Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars

In the final episode of a three-part series on “Doing It Right in Home Care,” industry icon Ginny Kenyon joins Ken Accardi on the Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars podcast to focus on a critical pillar of home care success: creating a strong, values-driven culture that drives hiring and retention. With decades of leadership and consulting experience, Ginny shares actionable insights and heartfelt stories that show how the right culture can become a home care agency's superpower.Key learning points are as follows:Why Culture is the Foundation of Successful Home CareRecruiting for Culture Fit, Not Just CredentialsThe Secret to Retention: Making People Feel They BelongCreating a Learning Organization That Grows TogetherAnswering the Phone Is Culture TooPeer Accountability and Shared OwnershipCulture is the Key to GrowthFinal Thoughts from Ginny KenyonGinny closes the episode with heartfelt advice: build your culture from your values, hire people who share those values, and empower your team to learn and grow together. That's how you create a workplace people don't want to leave—even when other opportunities come knocking.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

AI for Home Care: What Leaders Should KnowOn this episode of Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars, host Ken Accardi takes a turn in the interview seat to answer an important question: What should home care and adult day care leaders know about artificial intelligence (AI)? With help from his colleague Sowpha Umashankar, Ken explores AI's current role, practical applications, and future in home care. Whether you're new to AI or already experimenting with it, this episode offers accessible, relevant insights for care professionals.Topics covered in the episode are as follows:You're Already Using AI — Even If You Don't Know ItAmazon suggestions (“people who bought this also bought…”)Netflix recommendationsVoice assistants like Alexa and SiriMobile check deposits that read and verify your handwriting"AI isn't new or scary; it's quietly integrated into our lives already."AI in Home Care: Support, Not ReplacementHome care and adult day care are human-centric industries. So why use AI at all? Ken emphasizes that AI shouldn't replace personal relationships — it should enhance them by removing repetitive or time-consuming tasks.Trying AI is Easier Than You ThinkTo show how accessible AI is, Ken gives a live demo using ChatGPT, where he asks for a multiplication quiz for his son. Despite a typo in the request, the AI delivers a perfectly usable quiz instantly.Voice Interaction: Talking to AIKen demonstrates that you can also speak to AI on a phone app.Three Practical AI Use Cases for Home Care ManagersSummarizing long articlesCreating training materialsScreening resumesAI in Software: Behind the ScenesAI is also being integrated into home care software systems, often in ways users may not notice. Ken gives two examples from Ankota:Trust but Verify: The Risks of AIAI isn't perfect. It can make errors, especially if asked complex or ambiguous questions. Ken emphasizes that AI should not make final decisions alone in home care.Choosing AI Tools WiselyBefore adopting a new AI tool, Ken advises home care leaders to ask a few key questionsPro Tips for Getting the Most from AITo get better results from AI tools like ChatGPT:Define the AI's role ("You are a home care leader...")State what you want ("Write a blog about Memorial Day activities for seniors")Set expectations ("Keep it under 800 words, suitable for caregivers")This practice, called prompt engineering, helps you shape the output more effectively.Final Thoughts: Give AI a TryKen wraps the episode by encouraging listeners to stay open-minded. Like Google or Google Maps before it, AI may soon become indispensable in your daily life. The key is to start small, stay curious, and test responsibly.“You're going to like AI as much as you like Google Maps,” Ken says, “once you give it a try and get used to it.”Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.  

Doing It Right with LeadershipIn the second part of her “Doing It Right” series on the Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars podcast, industry veteran Ginny Kenyon returns to talk about leadership — not as a title, but as a responsibility. Ginny, who Ken Accardi describes as worthy of the “Home Care Hall of Fame,” shares her hard-earned wisdom on what it truly means to lead a successful and compassionate home care organization.Ginny begins by drawing a sharp contrast between being a "boss" and being a true leader. A boss, she says, issues orders and expects obedience. A leader, on the other hand, embraces their role as the “chief responsible person.” Leaders serve their teams by ensuring that staff have both the tools and the knowledge they need to succeed. Leadership is not about power; it's about service.The Podcast covers:Your Most Important Customer: Your Teamemployees are your most important customer.empower your team, and they will grow your business.From $1.2M to $5.3M: How Listening Fueled Explosive GrowthThese practices built loyalty, reduced conflict, and created a culture where staff felt seen, valued, and empowered.Serving Referral Sources Like VIPsrecognize referral partners as key customers Your Competition is Not Your Enemytreat your competitors as colleagues. What Makes a Great Leader in Home CareIn Ginny's view, leadership in home care is not about hierarchy. It's about ownership, empathy, and service. Leaders must:Listen to staff and act on their inputEquip employees with tools and knowledgeRecognize achievements in meaningful waysBuild strong relationships with referral partnersCollaborate with peers, even competitorsWhen you take care of the people who do the work — your caregivers, office staff, and partners — they take care of your clients. And when that happens, your business will thrive.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

This episode is a little different and I hop you like it. I was interviewed on another podcast called "The Millennium Spotlight" by heralded radio announcer and podcast host, Jordan Rich.  I greatly appreciate you listening to Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars and if you'd like to know a little bit more about me then please give this episode a listen.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

In this episode of the Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars podcast, host Ken Accardi sits down with Ginny Kenyon—a veteran home care consultant who grew her agency from the ground up and has since helped launch hundreds of agencies. The conversation, titled "How to Make Your Home Care Customers Happy - Forever!", dives into Ginny's journey and reveals the secrets behind client-centered care that truly makes a difference in people's lives.About Ginny Kenyon and the PodcastGinny's career in home care spans decades, beginning with her success in building a multimillion-dollar agency and evolving into a role as a trusted consultant. With a passion for leaving behind a legacy of lessons learned, Ginny shares the importance of truly listening to clients and tailoring care plans to meet their personal goals. The podcast targets professionals dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for older and disabled individuals living at home.The Power of Client-Centered CareA recurring theme throughout the interview is the significance of putting clients first. Ginny explains that while clinical protocols and best practices are essential, they only address the “engine under the hood.” What truly matters is knowing where the client wants to go—understanding their personal goals, preferences, and daily routines. As Ginny puts it, patient-centered care begins by asking: “What is your goal for care?”Real-Life Success StoriesGinny recounts several memorable experiences that highlight her approach:Frank's Journey: A patient with severe COPD wanted nothing more than the freedom to get out of his chair and enjoy rides with his wife. Instead of rigidly following clinical guidelines, Ginny focused on what mattered most to him. By introducing a therapist and creating a fun, measurable exercise routine using marbles, Frank was able to reach his goal, even if only for a short period before his health declined.Adapting to Individual Lifestyles: In another case, Ginny worked with a diabetic client who struggled with strict dietary rules. Instead of enforcing an unyielding diet, she negotiated a flexible plan—six days on track with a “cheat day”—which led to improved control over his blood sugar levels and a better quality of life.These stories underscore the importance of listening carefully and aligning care with each individual's unique desires.Other great topics covered by Ginny are 1) Tailoring Care Plans Beyond Checklists, and 2) The Importance of Educating Your StaffFinal ThoughtsGinny Kenyon's insights remind us that at the heart of every care plan is a person with unique needs and dreams. By starting with the simple yet profound question, “What is most important to you?”, home care professionals can transform the care experience. Listening deeply, tailoring services, and investing in staff education are the cornerstones of client-centered care that makes home care customers happy—forever.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

The home care industry is on the verge of a major transformation. With the aging population rapidly growing and workforce shortages intensifying, innovative solutions are needed now more than ever. In this episode of Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars, host Ken Accardi speaks with Bob Roth, an industry veteran and leader at Cypress Home Care, about the future of home care and how technology, collaboration, and new models of care can help agencies thrive.The Aging Population and Workforce CrisisThe demographics of aging in America are shifting dramatically:The 65+ population is expected to double by 2050.The 85+ population will quadruple in the coming years.The birth rate in the U.S. is declining, meaning fewer younger workers are available to fill caregiving roles.With demand for care skyrocketing and fewer caregivers available, home care agencies must find ways to do more with less. Bob Roth emphasizes that the old model of caregiving—where one caregiver serves one client at a time—may no longer be sustainable.This episode covers the following key topics:Building Trust: The Key to Thriving in Home CareEmbracing AI and Automation in Caregiver HiringResults: Faster Hiring, Better CaregiversCollaboration: The Key to InnovationKey Partnerships for GrowthFinal Thoughts: The Future of Home CareThe home care industry is at a critical turning point. With rising demand and shrinking caregiver availability, agencies must embrace innovation to thrive.Key Takeaways:Hiring must be smarter. AI-driven recruitment can reduce hiring times and improve caregiver quality.Trust is essential. Agencies should invest in relationships, volunteer in their communities, and become known as industry experts.New care models are necessary. AI monitoring, fractional care services, and technology-driven intake can help serve more clients with fewer caregivers.Collaboration is the future. Home care agencies should partner with technology providers and healthcare organizations to stay ahead.The demand for home care isn't going away—but the way it's delivered must evolve. As Bob Roth puts it:"If we stay static, we will become obsolete."Now is the time to reimagine caregiving and prepare for the future.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

This episode of Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars features Melody Ray, Executive Director of ReSOARces, a nonprofit in Kentucky.  Melody discusses self-direction programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These programs enable participants to direct their care and lead more fulfilling lives.The episode begins with host Ken Accardi providing a historical perspective on disability services, highlighting the shift from institutional care to programs that support individuals in their homes and communities. Self-direction programs represent a significant evolution, allowing participants or their authorized representatives to manage their care and services according to personal preferences.Melody explains that self-direction, referred to as "participant-directed services" in Kentucky, is a Medicaid waiver program aimed at enabling individuals with disabilities to live independently. Participants can hire and manage their own caregivers, providing greater consistency and choice in their care. However, the complexity of managing these programs, which requires participants to take on responsibilities similar to running a small business, presents challenges.The conversation highlights the administrative burdens faced by participants, such as hiring and vetting caregivers, conducting background checks, managing compliance with Medicaid regulations, and maintaining essential records. Case managers often struggle to support self-directed participants due to the extensive administrative work involved, leading some agencies to turn away potential participants.Melody describes how ReSOARces addresses these challenges through its "community guide" service. Community guides assist participants by handling administrative tasks such as recruiting and training caregivers, managing compliance, and ensuring timely submission of required documents. This support streamlines the process, allowing participants to focus on their quality of life. ReSOARces also developed tailored processes to accommodate variations in requirements across different fiscal management agencies (FMAs).The conversation underscores the benefits of self-direction programs, such as personalized care and greater independence, while acknowledging the difficulties in implementation. Melody emphasizes the importance of community guides in overcoming these barriers and enabling participants to succeed in self-directed care.Ken and Melody discuss the broader implications of self-direction programs, noting their availability in various states and the growing demand for disability services. They also highlight the financial viability of these programs, citing reimbursement rates and the potential for organizations to "do well by doing good."The episode concludes with Melody sharing insights on the growth of ReSOARces, which now supports over 60 participants with a team of dedicated community guides. She encourages listeners to persevere through challenges, emphasizing that impactful work will naturally lead to growth and recognition.For those interested in learning more about Resources or the self-direction model, Melody provides contact details and invites engagement through their website and social media.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

This episode of Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars features Jen Waldron from Augusta Software, addressing the prevalent issue of caregiver job applicants ghosting employers. Jen identifies key challenges in the hiring process and offers insights into optimizing caregiver recruitment.The episode begins with a discussion of a common question: "Where are the good caregivers?" Jen dispels the myth of hidden talent pools, emphasizing that 84% of caregiver hires originate from Indeed.com. This highlights the need for agencies to focus on optimizing Indeed as a recruitment platform. She notes that applicants coming directly from agency websites, though fewer in number, tend to be highly motivated and convert to hires at a higher rate.Jen explains the reasons behind caregiver ghosting, including the ease of applying to multiple jobs with one click on platforms like Indeed, leading to applicant burnout and miscommunication. She encourages agency owners to experience the application process firsthand to understand the frustrations caregivers face.To combat ghosting, Jen advises agencies to:Evaluate the quality of information gathered during the application process.Use clear qualifying standards to ensure only suitable candidates progress.Offer flexible interview formats, especially for candidates applying from distant locations.Respond to applicants quickly, ideally within four days, as delays significantly reduce interview attendance.Jen highlights the importance of measuring recruitment metrics correctly, suggesting that agencies should assess no-show rates based on the total volume of applicants, rather than just scheduled interviews.Augusta Software's platform offers solutions tailored to these challenges. It streamlines the hiring funnel by matching caregiver applicants to agencies using AI-driven processes. The platform ensures that candidates provide comprehensive, home care-specific information during the application, including previously overlooked experience like family caregiving. In return, applicants receive tailored job details, such as location, pay, and flexibility, enhancing their confidence and commitment.A key innovation of Augusta is its caregiver-centric design, featuring simple interfaces optimized for older mobile devices. The platform gamifies the application process, encouraging engagement while reinforcing the job's relevance to candidates. Augusta also addresses a common caregiver need—flexible hours—helping agencies identify and highlight benefits that align with caregiver priorities.The episode concludes with Jen providing practical advice for agencies not yet using Augusta, such as using built-in messaging tools on job boards to engage applicants promptly and asking additional screening questions to gauge suitability. For those interested, she invites listeners to learn more about Augusta Software at its website, www.augusta.care.This episode offers actionable strategies for home care agencies to improve caregiver recruitment, reduce ghosting, and ultimately strengthen their teams.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Let's face it, every person reading this synopsis (and hopefully listening to the accompanying podcast episode) would benefit by increased employee retention in their organization.  I'm sure that you've lamented the loss of caregivers, direct service workers or staff that you had hoped would stick with you longer and tried to think of what causes these losses.  I'm sure that burnout is one of the leading causes that comes to mind.Our guest, Dr. Lorre Laws, is an author and research scientist who has focused her research on this very problem, and she has learned that “burnout” is an oversimplification. Her research has found that there is job-specific trauma that care professionals experience. More importantly, Dr. Laws has ANSWERS!  In her Book, Nursing Our Healer's Heart, Dr. Laws takes the first chapter to explain her research and methods, but then the rest of the book is a chapter-by-chapter outline of ways that you can train your caregivers to recognize and overcome trauma. Since Dr. Laws' very first job was as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in a nursing home she was excited for the change to share her approaches with the home care, day services and IDD services communities.  You can learn more about Dr. Laws, her research and her book by visiting DrLorreLaws.com.Shifting subjects for a moment, Ankota, the produce of Home Care Heroes and Day Services Stars, is now offering a wonderful caregiver recruiting software solution. You can learn more by visiting Ankota.com/Caregiver-Recruiting-Software. Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

In this episode of the podcast, we were honored to meet with the United States Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, Kari Benson. Her entire career has been focused on the promotion of Home and Community Based Services for older and disabled individuals.I asked the secretary what the most important message was that she needed to share in this podcast episode and without hesitation, her answer was to say thanks to our industry and to all that you do to enable our older and disabled neighbors to continue living in their homes.But her message and mission on the episode were to emphasize the importance of vaccinations to keep our clients safe. She shared the following compelling statistics from the past year:900K older Americans were treated for COVID and those without vaccines suffered more400K older Americans were treated for the FLU and those without vaccines suffered more200K older Americans were treated for RSV and those without vaccines suffered moreThe message is clear! We need to make sure that our clients and our caregivers are vaccinated.The secretary also told us a great deal about her role and her organization: the Administration for Community Living (ACL) a hidden GEM within the department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She also wanted to share the following resources with us:Elder Care Locator: 1-800-677-1116 or https://eldercare.act.govDisability Services Locator (DIAL): 1-888-677-1199 or https://DIAL.act.govI'd also like to offer a special thanks to our friends at the National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA) who arranged the interview and introduced us to the Risk Less / Do More promotion. Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

79 year old Sam Simon could tell that his memory was fading and finally was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.  Faced with this, Sam has dedicated himself to awareness of what Alzheimer's is, how it makes you feel, and how you could and should embrace people experiencing this incurable disease.Sam started his career in Washington, DC as a lawyer for Ralph Nader's first advocacy group. He then spent 25 years as head of a public affairs firm. In that work, he was often in the news, with appearances on Face The Nation, Phil Donahue Show, Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and many more. His first play, The Actual Dance, Love's Ultimate Journey Through Breast Cancer, has toured from 2013 to the present. In 2021 The Actual Dance was turned into an award-winning biography.  His new play is called Dementia man.On this episode of Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars, Sam performs a preview, that he calls the "Showcase Version" of Dementia Man and then answers questions about his experience and the show.If you'd like to learn more about Dementia Man, or even book a performance in your town, please visit www.dementiaman.com or email Sam and his wife Susan at sam@dementiaman.com.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Home care is amazing! Older folks overwhelmingly fear loss of independence and institutionalization more than death.  Home Care can save the day for folks when they lose their ability to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) independently.  Caregivers help with hygiene, nutrition, safety, cleanliness and so much more, all while allowing a person to stay in their home and the surroundings that they cherish.Adult Day Care is also Amazing: Another fear that outweighs death is the loss of family or friends. Day programs combat social isolation, provide nutrition, activity, movement, friends and a reason to get out of bed in the morning. When my mom started with adult day services, she told me "...and now I'm even going to camp."The first proposed titles of this podcast were "We are not enemies!" and "We are not competition."Powerhouse guest Liz Barnes, Vice President of Risk Management and Adult Day Services for Easterseals in the national capital area (Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland) is a great proponent and advocate for all home and community based services. She has a wealth of knowledge and also a great energy and passion, and I especially loved two things about my interview with her:She answers everything from the perspective of the participantFor Liz, "taking care of people" isn't enough, she wants them to live their best lives.Coincidentally Liz is the Chair of the upcoming NADSA conference and comes bearing a Discount Code (Ankota20)It's not a coincidence that the timing of Liz's episode is just about one month before the National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA) conference. It will be held from September 18th - 20th in the supercool Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta (Buckhead Marriott). When we recorded the episode, she mentioned that it was one day before the "early bird discount" was coming to an end. I had to share that sadly the episode wouldn't be reaching you until today, but Liz took care of you and arranged for the discount code Ankota20 that will get you 20% off conference admission.  You can register for the conference here.Please enjoy what Liz has to share.Liz also graciously shared that she loves helping Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) entrepreneurs and that you can reach her via email at ebarnes@eseal.org.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

I was skeptical about whether "Virtual Care" would be a good service for home care agencies, but I was proven wrong.  In summary, this is a great way to differentiate your agency and to add a high-margin service.  Our guest is Stephan Habermeyer who is the CEO at Calico.Care. Here are some highlights of what we learned:Virtual Care provides a way to monitor the well-being of home care clients throughout the day and night.Some agencies are using this for the classic scenario where the family wants home care for their mom, but the mom is not ready. They combine the virtual care with visits (live and/or virtual) from a care coordinator (at a high charge) and usually within a short time, the client agrees to add caregiver hours.The margins are high. As an example, some agencies are charging $1/hour for virtual care ($720 a month) and the cost is generally $200. Other agencies are charging $1,000/month or more.Another way that agencies are deploying the service is to add virtual care to a 30 or 40 hour a week client.The basic system comes with motion sensors and an Amazon Alexa. Plus the system comes with its own internet (no need to connect to wifi)Everything comes in a preconfigured kit and the devices are labeled, plus they walk the home care agency through it on facetime.  All they need to do is plug in two plugs and stick the sensors on the wall. Batteries will need to be replaces in around 2 years (but by that time, you'll have made $15,000.The family gets to monitor their own loved one with an app, but agencies are also providing a monitoring service by paying overnight caregivers an extra fee for monitoring.Bottom line, this looks like a great way to add high-margin revenue and to differentiate your service from competitors.To learn more about the solution, go to the website https://www.calico.care/ or email them at info@calico.care. Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

When Bill Zagorski took over his family's elder care services agency, they were mostly doing non-medical home care. Now they're mostly providing Adult Day health Services and their revenue per caregiver has more than doubled.As a research PHD,  the leader of 3 adult day health centers, chairman of the Tennessee state association and board chairman on the National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA), Bill is perhaps the most qualified person in the country to talk about this, and the episode is literally a master-class for anyone interested in adult day services.This slightly extra long episode  covers the following:How Adult Day Services is growing and gaining prominenceOvercoming Fears and Challenges to adding Adult Day Services (like real estate, meals and transportation)Great synergies between home care and ADSHow to Learn MoreOne great way to learn more will be to attend the National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA) conference from September 18th - 20th in Atlanta. The conference will be at the Buckhead Marriott. learn more by visiting www.nadsa.org.As Bill shares in the podcast, he has a hard time saying no when it comes to helping advance home and community based services. You can connect with Bill on LinkedIn here, or email him at william.zagorski@centennialadultcare.com.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Carla Titus is an experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with a strong passion for home care and day services based on her experience attaining the best possible care for her aging father-in-law.  One of her specialties with home care entrepreneurs is making sure that they are personally successful.Some of the key topics covered in the episode are as follows:The importance of bookkeepingHow to read your statements to understand the state of your businessThe difference between revenue and cash flow (in other words how to manage the delay between the time that you earn income and receive payment)Ways to deal with financial shortcomingsGoal setting and trackingLeading and Lagging indicatorsCarla's company is called Wealth and Worth Within. They offer a newsletter and lots of educational content on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.  Carla also offers free initial consultations for agencies who are looking for a fractional CFO.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

The safety of healthcare workers is a large issue and a large concern.  Home Care workers including Direct Service Professionals (DSPs) who provide supportive services for individuals experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities are especially vulnerable.This episode of Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars takes on the issue of caregiver safety with our guest Ali Al Jabry, founder and CEO of kwema.com.  Ali shared more detailed statistics regarding the safety issue:Workplace violence can cost up to $56B per year, and women and healthcare workers are at even higher risk (per this article in Fast Company)"Every hour of every day, two healthcare workers experience verbal or physical abuse."Per this study, 22% of home care workers experienced verbal abuse in their jobs, and that set of caregivers were 11 times as likely to experience physical abuseAli shares great insights on the problem and also talks about the solution offered by his company Kwemi (visit www.kwemi.co). Recognizing that most healthcare workers and many home care workers wear a name badge, Kwemi offers a name badge with a hidden button that contacts 911 in the event of an emergency. Ali offered that any home care agency or day services center who mentions that they learned about the Kwemi solution via this podcast can get free samples.  You can reach Ali and Kwemi at www.kwemi.co.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

This episode of Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars welcomes Joe Kraus and Linda Donev, a brother and sister team who have had a long and positive impact on the Home Care industry. Joe and Linda created the home care software that eventually became the Resmed / MatrixCare solution.  They're back for an encore performance with a new offering called Perks4Care. The episode starts with some fun brother / sister banter as they tell their story, but then they focus on what they learned from years of delivering caregiver rewards and how it inspired their product.Some of their great suggestions for rewarding caregivers are as follows:It's better to give rewards oftenIn addition to the monetary value of the reward, caregivers appreciate looking back at these accomplishmentsGift cards make great rewards, but not every caregiver likes the same things (e.g., a Starbucks card isn't great for a caregiver who doesn't like coffee)Being able to cash in rewards and use gift cards on the spot is a great thing (and an app helps with that)Raffles (the chance for one lucky caregiver to win a big surprise each month) are a great way to enhance the value of the reward systemOne of the things that I love about their offering is that they don't charge per caregiver per month and instead they just charge a small fee on top of the rewards that you purchase, PLUS they pay for the raffles out of their own profit.  This is why we'll be recommending Perks4Care to our Ankota customers. Please enjoy the full episode with Joe and Linda and take the opportunity to learn more about their offering at perks4care.com. Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Caregiver Recruiting and Retention is the top concern of agency owners and the most-discussed topic on Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars.In this episode, Nick Bonitatibus returns to the podcast to discuss How to Create an Irresistible offers in the realm of caregiver recruiting.  Guess What? It's not the offer letter (that's far too late) and it's not only about the money.Your irresistible offer begins long before you meet the candidate.  Some of the key concepts that Nick shares are as follows: Recruiting is Sales and needs to be treated that wayThe one truly unique thing about your agency is your personal story - you need to tell it wellYou need to convey WHY you do what you do. It's means more to candidates than what you doNext is culture...  You need to show that your caregivers are happy and well taken care of by your agencyYour website needs to tell all of these storiesand more...You can get in touch with Nick, plus get free resources, by visiting https://www.thedigitalchamps.com/.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Rob Christensen is a home care veteran who has runs 4 agencies and day services. Sadly, some clients get to a stage where they need to have 24-hour care and they can't afford to have that service in their home.  Rob learned that facilities are willing to pay a handsome finders fee (generally one-month of the facility fee)  for a new referral.   So Rob added a service for placing clients in facilities.  The results have been highly beneficial in a number of ways, as follows:Finding the best facility is a beneficial service for the client and their familyBy building relationships with local facilities, they'll turn to your agency when their residents (e.g., in independent living or assisted living) need services.The payoff is both high dollar and high margin. Rob spoke of single placements that paid $8,000.After making this process work in his first location, Rob went on to improve the process and automate a solution. This includes cataloging detailed facility information for making the best match, the ability to send HIPAA compliant referrals for evaluation, and a tool for tracking all the placements that are in progress.Check out the full episode to learn more.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

The defining challenging of home care, long term supports and services, and day services is recruiting and retaining caregivers.  One of the big recommendations that we hear regarding retention is to create career paths, but at the same time we struggle to make a reasonable margin at the rates that we're able to charge.  Today's guest, in his 3rd appearance on the Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars podcast, is Steve "the Hurricane" Weiss, the CEO of the consulting firm Home Care Evolution. Steve's organization is one of the preeminent home care coaching and consulting organizations in the US.  I had the priviledge to attend one of Steve's Home Care boot camps and a specific session, on the topic of "Care Coordinators" resonated strongly with me. Today's episode dives into the way that adding care coordinators to a home care agency does three key things: 1) It creates a career care, 2) It results in a differentiated level of care, and 3) It gives you an opportunity to charge more. The term "TRIFECTA" comes from betting on horse racing. To win this kind of bet you need to pick the first place, second place and 3rd place horses, in order.  So the connotation is that a Trifecta is a big three-part win.  Some of the key concepts addressed in the episode are as follows:Having Care Coordinators creates a career path within your agency for the right kinds of peopleThese coordinators ensure that the client's needs are well understood and that the caregiver(s) are well-prepared to do an excellent jobSince the best home care clients have complex needs, having a coordinator check in regularly makes sure that the care is evolving with those needs as they change.Another key benefit is that unlike your competitors who will start recruiting for a caregiver once they close the client, your coordinators have flexibility in their schedules to start care right away and meet families right away when opportunities present themselvesYet another benefit is that junior caregivers are supported and know that a senior team member will be visiting regularly to help them. This cuts down on cases where newly trained caregivers feel overwhelmed and quitLastly, having coordinators results in a premium service that you can charge for.  Some agencies justifiably raise their rates when they have care coordinators and others charge separately for the coordinators, and families are willing to pay.Despite this episode being a deep dive into care coordination, it really only scratches the surface. Home Care Evolution will provide a free consulting session to your agency on this topic or many others.  Plus, as I said, attending one of their boot camps opens your eyes to many ways the best agencies are thriving.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Loneliness and Isolation have been clinically proven to have hugely negative health outcomes. Just because there's a caregiver in the home or the person participates in a day services program doesn't mean that they aren't lonely and feeling isolated.  I lost my Aunt Myrna a few years back and she had in home care for the last years of her life, but while they were there to provide for her needs they weren't having conversations with her.  By contrast, my mom who is 86 and has Alzheimer's disease participates in a day program, but since she has poor hearing her engagement is low. Today's guest Deb Skovron, created a program called Circle Talk (see CircleTalk.org) which is used in home care and various day programs including PACE programs. She has witnessed many instances where a weekly program that encourages people to form relationships has dramatically improved participants' quality of life.I'd highly encourage you to learn more about Deb and the  CircleTalk program itself, but we always make sure that when you listen to Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars, that you will come away from the episode with actions that you can put into place right away.  We're going to share this podcast episode via an email suggesting 10 great conversation starters that your caregivers can use to drive meaningful connections with clients.You can learn more about Deb and CircleTalk by visiting CircleTalk.org.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

This episode addresses the most critical concern in home care and day services - recruiting and retention of caregivers.  But as a bonus, it offers a way to improve it with science and artificial intelligence.  And... as if that isn't enough there's an offer to use this technology for free AND to get amazon gift cards for the caregivers who participate...  I'm excited already!Today's special guests are John Penrose, the CEO of a company called Agile Brain, and one of his chief scientists Dr. JD Pincus.  Most surveys are long, boring and not very accurate. Participants typically respond without much thought or even understanding. AgileBrain is different. It's a 3-minute exercise where you select images that correspond to ways you feel. So, it's fun, fast and easy to do even for caregivers with limited English language skills. And because AgileBrain is grounded in science, the results are astounding...  AgileBrain can predict how long a caregiver candidate is likely to stay and give you early warning about existing caregivers' likelihood to quit. Armed with this information you can take actions to recruit and retain better.If it sounds too good to be true, they'll let you try it for free AND 25 of the caregivers who complete the assessment will receive a $25 Amazon gift card every time they complete an assessment.  Why would they do this you might ask...  Whether you realize it or not, you are interacting with artificial intelligence (AI) every day. Two simple examples are when Amazon.com suggests "Customers who bought that item also purchased this one," or when Netflix proposes the next movie you might like to watch.  Their models are pretty good and the reason is that they're based on lots of data. Agile Brain is asking for home care agencies, Adult Day Service Providers, and disability server providers to use their technology for free so that they can expand their model to include a rich and diverse set of caregivers.To participate in the survey go to https://agilebrain.com/homecare.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home , Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Today's episode of Home Care Heroes is exciting because we've expanded to include day services (like Adult Day Care and Day Habilitation for individuals with Intellectual or developmental disabilities).  From now on we'll be calling the podcast Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars.Christina Vlosich is the perfect guest and today's topic explores why home care and day services go together so well.  As a short preview, here are some of the reasons why so many home care agencies are adding day services:Client benefits: Day Service Participants benefit from the social aspect of having friends who they can meet with at day care plus the activities and nutrition. Benefits to your agency: In a Day Services setting, you generally only need one team member for each 4 to 5 participants so it's easier to staff and even though the reimbursement is lower, the staff cost is much lower too.Secret Benefits to your agency: Two of the biggest problems in home care are 1) Being able to visit with and staff new prospective clients fast enough, and 2) training caregivers who immediately drop out when they get placed in a senior's home. With a day center, you can give your home care trainees hands on experience to better prepare them for their jobs. Plus, you can slightly overstaff your day center such that when a new prospect calls on the phone you can send a team member to meet them right away.We also talk a lot about the critical topics of branding and differentiating your day center.Christina Vlosich is the principal of Adult Day Service Consulting (adsconsult.biz). You can reach Christina on 1-330-719-8044​ or via email at cvlosich@adsconsult.biz.Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars is produced and sponsored by Ankota - If you provide services that enable older or disabled people to continue living at home that Ankota can provide you the software to successfully run your agency.. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Today's episode focuses on the critically important topic of Achieving Balance in managing your home care agency.  Our guest, Becky Reel is the Executive Director of For Papa's Sake Home Care, an agency that she created to honor her grandfather. Becky reflects back on a time when her life was out of balance and running her agency was creating anxiety for her and putting stress on her most important relationships.  Not only has she overcome these challenges, her agency was chosen as the Top Agency of 2022 by Home Care Pulse.For Becky, achieving balance made all the difference. This talk covers the following critical topics:Why talk about balance?How to set boundaries and stick to themIt's OK to say noHiring right and setting expectations(also how to "hire" the right clients)Two great books by Starbucks founder Howard ShultzLinks to the two books are as follows:It's not about the Coffee: Putting People First, andPour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a TimeBecky kindly offered to help agency owners and welcomes you to reach her via email at becky@forpapassake.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

By any measure, Queen Elizabeth lived a noteworthy life. She was vibrant and influential in all but the last few months of her 96 year lifetime.  Today on Home Care Heroes, we talk about why...Our fantastic guest is Jennifer Brine, the CEO of  ANeuFit (pronounced "A New Fit"). Jennifer is a mechanical engineer turned entrepreneur who helps individuals 50 and older to live richer lives by helping them increase their capacity for movement. Although we touch on movement, the episode covers so much more, including the following:How can we show dignity and respect in the way we describe and address the clients we serve.What is aging and how is it different for each person - a clear pictureZooming in on the principals the result in a rich lifeStriving for an individual's "healthspan" to match their lifespanIf you are inspired by this episode (and I know you will be), you can connect with Jen by visiting https://aneufit.com, calling 617-681-4776 or emailing info@aneufit.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Today's guest, Miki Rosanis, is an Occupational Therapist working for an artificial intelligence (AI) company called SENSI.AI. They have created the world's first Virtual Care Assistant.  If you have no idea what this means, then you definitely need to check out this episode.Sensi's technology has been specifically developed to assist home care agencies in the US. The Artificial Intelligence technology senses sounds in the care environment and provides sights to the home care agency and to the client's family. A few examples shared by Miki are as follows:Falls can be detected via soundSimilarly a client can ask for help and be heard even thought they're not wearing a PERS deviceBy sensing excessive toilet use, the technology has been able to identify a Urinary Tract InfectionWhen caregivers are present, the technology can sense joyful interactions between clients and caregiversLet's face it, few home care agencies feel like they're ready for AI, but we're probably more ready than we think. The recommendations of what to watch next on Netflix  and suggestions of the best product to buy on Amazon.com are AI. Other examples are the fingerprint and FaceID we use to get into our favorite apps and the way that gmail and Microsoft Word make suggestions on how to finish our sentences.Agencies can use SENSI as a first step to better assess an individual's need for care and with the shortage of caregivers, SENSI can put us in a position not to have to staff shifts when the client is normally sleeping.You can learn more about Sensi by visiting their website https://Sensi.AI.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Whether we agree with it or not, there is a perceived canyon between what we do in non-medical home care and what happens in the "healthcare world." We're generally not reimbursed like healthcare is. Even in the Medicaid world where there are government payments, they're called "waiver programs."  But while non-medical care is often shunned, we know that an individual receiving our care will have better outcomes than  someone who doesn't. Without going on too much of a tangent, there's a growing body of evidence to that effect that you can learn about by Googling "Social Determinants of Health."BrightStar Care, a $700M national home care franchise set out to prove that their interventions not only result in comfort and quality of life improvements for their clients, but also generate hard healthcare cost savings. They hired a top healthcare research firm, Avalere, to compare the healthcare costs of Medical Care recipients receiving care from BrightStar Care to others who don't.The results were resoundingly positive showing that on average, BrightStar Care recipients had over $8,000 in healthcare savings, and in some cases the savings were almost $30,000.In this episode of home care heroes, BrightStar Care Founder and CEO Shelly Sun explains why they did the study, what they learned, and how this has effected their work and approach at BrightStar Care.  You can learn more about the study entitled at this link.  You can learn more about BrightStar Care here.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Gregg Mazza is one of the top home care growth coaches in the industry, and he got there the hard way. Gregg started an agency and like many, he struggled early on. He was spending too much time and not succeeding and this was putting stress on his well-being and relationships. Happily, he figured it out and now he helps others to do the same.In this episode, Gregg outlines the framework for building an agency that can run without it's founder, as follows:Getting the right foundation in place (Positioning, Goals, Key Measurements, the Right Team, and Culture)Two Primary Drivers - Recruiting/Retention and Growing your CLient BaseLeverage - working with partnersGregg is quick to point out that it's hard and that you need to celebrate incremental wins, but that when small improvements are made throughout the organization, that the overall gains are "greater than the sum of their parts."A great way to connect with Gregg is to go to his website, www.homecarebreakthrough.com and search for the free resources. You can sign up for email updates and join a Facebook Community of your peers. You can also call 813-785-3851 or email gregg@homecarebreakthrough.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Let's face it, our primary focus areas are recruiting and retaining great caregivers and growing our businesses. These are the topics we cover the most on Home Care Heroes.  Today we're going in a different direction, but an important one just the same.Our guest is Temperance Bruder. Temperance is a home care veteran with many skills. She is a nurse, she works as a case manager for a Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO), she's a consultant and she runs a home care agency in Virginia.The topic of the episode in how to get your Medicaid Documentation right. Temperance speaks in the context of Virginia Medicaid  documentation that includes an assessment and a plan of care.  Whether you work in Virginia, another state or even in Private Duty the teaching is important.  Note that Temperance doesn't go into detail on the specifics of the documentation, but instead she focuses on some key universal strategies, as follows:Understand the importance of your documentationReview your plans of care at least every 90 daysMake sure to meet your staff face to face at least every 90 daysMake sure that your documentation is always accessibleIf you'd like help with your documentation compliance, or if you're starting an agency and need help with a strong foundation such as policies and procedures, you can reach temperance on 804-286-9176 or via email at touchofedenhomehealthllc@gmail.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Today's guest Nick Bonitatibus runs a company called The Digital Champs, which is dedicated to helping home care agencies to create content (mostly easy to make videos) that can attract both clients and caregivers to your home care agency.Within the episode, Nick takes us through all the steps (which are easier than you think), but most importantly he tells us what clients and caregivers want to hear. The messaging is incredibly important, and it's NOT that you do med reminders and light house keeping. Instead, it tells your home care prospects (usually the daughter of the client) how you're going to give them peace of mind, reduce their stress and have them know that their mom is receiving great care.  When it comes to caregivers, it's about giving them a sense of purpose and letting you know that your job is to get them hours and help them advance.I met Nick when he was the master of ceremonies for the most recent "Steve the Hurricane" conference. He's a bundle of energy and you'll enjoy him immensely.To learn more, go to his site TheDigitalChamps.com.  An even greater way to start is to go to "theDigitalChamps.com/social where there are free resources for you.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Melissa Bagley is one of the astounding home care coaches from Steve the Hurricane's team, and the topic for today is Adapting Your Home Care Agency for the Future. Interestingly we start with Melissa sharing that the Hurricane organization is adapting as well. They've historically been known as the experts in Home Care Marketing, but now they've expanded their scope to include coaching in marketing, sales,  caregiver recruiting and retention, growth, revenue optimization and even selling your agency. Their new brand will be Home Care Evolution and the new website will be HomeCareEvolution.com.The podcast covers three key topics related to Adapting your Agency, including the following:Managing by the Numbers: Tracking hours, revenue, gross margin and moreCollaboration: It's  critical that all team members, regardless of their function in the organization are striving for the same goals.Thriving: Agencies that thrive have strong operational processes that pull it all together.Hurricane Marketing will give you a free strategy consulting session with Melissa or one of their other amazing coaches. You can reach them on 848-444-9865 or at HomeCareMarketing.net (soon to be HomeCarEvolution.com).Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Home Care agency owner and consultant Kinshawda Daniels has a great story! She is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) who was working as a nurse case manager and she realized that there weren't enough strong home care agencies in her area so she started one.  After gaining strong expertise, she started consulting.  We've talked a lot about networking in the context of community outreach, but today Kinshawda goes deep into B2B (business to business) networking.  She takes us through 3 models:ColaborationPartnershipAffiliate You can reach Kinshawda on the web at https://www.virtualhomecaresolutions.com/, via email at virtualhcsolutions@gmail.com or by calling 877-272-4011.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

In today's market, your home care website is critically important. To be effective, it needs to attract visitors and then get them to engage with you. We have two fantastic experts to tell us how to succeed: Jason Chagnon from Providentia Martketing and Kamran Nassar from AideQuest.Key topics covered are as follows:The importance and benefit of attractive both potential clients and caregivers to your websiteHow to design your site to be found on Google with Search Engine Optimization  (SEO)How to keep people on your website when they get there and have them connect to you via Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)What's great about this episode is that both experts explain difficult concepts using simple language and stories.Jason also shared that Providentia Marketing would be happy to have a free no obligation call with your agency and that if you just have a quick question, you can email him on jason@providentiamarketing.com.Kamran Nassar has started a new company called AidQuest that helps agencies to quickly engage with website visitors (both prospective clients and caregivers) 24 hours a day. Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Today on Home Care Heroes we hear from Burgess Harrison, the Executive Director of the National Minority Health Association (TheNMHA.org).  In an effort to increase the COVID-19 vaccination rate, TheNMHA is partnering with home care agencies to identify and encourage folks in their communities to get vaccinated.  The home care agency AND the caregiver are paid $25 per shot received by the participants they recruit. This program is officially offered to home care agencies serving clients in California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia, but if your agency is in any of those states and other states, you can submit for folks who you recruit in other states.The interview with Burgess explains all the details of how the program works and also contains key messages about the importance of the vaccine and success stories.You can sign up for the program by visiting FlexForChecks.orgYou can learn more about the National Minority Health Association at TheNMHA.orgHome Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

The home care industry has been doing electronic clock-ins and clock-outs for a long time, initially with voice telephony and now mostly with a GPS mobile app. But a new TLA (three letter acronym) has popped up in the past few years. That acronym is EVV (Electronic Visit Verification). This is now the official name because it's part of the law, and specifically the 21st century cures act.  In a nutshell, the EVV mandate in the 21st century cures act says that caregiving services reimbursed by government payers (mostly Medicaid and VA) need to electronically capture their arrival time, departure time, caregiver identification, service type and location. If you've been doing electronic clock-ins and clock-outs for years, you might be wondering what's different about EVV. A big part of it is that you need to share the information with the state, via an EVV aggregator.Today's guest Brad Levine started a company called Tellus that has been awarded EVV aggregator contracts in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Nebraska and Georgia. Tellus has now been merged into Netsmart, where Brad now serves as Senior Vice President.Since the Home Care Heroes audience has a lot of private pay agencies, the podcast starts with some explanations of how EVV works and what's happening behind the scenes, but Brad goes on to tell us about EVV 2.0 and how this technology can be used to lives. Although this topic is a bit different than the typical home care heroes episode, Brad covers a lot of our favorite topics, including growth, community and a great appreciation for caregivers.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Today's guest on Home Care Heroes is Valerie Van Booven, who is an on-line digital marketing experts for home care agencies. She didn't start as a tech geek and in fact she is a Registered Nurse (RN) with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Her company is called the Approved Senior Care Network. We cover a great number of topics centered around your home care website. Among them are the following:Make sure that your site is updated every few yearsMake it easy for folks to get in touch with you when they come to your siteConsider reading the book "Don't Make Me Think" (Here's the Amazon Link) for a treatise on how to make it simple for your visitors to connectMake sure that your phone number is prominently displayed on the top of your website (and not just on a full screen but also on smart phones - and make it clickable so they can click it to dial you).We also went more deeply into the importance of letting people know who you are and telling the story of your agency. This is a great way to stand out in comparison to the national franchises.We also went deep into a concept called "long-form content" which means that Google is giving preference to web pages that give deep explanations of topics as opposed to pages that have only a few sentences.Valerie's Company is Approved Senior Network and her website is https://ASNMarketingPlan.com,Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Nicole McBee has worked with over 300 home care agencies, many in her home state of Missouri but also many in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida and other locations. Her expertise and bubbly infectious personality are unmatched. In this episode of Home Care Heroes, I learned that Nicole likes to organize her advice into 3 part plans.Since we share a lot of customers with Nicole in Missouri, we tended to talk about Missouri Medicaid home care a great deal, but as you'll see from the outlines below and listening to the episode, her advice applies nationwide.Nicole's 3 Pillars of Home Care Consulting:Compliance,The Business, andRecruiting and RetentionNicole's 3 phase plan to rolling out systems:Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) first: Get your schedules clock-ins and clock-outs flowing smoothlyPayroll: Next have your EVV system flow to your payrollBilling:  Nicole said "If your butt cheeks are in the seat, your not out caring for your caregivers."You can reach Nicole on 314-650-6712 or visit her website at www.newdayconsult.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

In his 3rd appearance on the Home Care Heroes podcast, Steve "the Hurricane" Weiss takes us through some very critical topics for "post-Covid times." Steve takes us through a lot of important content, including the following:Hit the ground running: Folks are craving face-to-face interaction. Be safe but get out their and don't let the "COVID Fog" hold you backMargins: Caregivers are commanding higher rates than in the past. This is inevitable. For your private pay and long term care insurance clients you need to raise your rates for your agency to thrive.Top referral sources have changed: Hospitals and Skilled Nursing are trying to minimize stays for non-COVID cases creating a larch opportunityCaregiver turnover: Some "mixed news" and some great recommendationsMillionaires' Bootcamp: Steve also announced an exciting upcoming live boot camp that will be held in November. This Millionaires' Bootcamp is targeted on helping agencies grow and thrive.  Here's the link to learn more, but for a pro-tip, leave a note with us at Ankota to see if we can get you a special discount code.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Mark Kulik is a 35-year health care veteran who has spend the last 13 years helping home care agency owners sell their businesses. Mark's company, The BRAFF Group only works with sellers, and his practice focuses on all aspects of home care agencies. The most important takeaway from this episode is that if you aspire to sell your agency now or at any time in the future, you should start to prepare now.Mark walks us through the five points that agency buyers are looking for, as follows:Clean Financial Reporting: 3 years of accrual-style accounting recordsKey Performance Indicators: Be able to show the metrics you use to drive the businessStaff: An exceptionally low caregiver turnover rate will raise your valueLeadership Team: Buyers are looking at the horse AND the jockey(s)Referral Sources: Buyers want to see multiple referral sourcesWhen asked how home care agency valuation is calculated (what your agency is worth), the answer was "It depends..." but then he gives a lot of detailsMark can be reached (in Atlanta - eastern time) on 770-955-1766 or at TheBraffGroup.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Sara Moore had the passion to create a community where home care folks can learn from one another and she but it into action by creating the website AHomeCareCommunity.com. In this special version of home care heroes, Sara speaks with collaborator Jeremy Jed Hammel about the importance of community and core values. Then she speaks with community coach Brian Oblinger about how to grow and nurture an effective community.  Finally she wraps up with a "virtual tour" of  the "A Home Care Community dot com" website. Some of the great features on A Home Care Community dot com are as follows:Caregiver of the Month awardFree Membership (giving you the ability to collaborate with other community members)Discussion forums with special features, including the following:The "Monday Moore Mantra" featuring inspiration, motivation and actionThe "Tech Talk" with Andrea FahrenbacherState-specific forumsThen there's a rich page of resources ranging from how to manage millennial caregivers to how to comply with the EVV mandate in the 21st Century Cures Act.Learn more at the  "A Home Care Community dot com" website.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Today's guest, Kamran Nassar, grew his agency so fast that he was recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in America. In this episode, Kamran shares the importance of being different to stand out and succeed.  Some big ideas that Kamran shares are as follows:His company's unique name, NuevaCare started conversations and also helped with recruiting of Spanish speaking caregivers.He joined groups where he collaborated with other agency owners in the area, and although they were competitors they were also collaboratorsHe brought an art-therapy program to his agency as an aide for memory care.Later in the Podcast he shared lessons-learned including how as a small agency, he alternated his focus between sales and recruiting, but later he figured out how to work on both all the time and that turned out to be a big key to success.Kamran recently authored a book called Caring for Millions that shares his journey as an agency owner and many success tips.  You can access the book and download chapters for free. Kamran has started a new company called Captiva8 that helps agencies to quickly engage with website visitors (both prospective clients and caregivers) 24 hours a day.  We'll do a follow up episode on Captiva8!Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

 Today's guest on Home Care Heroes is Valerie Van Booven, who is an on-line digital marketing experts for home care agencies. She didn't start as a tech geek and in fact she is a Registered Nurse (RN) with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Her company is called the Approved Senior Care Network. We cover a great number of topics centered around your home care website. Among them are the following:Make sure that your site is updated every few yearsMake it easy for folks to get in touch with you when they come to your siteConsider reading the book "Don't Make Me Think" (Here's the Amazon Link) for a treatise on how to make it simple for your visitors to connectMake sure that your phone number is prominently displayed on the top of your website (and not just on a full screen but also on smart phones - and make it clickable so they can click it to dial you).We also went more deeply into the importance of letting people know who you are and telling the story of your agency. This is a great way to stand out in comparison to the national franchises.We also went deep into a concept called "long-form content" which means that Google is giving preference to web pages that give deep explanations of topics as opposed to pages that have only a few sentences.Valerie's Company is Approved Senior Network and her website is https://ASNMarketingPlan.com,Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Agency owners Ophelia Cole and Barbara Gaines are also sisters,  Their interview with Sara Moore on the Home Care Heroes Community Edition is heartwarming and informative.A central key to their success strategy is their devotion to pairing the right caregiver with the client, and to confirm the match. If the pair isn't working out well, they make a change.  As regular listeners know, the core theme of the home care heroes podcast is caregiver recruiting and retention, and this strategy from Ophelia and Barbara does just that. When a client and caregiver are well-matched the caregiver will have a strong reason to stay with your agency.My favorite moment in the interview is Ophelia's advice for start-ups entering the home care industry. She tells them "stay out of my territory!"Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com. 

Laseandia Pounds has a couple of nicknames. She goes by Sean, but also goes by "Savvy Business Chick" which is her brand and website for her consulting service.Sean didn't start out in home care or even healthcare.. Instead she "grew up" in her career working in financial services and worked with stockbrokers and similar folks. But then a family friend who ran a home care agency offered to mentor Sean to start her own agency.Sean was a great student and grew her agency very rapidly to $3M in revenue in the first 18 months and ultimately to $5M.   Since then Sean sold her agency, became a mom and started consulting. Another interesting item in our discussion with Sean was that she mostly focused on care for medically complex children. This put her in a great position to 1) get high revenue clients and 2) make friends (and get referrals from) the other home care agencies in her area. Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Today's guest, Latoya Thompson, grew up in a "healthcare family" with relatives who are nurses, CNAs and Aides. When Latoya's grandmother needed care, she couldn't find a provider with the standard of quality that she was looking for, so she started her own. One interesting aspect of Latoya's agency is that she has a blend of private pay and Medicaid clients and in fact she has two trending videos on YouTube, one about getting private pay clients, and the other about how the Missouri Consumer Directed Services (CDS) program works.Latoya studied the interesting combination of social work and fashion and she considers her self to be a multi-preneur with ventures in home care, consulting and fashion.  LaToya provides consulting services to home care agencies and other entrepreneurs. To connect with Latoya, go to www.latoyaelnora.com. Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

This episode of Home Care Heroes is all about growing by bringing more clients and caregivers to your home care website. We feature two guests: Khadira Muhammed focuses on driving traffic to your site with Google ads and making sure that you keep in touch with everyone who visits your website.  Carl Rogers talks about getting your website into some key online directories so even if your site doesn't make the first page of Google searches, you'll be in directories that do.Both guests tell the same story - that their initial intention was to help drive clients to home care websites, but that they quickly learned that attracting caregivers is at least as important if not more.Khadira offers some great advice for smaller agencies that tell you how to "stay on the radar screen" of people who visit your site, but then talks about how she works with agencies with $1M or more in revenue to grow them by millions using Google Ads. Khadira's website is localseniormarketing.com.Carl and Khadira both talk about the importance of having a good profile in "Google My Business." Then Carl talks more deeply about his area of expertise and passion which is online directories.  He encourages home care agencies to claim and pay attention to free listings like GoogleMyBusiness and Yelp, but then talks about his own company CareListings. Carl anticipates 2 million site visitors this year including caregivers and care seekers (clients).  You can list your agency (with pictures and a link to your website) AND post your job openings for FREE.  There are also some paid premium services to see profiles of caregivers in your area (even if they didn't look at your job posts) and to have your agency featured in your geography.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities are simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

With 33,000 followers, Karl Pierre is arguably the top home care influencer on Youtube. He started in home care at age 14 when he was "the computer guy" for his mother's home care agency.In this episode of Home Care Heroes, Karl shares advice and perspective on questions from home care agency owners.  Topics covered include the following:- Engaging caregivers for a higher  purpose- Home Care Websites - what's important and what's not?- Social Media and Search Tips- Great Books for Home Care ownersYou can learn more about Karl by visiting entplife.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Stephen Tweed is one of the home care industry's top consultants. I met Stephen at my first home care conference, where he was a keynote speaker.  In my view, two things that set Stephen apart are 1) his process-centric approach, and 2) his ability to pull agency owners into "mastermind groups" to establish best practices.Our conversation focused on Caregiver Quality Assurance and Stephen walked us through a 5-pillar approach (where he outlines each pillar in detail), as follows:Company cultureRecruiting SystemSelectionOnboardingRetentionAs a bonus, Stephen mentioned that the 6th pillar is using your Caregiver Quality Assurance program as a marketing tool to differentiate your agency. I usually pick a key takeaway and this time I have two:Stephen's team measured cost of caregiver attrition at around $1,600.  He also shared that caregivers who come to you via the referral of another caregiver are likely to stay 10 times longer than one who finds you on an online site like Indeed,  and a $250 referral bonus goes a very long way with caregivers.One of the most important keys to retaining caregivers early on is determining how many hours they expect to work and making sure that they get this number of hours. If for example, a caregiver is "expecting" 40 hours (and really is expecting the $345 after taxes that go with 40 hours), and they only get 30 hours, they can find themselves in a spot where they can't pay their bills and become vulnerable to being poached by another agency. To learn more about working with Stephen, visit CaregiverQuality.com or HomeCareCEO.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Anne-Lise Gere is one of the foremost human resources experts in Home Care.  She works with Hurricane Marketing Enterprise (aka Steve the Hurricane) to teach the Momentum program (link includes discount code).Our talk with Ann-Lise comes at a time when the US is in the process of "opening up" from the COVID-19 pandemic. Some key points discussed cover the following:The improved visibility of home care as a result of Covid-19The negative impacts of the pandemic on the home care work forceIdeas on how to raise the profile of caregiving jobsThe reality that the agencies with caregivers are the agencies who will grow and thriveHow to compete by being the "best home care employer in your region"Best practice ideas** My favorite of Anne-Lise's suggestions was to reach out to each member of your caregiver team who  work fewer than 35 hours in a week to see if they'd like to work more hours. This initiative has the benefits that 1) you can increase your work force capacity by up to 40% with no hiring fees, and 2) the personal phone call will show caregivers that you care for them and will engender loyalty. Born in France and raised in the UK since age 7, Anne-List came to the US as an adult and as a military-bride. She lives in Coastal Virginia.You can contact Anne-List and sign-up for her weekly insights email through her website www.gereconsulting.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

After successfully starting, growing and selling the home care agency NeuvaCare, Kamran Nassar set his sights on a new venture that would help home care agencies captivate website visitors in 8 seconds or less.  That company is appropriately named Captiva8 and you can learn more at Captiva8.com.Kamran explains that many home care agencies spend a good deal of money creating their websites, optimizing them with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and driving traffic with Google Ad Words. But if those site visitors aren't instantly engaged, all of that effort is wasted. Some of Kamran's practical tips are as follows:Recognize that both prospective clients and caregivers come to your siteMake your phone number very prominent and unobstructedProvide a capture form, and DON'T make it hard to fill out. Instead, get a name and number and "how you can help"Provide LIVE CHATCaptiva8 is a live chat service that comes with both a chat technology, but more importantly it comes with 24 x 7 staffing with home care experts who can answer questions, capture leads, and even search for available caregivers. They literally get you clients and fill caregiver shifts while you sleep. Learn more at Captiva8.com.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.

Steve "the Hurricane" Weiss shares great tips on caregiver retention. He starts with some very basic and actionable suggestions like adjusting your attitude to love your caregivers, speaking in the language of "shifts" and making sure that new caregivers get a lot of supervision. But then the magic comes where Steve shares some great ideas regarding career paths and puts important metrics around the benefits of retention.Steve's team is offering a top-notch program on caregiver recruiting and retention called Momentum. You can learn more and sign up at https://homecaremarketing.net/momentum and get a $500 Discount with the code ANKOTA500.As an added bonus, a friend of Ankota named Nancy Muckle tells us about her mom's caregiver and the impact she's had on their family. Nancy says that "home care heroes" doesn't go far enough and that in her case, the caregivers are Angels.Steve runs Hurricane Marketing Enterprises (https://homecaremarketing.net). Steve and his team run boot camps and provide consulting services to help agencies to blow away their competition. To engage further with Steve, he recommends first that you check out all the free content that they've put on YouTube (search for "Steve the Hurricane.") If you like what you see and want to learn more, please send email to info@homecaremarketing.net. They'll give you a free initial consultation if you mention the podcast.Nancy Muckle is a serial entrepreneur and a contracted sales executive who has helped many companies with sales, funding, strategy and more. Her latest venture is called "Problems Solved" (https://probssolved.com/) where solving elder care issues is one of her specialties. We'll invite her back to talk more about problem solving for seniors and their families.Home Care Heroes is produced and sponsored by Ankota - the Software for the Heroes of Home Care. We truly embrace the notion that caregivers and home care companies are heroes. Our top priorities simplicity, caregiver retention and outstanding service. Visit us at https://www.ankota.com.