Twenty-five years ago, when Allen Hager, executive chairman of Risemark and founder of Right at Home, first got into home care, 8% of the United States GDP was spent on health care. Today, it’s nearly 18% and expected to hit 20% within the next several years. Hager explains that escalating costs and a societal responsibility to provide long-term care for … Read More
How the Home Care Industry Is Working to Meet the Needs of Today’s Consumers
Choosing a home care agency for a senior loved one can be confusing. There are a number of questions that must be navigated to determine whether home care is covered through Medicare or Medicaid, and if so, how much is covered? There are also questions about the level of care needed. Does the senior need skilled nursing assistance, companionship, or … Read More
In-Home Care Is Preventative Health Care
Historically, health care in the United States has functioned by addressing crisis. For older adults, that may mean hospitalization due to illness, a chronic health condition, or a fall. Unfortunately, once a senior enters the hospital for treatment, a cycle of readmission can ensue, with patients getting better and being discharged, only to return with a complication, or similar issue. … Read More
How Long-Term Care Insurance Can Help You Age at Home
Did you know that about 70% of people over age 65 will require some type of long-term care? That’s according to Maryglenn Boals, CLTC, LACP, President of MgBoals & Associates, LLC, a locally and nationally recognized leader for her work in the field of senior care options. The reality, according to Boals, is that Medicare won’t fully cover long-term care, … Read More
Fix It and Flip It: How Home Care Marketing Can Help You Sell Your Agency
Home improvement and house flipping shows like Property Brothers, Flip or Flop, and Fixer Upper are wildly popular as housing markets across the country climb and people dream of selling for a high profit. Just like the housing market, the home care industry is also hot, and many agency owners are hoping to sell their businesses to the highest bidder. … Read More
Quality Counts in Home Care – Interview with Laura Page-Greifinger, BSN, MPA, Founder and CEO of QIRT – Quality in Real Time
More than 30 years ago, Laura Page-Greifinger, BSN, MPA, was a nursing student who may not even have been able to describe what is home health care, but after she was assigned a rotation with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, all of that changed and she found her passion in home care. After graduation, she would go on … Read More
Shifting Servers? Hire a Website Pro for Your Big Move!
Moving your website to a new web host is sometimes necessary to get the security, bandwidth, and service you need. In many ways, switching servers is a lot like moving into a new house: there are things you need to pack up and secure before the big move, or else you’re going to break some dishes. (Or in the case … Read More
Plan Ahead to Help Seniors Age in Place
Help Choose Home Podcast: Interview with Steven H. Landers, MD, MPH, President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, Inc. While there is much uncertainty in the world today, one thing we can count on: we are all getting older. Aging brings about change, but aging doesn’t have to bring about a loss of independence as you evaluate … Read More
How Technology Is Helping Seniors Remain Safely in Their Homes
Heraclitus, the pre-Socractic Greek philosopher, said, “Change is the only constant in life.” In the field of technology, this is particularly true. And while one can argue that not all change is positive, the constant evolution of technology has provided us with a myriad of products that make our lives easier. Laurie Orlov is a tech industry veteran, writer, speaker, … Read More
The Future of Health Care Starts in the Home
Health care is evolving, and with that evolution, Arnie Cisneros, president of Home Health Strategic Management, believes there is an opportunity for the home health care industry to set itself apart as the go-to vehicle for delivering results-oriented, higher quality, lower cost care. And where can home health make this impact? In the transition phase, where patients move from hospital … Read More
Building an Efficient Team for Your Senior Loved One: Care Managers, Caregivers and Technology
Peter Sosnow, Integration Leader for Humana at Home, was literally born into a home care family. His father, Larry, started Patient Care, Inc., a home health care company providing services in New York and New Jersey. Because of his family’s background in the industry, it seems only natural that Sosnow would choose home health as a career path. In his … Read More
What the Fab Five Can Teach Us About Marketing Home Care
I’ll admit it; I’m a binge watcher. When I find a show I love on Netflix, I might as well just block out the next few hours of my life. My latest binge watch session, however, provided a good dose of inspiration into how agencies could be marketing home care services better. If you haven’t caught up on the two … Read More
Understanding Aging in Place Home Care Options, Coverage, and Costs
Help Choose Home Podcast: Interview with Jeannee Parker Martin Perhaps you know a bit about in-home caregiving, but you aren’t really sure if it’s an option for your senior loved one. Where do you find out more information about aging in place? What types of care services are provided? How much does in-home care cost? Does Medicare or Medicaid cover … Read More
The Importance of Selecting an Accredited In-Home Care Agency for Your Senior Loved One
The ever-increasing population of older adults who are choosing to age at home has driven an explosion of the home care industry. Just try searching the web for “home care in my area” and dozens of adult care options are presented. Choosing a home care agency is a deeply personal decision. After all, you’re entrusting them with the care of … Read More
What You Need to Know About the New GDPR Rules
You may have noticed that many websites you’ve visited in the past couple of months have been positively screaming at you about their new privacy policies. The new General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is a huge overhaul of privacy on the web laid out over the course of a 261-page document. At its core, GDPR is a new set … Read More
Help Choose Home Podcast: Interview with Cathy Cress, MSW
Choosing Home Care Services for Your Aging Parent Cathy Cress, MSW, shares suggestions for how to go about assessing senior care options and helping aging parents make decisions on the Help Choose Home podcast, which can be accessed on iTunes, Google or other listening devices. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home,” a sentiment that … Read More
Help Choose Home Interview with David Totaro
The Policy Decisions That Impact Home Health Care As the Chief of Government Affairs for BAYADA Home Health Care, David Totaro’s role is to work with elected officials at the national, state, and local levels to influence policy decisions and positively impact the home health care industry. He has a unique perspective that he shares on the Help Choose Home … Read More
Help Choose Home Podcast Interview with Warren Hebert, DNP, RN, CAE
The Benefits of Caring for Patients at Home When a friend told Dr. Warren Hebert about a home care agency that was looking for a director of nursing in the mid-1980s, he jumped at the opportunity. Wanting a role in nursing that would allow him to be at home on nights and weekends with his young family, Dr. Hebert likely … Read More
Help Choose Home Podcast with Jennifer Gibson
Make Homecare a Familiar Choice What’s the biggest hurdle to getting people to help choose home for care? According to Jennifer Gibson, RN, and the Senior Clinical Specialist at Axxess Technologies in Dallas, TX, it’s the unfortunate reality that many consumers, and even referral services like hospitals and physicians, are not familiar with the industry, and therefore do not look … Read More
How e-Newsletters Bolster Home Care Referrals
Word travels fast, and in the current era of email, text, and social media, it travels faster than ever. That’s great news for home care providers, because word of mouth is still one of the best referral sources for agencies. As noted in Home Care Pulse’s 2018 Home Care Benchmarking Study, word-of-mouth referrals from past and current clients and their … Read More
Going, Going, Google+ Business Pages Are Almost Gone
Over the past decade, social media has become a huge part of our daily lives; it’s how we stay in touch with old friends, the way we invite people to parties and get-togethers, and where we turn for recommendations. Social media is also where we, as business owners and operators, advertise our goods and services. But the times are changing … Read More
Help Choose Home Interview with Deborah Hoyt
The Benefits of Care at Home for Senior Loved Ones The saying “everything old is new again” is an apt description of the home care industry in the United States. One hundred years ago, home- and community-based care were the norm. Doctors and nurses made house calls to tend to patients. Then, modernization brought brick and mortar hospitals, skilled nursing … Read More
Help Choose Home Podcast: Considering In-Home Care for Older Adults
The following blog is a summary of the Help Choose Home podcast episode entitled, “Considering In-Home Care for Older Adults.” The National Association for Home Care and Hospice, Axxess, and corecubed are aligning resources to educate the public about the many benefits of the in-home care industry by launching a national digital grassroots campaign to educate consumers and professionals about … Read More
Help Choose Home Podcast: Interview with Sheila McMackin
How Quality Home Care Makes a Difference in the Care of Senior Loved Ones The National Association for Home Care and Hospice, Axxess, and corecubed are aligning resources to educate the public about the many benefits of the in-home care industry by launching a national digital grassroots campaign to educate consumers and professionals about the health benefits of choosing in-home … Read More
Facebook Marketing 2.0: Pay to Play
Ah, the good old days; we often long for their simplicity, and yet time and so-called “progress” march on. In Facebook’s glory days, we didn’t worry about fake news, algorithms, or ads. Instead, it was all about making friends, catching up, and sharing. Then businesses wanted to use Facebook to connect with consumers, so they joined the platform and started … Read More