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 people
• These coordinators ensure that the client's needs are well understood and that the caregiver(s) are well-prepared to do an excellent job
• Since 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 themselves
• Yet 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 quit
• Lastly, 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.