling to trusted advisors. She adds insights into the evolving private-pay landscape and introduces her new venture: Trail Angel Partners.

Gabrielle Pumpian on LinkedIn
Contact: Gabriellepumpian@gmail.com
Trail Angel Partners coming soon

Chapters:
00:59 Gabrielle Pumpian's Journey in Home Care
02:59 Early Days in Sales and Learning the Ropes
06:04 Transitioning to Home Care Sales
08:58 Defining the Role of Sales in Home Care
12:07 Motivations Behind Sales Success
14:01 Misconceptions About Sales Reps
17:09 The Importance of Integration in Sales
20:00 Building Relationships with Referral Sources
25:00 Exploring Healthcare-Related Referral Sources
29:47 Strategies for Engaging with Skilled Nursing Facilities
34:51 Concierge Medicine and Unique Referral Opportunities
39:26 Breaking Down Barriers in Sales
44:36 Leveraging Geriatric Care Managers
52:43 Connecting with Wealth Advisors
58:16 Collaborating with Attorneys
01:01:04 Understanding Your Ideal Customer Profile
01:06:33 Navigating the Evolving Home Care Landscape
01:12:46 Launching Trail Angel Partners

What It Takes to Build a Successful Home Care Company in a Rural Market (JM & Michele Simmonds)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 08:15:00 -0500

#16 JM & Michele Simmonds share how they built a successful home care business in rural Texas through trust, community ties, and a strong team culture. From recruiting and marketing to handling challenges and keeping a stellar reputation, they break down what worked and what didn't. We also dive into their expansion across Texas and what it took to sell the business. Now, they’re gearing up for a fresh start in rural Colorado—with lessons learned, new ideas, and big goals.

JM Simmonds on LinkedIn
Michele Simmonds on LinkedIn
Clear Path Home Care
Sarah Barker - Senior Care Sales Solutions
Jensen Jones - Home Care CEO Forum

5 Ways to Streamline and Increase VA Billable Hours (Greg Bean)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 08:01:00 -0500

#15 VA billing expert, Greg Bean spells out how agencies can streamline and increase VA billable hours. He talks about the importance of educating veterans on their benefits and using thorough assessments and care plans to support billing and authorizations. Greg shares strategies for community outreach, veteran advocacy, and leveraging technology to improve service delivery. The episode also features success stories showing how agencies have grown their VA clientele.

3 Differentiators Behind Family & Nursing Care’s $60M Family-Owned Business (Neal Kursban)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 09:00:00 -0500

#14 Not many home care companies have been operating for 50+ years or scale organically to $60M+. Neal Kursban, CEO of Family & Nursing Care shares the three areas that have supported their growth and helped them stand out in the crowded Maryland/DC market. We unpack delivering a white-glove client experience, paying and retaining caregivers at scale, and maintaining ownership of a family-owned agency while staying laser focused on the original mission.

Neal Kursban on LinkedIn

Family & Nursing Care

Their Foundation

NBRI - customer, employee, and market research surveys

What One Hour of Care Really Costs Your Home Care Business (Dana Charumbira)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 08:00:00 -0500

#13 Everyone talks about revenue, but rates, wages, margins, taxes, travel time, mileage, shift durations, overhead… these are the real numbers behind your top line. Dana Charumbira, Managing Director of The Home Care CPAs, breaks down gross margins across common shift types—1, 4, 8, and 12 hours—and shows how each impacts your bottom line. Then we dig into overhead: how to calculate it, how to allocate office salaries, and how return on sales plays into smarter financial planning.

Dana Charumbira on LinkedIn
The Home Care CPAs website
Key Metrics Calculators—gross profit per hour, gross margin, breakeven rate, overhead per hour, and target rate calculator

How Village Caregiving Scaled from One Office to 60 in 22 States (Jeff Stevens)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0500

#12 Jeff Stevens, Co-Founder and CEO of Village Caregiving, shares how they grew from a single office in Barboursville, West Virginia to become the largest privately held home care company in the U.S. He breaks down two unique formulas: one for growing from 1 to 8 offices, and another for scaling from 8 to 60. Jeff dives into the strategies, decisions, and defining moments that shaped their growth—and offers a candid look into his leadership style and what’s driven the company’s success.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Village Caregiving
05:15 Scaling the Business: From One to Many
20:36 The Four Pillars of Early Success
26:17 Indicators for Scaling Across States
36:09 Navigating Expansion: Factors for Growth
41:44 The Formula for Scaling: Agility, Velocity, and Integration
51:06 The Importance of Culture and Integration in Leadership
59:05 Future Vision: Where to Next for Village Caregiving?

How One Owner Built a Home Care Business That Runs Without Them (Mike Hoskin)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 27 May 2025 08:15:00 -0500

#11 Mike Hoskin shares why he started a home care franchise as a third career—and what surprised him most along the way. He talks about managing a business from afar, hiring with heart, and the systems that keep things running. Mike opens up about the emotional side of caring for older adults, the pressure of account receivables, and why good caregivers make or break the business. He also touches on KPIs, marketing, and his vision for scaling to 4-6 locations.

Mike Hoskin on LinkedIn
A Better Solution website

Chapters:
(0:00) Introduction and Background
(5:00) Transition to Home Care
(10:00) Exploring Senior Care Options
(15:00) Franchise vs. Independent Route
(20:00) Business Growth and Challenges
(25:00) Hiring and Team Building
(30:00) Operational Strategies and KPIs
(35:00) Future Plans and Expansion

What's Beneath the Surface of the Caregiver Shortage (Christian Alaimo)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 20 May 2025 08:00:00 -0500

#10 Christian Alaimo, Co-Founder of Caribou unpacks the caregiver shortage and what it will really take to fix it. We explore practical ideas—from performance scorecards and milestone tracking to tech and culture shifts—that will help make caregiving a respected, rewarding career. We highlight the opportunity and optimism about the future of caregiving, emphasizing the role of technology in transforming the caregiver experience and improving outcomes for clients and caregivers.

Strategies Behind Building a Dementia-First Home Care Business (Jonah Francis)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 13 May 2025 11:40:55 -0500

#9 Pansy Home Care was founded by Jonah's Francis’ mother, Pansy, a CNA who immigrated from Jamaica. Initially, the agency provided general home care services before specializing in dementia care. In recent years, they’ve gone all in on being the Dementia home care agency in CT. They’ve refined marketing strategies, built strong relationships with GCMs and memory care communities, shifted their payer mix away from Medicaid Waivers, identified their right fit client and caregiver, and built every aspect of their operations around their Dementia-first identity. Jonah shares the strategic decisions they’ve made the past three years and their future goals of expansion while maintaining operational excellence.

Jonah Francis on LinkedIn
Pansy Home Care website
Purpose-Filled Care Guide for Dementia PDF resource
Purposeful Pairing Assessment - Pansy’s quiz for prospective clients
A Better Way - mental health services & dementia consulting
$100M Leads - book
Let’s talk about it - Pansy’s social media segment
Second Wind dementia training
Myers Briggs personality type testing
Home Care CEO forum - home care mastermind groups

What’s Holding Home Care Owners Back and Breaking Down Those Barriers (Deanna Keppel)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 06 May 2025 10:28:16 -0500

#8 Deanna Keppel, Vice President of Assisting Hands Corporate Office joins the Lab to unload lessons learned from 16 years in home care operations—from office manager at a franchise to VP at the corporate office. We talk about leadership styles, time management, underutilized KPIs, job descriptions for owners, time in the business vs on the business and so much more!

She also shares how Assisting Hands focuses on the importance of adaptability, leadership, and leveraging peer networking with their approach of being "guard rails, not train tracks" for their franchisees.

Deanna Keppel on LinkedIn
Assisting Hands website
AC INC - Training & Education for Franchise Operations Teams

Think Like a Nurse, Lead Like a CEO (Laura Coyle)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 11:41:41 -0500

#7 Laura Coyle, the CEO of HomeWell Care Services of New Jersey, shares her unique journey from a nurse to home care CEO. She shares how she applies the 'Nursing Process' to operational strategies and decision-making. We break down the five stages: Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation and Laura explains how she applies these principles from small operational problems to large scale strategic planning.

Laura Coyle on LinkedIn
HomeWell Care Services of New Jersey on LinkedIn
HomeWell Care Services of New Jersey website
Nursing Process Applied to Leadership PDF Download

How to Bridge the Gap Between CEO and Caregiver (Alex Chamberlain)

Miriam Allred — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:17:52 -0500

#6 Alex Chamberlain, Owner of Easy Living, closes the distance between leadership and his Care Partners by drawing on his own experience in various roles, including as a CNA. He shares his strategies for "speaking caregiver" by creating detailed care plans that function as job descriptions and implementing a thorough "show and tell" orientation process. Alex dives into Easy Living's core values— consistency, setting yourself up for success, setting and meeting clear expectations, providing feedback early and often, and over-communicating—and explains how these principles are not just words but are actively lived by him, his office team, and his Care Partners to ensure everyone wins.

Easy Living Website
Alex Chamberlain on LinkedIn
A Job Description for the Care Partner - More Than Just a Care Plan

How to Build Opportunity-Driven Relationships to Expand Service Lines (Kevin Smith)

Miriam Allred — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 08:00:00 -0500

#5 Kevin Smith, CEO of Best of Care, unpacks the significant growth and diversification of his home care agency over the last 7 years. Kevin explains his entry into the family business and highlights the evolution from a primarily Medicaid-funded agency to one that now encompasses care management, move management, a home care acquisition, and private pay nursing. We discuss the strategic rationale behind these expansions, building key relationships, the challenges of integration, and Kevin's role as CEO amidst the growth. He also shares what he’s got his eye and pressing concerns for his business going into its next era.

Best of Care Website
Kevin Smith on LinkedIn
HHCN Article - From Family Roots to Industry Leader

How to Become The Authority for Aging in Your Market (Kelly Adams)

Miriam Allred — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:37:07 -0500

#4 "I had to learn the language of healthcare from the outside looking in." Kelly Adams, Owner of Beyond Home Care pulls back the curtain on what it really took to build trust with hospitals, discharge planners, and other professionals without a clinical background. From overcoming early knowledge gaps to creating her own seat at the table, she shares the practical strategies and mindset shifts that helped her position Beyond as a respected resource in her community.

The 3-Level Career Path for Caregiver Growth and Leadership (Aaron Stapleton)

Miriam Allred — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:36:23 -0500

#3 Rather than treating caregiving as a job with a dead-end, Trinity In Home Care has built a structured, three-level career path that nurtures skills, offers leadership opportunities, and ensures long-term growth for caregivers. In this episode, we unpack the role, training, and responsibilities of each of the three levels and Aaron shares a compelling case for why investing in caregivers is the future of home care.

3 Strategies to Achieve Long Term Office Staff Retention (Catherine Vergara)

Miriam Allred — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:29:54 -0500

#2 Are you struggling to retain office staff members for longer than 2 years? You’re not alone. Long-term employee retention isn’t just about perks or paychecks—it’s about creating a workplace where people want to stay. In this episode, we dive into CareFor’s proven approach to building a culture that keeps office staff engaged for the long haul. From onboarding strategies that foster respect to unconventional ways to rebuild trust and communication practices that actually work, this conversation breaks down the formula for retention success.

CareFor Website
Catherine Vergara on LinkedIn
The Leadership Challenge by Kousez & Posner
The 5 Levels of Leadership by John MaxWell
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
The Trust Edge by David Horsager
Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
Simon Sinek on LinkedIn
Adam Grant on LinkedIn

Podcast Trailer - Welcome to The Lab with Miriam Allred

Miriam Allred — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 14:31:14 -0500

#1 Welcome to the Home Care Strategy Lab! Listen to this quick trailer to hear why I left my day-job, why I love podcasting, and what you can expect from this new show. Learn more, subscribe, and follow along at homecarestrategylab.com.

With six years of experience in the home care tech industry across sales, marketing, and partnerships, and as the creator of the highly-rated podcasts "Vision, the Home Care Leaders Podcast" and "Home Care U", Miriam brings her deep understanding of the home care landscape to this new venture.

Home Care Strategy Lab goes under the microscope to dissect high-growth home care agencies, uncovering what works, what doesn't, and why. Join Miriam each week as we break down the science of home care, building a textbook of formulas to help you, a home care leader, craft your own success.

Expect insightful analysis, real-world examples, and guidance from industry-leading sponsors to help your agency grow smarter and faster. Tune in every week to become the scientist of your own home care strategy.