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

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

Sponsors:

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

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

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

Sponsors:

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

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

Highlights

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

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

Sponsors:

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

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

Highlights:

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

Sponsors:

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

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

Highlights:

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

Sponsors:

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

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

• Joseph Kitonga on LinkedIn
• [email protected] 
• Vitablehealth.com
• PHI: Direct Care Workers in the US
• Activated Insights Benchmarking—pg. 83

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

Sponsors:

• SmartAutomations.Care 
• 24/7 Solutions 247solutions.co

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

Highlights: 

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

Sponsors:

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

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

Highlights: 

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

Sponsors:

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

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

Highlights:

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

Sponsors:

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