Podcast · Business

Home Care Strategy Lab

by Miriam Allred · English · Business

Is there a single right way to run a home care agency? We sure don’t think so. That’s why we’re interviewing home care leaders across the industry and asking them tough questions about the strategies, operations, and decisions behind their success. Join host Miriam Allred, veteran home care podcaste

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 4 min
Latest: 13 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 18 minNew

The Optimize Infrastructure Blueprint for $2-12 Million Dollar Agencies (Debbie Miller)

#79 Does this sound like your agency? You have several key office employees. Everyone is busy, but work still gets stuck. Leaders are wearing multiple hats. Bottlenecks are slowing growth. The business is beginning to plateau. You know your agency needs to be redesigned so your best people can spend more time doing their highest-value work—but you don’t have the time or a clear model for doing it. This session will help you identify structural bottlenecks, clarify roles and ownership, and redesign your team to support the agency’s next stage of growth. Debbie Miller on LinkedIn Download the…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

E78 · 6 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 23 min
The Build Infrastructure Blueprint for $0-2 Million Dollar Agencies (Debbie Miller)
#78 Does this sound like your agency? You’re still doing almost everything yourself. You have one or two office employees. Your processes are still evolving. Every new hire feels expensive. Growth still depends heavily on you, the owner. You know you need more help—but you also need to make the right hires, assign the right responsibilities, and build the right infrastructure before you and your team burn out. This session will help you understand what your agency needs now, what can wait, and how to build an office team that supports your next stage of growth. Debbie Miller on LinkedIn…
E77 · 29 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
The Revenue Cycle Controls Every Medicaid Agency Needs (Julio Barea)
#77 Most Medicaid billing problems begin long before a claim is submitted, with breakdowns in eligibility, authorization, scheduling, EVV, documentation, payer setup, or coding. Julio Barea, founder of the Home Care Revenue Institute, explains why agencies need to think beyond billing and manage the entire revenue cycle from intake through payment. He walks through the controls behind a clean claim, including how to verify authorized hours, reduce EVV exceptions, and catch problems before they become denials. Julio also shares the daily, weekly, and monthly cadence agencies should follow,…
E76 · 22 Sep 2026 · 1 hr
Your Financing Options at Every Stage of Home Care Growth (Domenic Colavito)
#76 - More revenue doesn’t automatically solve cash flow—especially when payroll is weekly and payers can take 30, 60, or even 90 days to reimburse. Domenic Colavito, co-founder and COO of the $15 million OurCare Health, breaks down lines of credit, payroll funding, factoring, asset-based lending, SBA loans, and equity financing. He explains how an agency’s size, payer mix, profitability, collection time, and growth goals determine which options are actually available—and which are worth the cost. Domenic also explains factoring in simple terms and shares how predictable cash flow helped…
E75 · 15 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 13 min
How a First-Time Owner Built to 1,000 Weekly Hours in 20 Months (Keyur Shah)
#75 Keyur Shah entered home care with no ownership or healthcare experience and grew Senior Helpers of Coastal Orange County to 1,000 weekly hours in just 20 months. He walks through the agency’s growth month by month—from reaching 300 hours in Month 3 and becoming profitable in Month 9 to generating $700,000 in Year 1. Keyur explains why he opened with an office manager, added a VA recruiter in Month 4, hired a full-time scheduler near 500 hours, and waited until Month 18 to hand off client care. He also shares the ~$150,000 investment it took to reach operational breakeven, the impact of…
E74 · 8 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
How Tribute Is Building AI In-House and Saving 300+ Hours a Month (Andrew Dobson)
#74 Tribute Home Care has no engineers, so Andrew Dobson stepped up and is helping build AI tools in-house that collectively save 300+ hours per month. He explains how a scheduling dashboard evolved into an availability analyzer that helps staff new cases faster at 90–95% caregiver utilization. Tribute also used a Viv-built voice agent to fill 75% of its open weekend visits in an early test. Andrew shares how they condensed a five-system lead process into one workflow and reduced two days of financial reporting to a button press. He offers practical advice for finding the right AI projects,…
E73 · 1 Sep 2026 · 1 hr
How Caregivers of America Rebuilt Operations Around the Client Journey (Jenni Scherer)
#73 After six home care companies merged, Caregivers of America was left with six ways of doing things, costly process gaps, and no clear ownership of the full client journey. Regional Administrator Jenni Scherer explains how the company rebuilt operations around five stages of the client journey: FirstTake, InTake, UpTake, CareTake, and ReTake. She breaks down the touch-points behind the model, including an in-home visit that converts close to 99% of prospects, five coordinator calls during the first 30 days, and regular in-person visits for VIP clients receiving 30 or more hours of care…
E72 · 26 Aug 2026 · 59 min
You Can’t Afford to Say Yes to the Wrong Client (Becky Reel)
#72 Saying yes to every family might increase revenue, but one wrong-fit client can cost your agency caregivers, reputation, and weeks of scheduling headaches. Becky Reel explains the waitlist mindset she used to protect her team, strengthen the client experience, and create demand—and why a true waitlist is fundamentally different from a staffing problem. She shares the hard lines her agency established around shift minimums, geography, caregiver safety, unrealistic expectations, and families who began negotiating from the first conversation. We also break down what a hospitality-driven…
E71 · 18 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 9 min
Three Workforce Development Programs That Actually Support Caregivers (Daniel Stringer)
#71 Total Care Connections CEO Daniel Stringer shares how his team supports a workforce of roughly 1,000 active employees delivering 17,000 hours of care each week. He breaks down a paid-leave program that provides six weeks after childbirth plus two weeks of parental leave for birth, foster, and adoptive parents. He explains the company’s employee relief fund and how it has awarded 264 grants totaling more than $200,000, with employees eligible for up to $1,000 annually. Daniel also shares how moving to self-funded health insurance helped the company keep employee costs flat despite…
E70 · 13 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
A Financial Framework to Run Before Your Next Growth Move (Adam Shriver)
#70 A typical $4-5M home care agency usually has the team, infrastructure, and capital to consider their next growth move—opening a new office, adding a new payer contract, or investing in a strategic leader. Adam Shriver, Client CFO at The Home Care CPAs works with dozens of agencies to evaluate revenue, profitability, and operational stability going into making these large growth decisions. He walks through the evaluation he conducts, the questions he asks, gross margin vs operating margin, and the other factors agencies should consider before going down a specific growth path—if you’re…
E69 · 28 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 10 min
The Only Home Care Scorecard You Need (Krystal Wilkinson)
#69 Most home care agencies are drowning in reports but still struggling to identify problems before they impact growth. Krystal Wilkinson, President of Adultcare Assistance Home Care, shares the 18 core KPIs she and her leadership team review every week across recruiting, scheduling, care management, sales, and HR & finance—and explains why leading indicators matter far more than monthly reports. You'll learn why her agency targets a 25–27 hour average client census , aims to hire caregivers in under 7 days (currently averaging 9 days ), tracks 25 meaningful referral visits per week , and…
E68 · 21 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Four Ways for Caregivers to Increase Their Pay Rate (Kimberly Jones)
#68 When a caregiver asks, “when do I get my next raise?”, do you have a good answer? Kimberly Jones, Vice President of Help at Home Senior Care, shares the transparent four-part compensation framework her team uses to reward skill development, specialized training, long-term commitment, and leadership. We break down hands-on competency evaluations, dementia skill assessments, certification pathways, longevity bonuses, and why clear career progression has helped the agency retain caregivers for many years. Kimberly also shares the retention data behind the program, including why 66% of their…
E67 · 14 Jul 2026 · 58 min
How to Build an Advanced Dementia Care Program (Ryan Whittington)
#67 Ryan Whittington, CEO of Seniors Home Care in St. Louis, shares how one struggling dementia client led his team to build Sage In-home Memory Care—a completely separate brand dedicated to serving advanced dementia clients with a fundamentally different care model . Instead of treating dementia as another service line, Ryan explains how specialized caregivers, weekly care management visits, life story assessments, individualized activity calendars, and intensive training have created better outcomes for clients, families, and caregivers alike. We also discuss why consistency matters more…
E66 · 7 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
What It Looks Like to Sell to a Home Care Roll-Up And Stay On
#66 Adam Berry built As Close as Family over nearly a decade before realizing the business had outgrown what he could sustainably manage on his own. Rather than walking away, he sold the agency to Avenues Home Care and stayed on to focus on the work he enjoys most while gaining the back-office support he was missing. In this episode, Adam and Avenues CEO Doug Markham break down how they found the right acquisition fit, what due diligence actually looked like, and why culture mattered more than valuation. They also share how they divide responsibilities after the sale, which functions are…
E65 · 30 Jun 2026 · 52 min
Why You Might Be Headed For 6-Figure Fines (And How to Avoid Them)
#65 Many home care agencies don't realize they've crossed the Affordable Care Act threshold until the IRS comes knocking. Brendan Mullins, CRO of Vitable Health, explains why agencies with as early as $1–2M in annual revenue can already qualify as Applicable Large Employers, how 30 hours per week (not 40) triggers eligibility, and why variable caregiver schedules make ACA compliance especially difficult. We break down how the 50 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) threshold is calculated, the misconceptions that lead agencies into trouble, and why penalties can quickly climb into the six figures .…
25 Jun 2026 · 23 min
Can Your Agency Survive Losing Its Best Scheduler? (Corey Grissom)
We cover: Why home care leaders are moving from AI exploration to real-world adoption. The buy-vs-build debate and why many agencies are choosing AI partnerships. Helping schedulers spend less time chasing call-outs and more time supporting people. Supporting owner-operators as they scale from zero schedulers to their first hire. How AI can fill open shifts in minutes instead of hours. Moving from reactive scheduling to planning weeks in advance. Capturing caregiver preferences and scheduling knowledge through AI memory. Preventing tribal knowledge from walking out the door with staff…
23 Jun 2026 · 22 min
The Hidden Cost of Bad Data in Home Care (Brady Schwab)
We cover: Brady's journey from audiology to home care innovation. Right at Home's growth to 600+ franchises across four countries. Staying focused on non-medical home care. Why AI is exposing long-standing data quality issues. The importance of data hygiene and integrity. How bad data can erode trust and create risk. Common gaps in referral tracking, scheduling, and workflows. Making care documentation easier through voice-to-text technology. Aligning caregiver incentives with better documentation. Combining in-home observations with vital sign data. Moving from documentation to predictive…
18 Jun 2026 · 22 min
How Team Select Is Predicting Readmissions Before They Happen (Meghan Willson)
We cover: Team Select's growth across 15 states, 9,000 employees, and 5,000 patients. Meghan's transition from physical therapist to technology leader. Using operational technology to reinvest dollars into patients and caregivers. Building a new enterprise data warehouse from the ground up. Why successful AI starts with a strong data foundation. The launch of CareSight AI and Team Select's partnership with Questa . Using AI to identify patient deterioration sooner. Predicting potential readmissions 3–5 days in advance. Combining vitals, documentation, and AI-driven insights. Reducing…
16 Jun 2026 · 32 min
Why Response Time is Your Most Important Sales Metric (Brad Gilmore)
Bonus episode recorded live @ Home Care Innovation Forum in Palm Springs, CA Key topics include: Why weekly new revenue is the most important sales measurement and how it provides a real-time view of where new business is coming from. Ensuring sales activity stays aligned with referral accounts that are actively generating new business. What success looks like for new sales reps, including tracking the number of new referral accounts established. Brad's "controlled shotgun" approach to account management: Tier A: 10 key accounts Tier B: 10–15 growth accounts Tier C: 15–20 contingency or…
E64 · 9 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 21 min
Nearly 100% Show Rates When AI Handles 830 Caregiver Touches a Week (Nate West)
#64 Most home care agencies are still operating the old way: phone calls, spreadsheets, reactive scheduling, and constant firefighting. Nate West, owner of Heritage Home Care in Arizona, joins me to discuss how he's transformed a well-established agency from what he jokingly calls "the Stone Age" into a modern, tech-enabled operation in just two years. He talks about eliminating edge cases, transitioning from reactive scheduling to proactively filling shifts days and weeks in advance, and the role AI is playing in caregiver communication, shift confirmations, and open shift management. And…
E63 · 2 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 14 min
The Gold Standard for Dementia Home Care (Jim Kimzey)
#63 Most home care agencies treat dementia care as a service line. Full Bloom built an entire company around it. Jim Kimzey, Co-Founder of Full Bloom Home Care, shares the systems, training, and care philosophy that allow his team to successfully serve some of the most challenging dementia clients while helping caregivers, families, and staff thrive. Jim breaks down the three levers that drive better dementia outcomes, an eight-step process for overcoming care refusal, and the gold standard for supporting complex dementia clients at home. He also explains how a dementia-first approach can…
E62 · 26 May 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Top Five Sales Activities that Drive Home Care Referrals (Sean Reiley)
#62 Most home care sales reps stay busy—but very few generate high-quality referrals consistently. Sean Reiley, CTO at 52 Weeks Marketing, breaks down the specific sales activities, scorecards, benchmarks, and accountability systems that separate top-performing reps from everyone else. Sean shares the five sales activities that actually drive referrals, how many referral sources a rep should manage, what productivity should look like week-to-week, and the biggest mistakes operators and sales leaders make when managing referral accounts. Sean Reiley / [email protected] 52 Weeks…
E61 · 19 May 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
The Real Barrier to Aging-in-Place Technology Isn’t Families (Paula Marks)
#61 90% of home care calls still happen in crisis mode—after the fall, hospitalization, or cognitive decline has already escalated. Paula Marks, VP of At Home Caregivers, explains why the industry must move from reactive “sick care” to preventative wellness models before the caregiver shortage reaches a breaking point. From the growing demand for in-home monitoring technology to the surprising resistance coming from referral sources themselves, Paula breaks down what’s actually preventing families from aging safely at home—and why quality, prevention, and trusted partnerships will dictate…
E60 · 12 May 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
How Coastal Care Partners Built a One-of-a-kind Integrated Care Model (Amy Pierce)
#60 Amy Pierce spent more than 20 years as a nurse and saw firsthand how fragmented healthcare makes it incredibly difficult—especially for older adults—to navigate. In 2018, she and her husband Scott set out to fix that. They started with nurse-led care management, quickly growing to ~10 clients before expanding the team—and within just six months realized they needed to bring caregiving in-house to control quality and outcomes. About 1–2 years later, they added clinical oversight so they could handle situations like a 4pm Friday change in condition without sending clients to the ER. Fast…
E59 · 5 May 2026 · 1 hr 9 min
Scaling to $13M Without Investors, Diversified Payers, or Traditional Playbooks (Scott Pierce)
#59 Scott Pierce didn’t come from home care—he came from broadcasting and healthcare software. But after navigating his parents’ complex health needs, he and his wife Amy built something entirely different in Savannah, Georgia. Eight years later, Coastal Care Partners is doing nearly $13M in revenue and 7,000 hours of care per week —all from a single location. Scott breaks down some of the unconventional decisions behind their growth: Why he focused on hours and Google reviews—not margins or EBITDA How staying 100% private pay shaped their model The early bets on caregiver pay, training, and…
E58 · 28 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 5 min
The Office Team, SOPs, and Networking that Took Him from 700 to 3,000 Hours/Week (Conant Schoenly)
#58 His father founded the first home care company in Connecticut in 1985. After leaving to pursue a career in finance and private equity, Conant rejoined the family business in 2018. What he walked into? Whiteboards, minimal systems, and plenty of opportunity. In less than eight years, he’s helped 4x the business, driven by thoughtful change management, stronger office staff, and continuous process improvement. Conant breaks down how he hires and develops his office team, how they approach micro vs. macro SOP changes, and why regularly visiting other home care operators has been a…
E57 · 21 Apr 2026 · 59 min
The 6 Preventable Gaps Driving 30-Day Readmissions (Ethan Guerrieri)
#57 The federal government invested $500 million to understand why seniors are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days—and uncovered six key “preventable” gaps driving the problem. Ethan Guerrieri, VP of Operations at Preferred Care at Home, breaks down the research, explains each gap, and shares how his team turned these insights into their Smooth Transition Care Program. Designed for hospitals and SNFs, this evidence-based approach equips case managers and discharge planners with the tools and education they need to reduce readmissions—and shows why home care is the missing link in…
E56 · 14 Apr 2026 · 1 hr
What 110,000+ Caregiver Applicants are Telling Us (Jen Waldron)
#56 From 110,713 caregiver applicants, 76% of those hired live less than 20 miles from the center of an agency’s service area. Location, hours, and pay are a few of the most important things applicants care about according to Jen Waldron, Co-Founder of Augusta. Every quarter, Augusta publishes the Recruitment Benchmark Report that details top recruitment channels, interview preferences, time-to-hire stats, previous caregiving experience, and top benefits applicants are looking for. Jen shares data and insights she’s gleaned having seen nearly 1 million caregiver applications over the…
E55 · 7 Apr 2026 · 59 min
How CareAdvantage Integrates Virtual Assistants into Recruiting and On-Call (Olivia Jones)
#55 Adding virtual assistants hasn’t just been a cost-strategy, it’s become a growth strategy for CareAdvantage. EVP Olivia Jones shares how initial skepticism gave way to a fully integrated model supporting both recruiting and on-call operations. Today, a team of 6 VAs drives the top of the recruiting funnel—each completing ~220 calls per week and collectively bringing in 40+ new caregivers weekly, while also placing dozens into their new caregiver training program. Olivia explains down how they hire, onboard, and train VAs like any other team member, and why that’s critical to success. She…
E54 · 31 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
How Debbie Miller is Approaching $1M from GUIDE—And Giving Away Her Exact System
#54 So you joined the GUIDE Program…but referrals aren’t coming in like you expected. Now what? That’s exactly where Debbie Miller—Owner of Senior Helpers Nashville and Founder of 52 Weeks Marketing—found herself. Instead of waiting, she got to work. After running into gaps during implementation, Debbie didn’t just “figure it out”—she built a complete system around GUIDE: A step-by-step process to train her team A way to onboard and track every referral Proven marketing to sell GUIDE to current clients, referral partners, and new families Ongoing coaching and support She partnered with…

About Home Care Strategy Lab

Home Care Strategy Lab is a English business podcast from Miriam Allred. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Miriam Allred
Language: English
Category: Business
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 4 min
Latest episode: 13 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1805663511
Rights: Home Care Strategy Lab LLC

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