Is 'Small' 'Local' home health care best?

Is ‘Small’ ‘Local’ home health care best?

There is a common perception that small local home care agencies are the best care providers. The truth is more complicated. The best home health care is offered by organizations with tested expertise, local knowledge and clear integrity of purpose that ensures both clients and caregivers are well cared for.

• We appreciate the movement to buy local but there is no implicit advantage in using a home care provider for that reason.
• The real question is whether they have any local home care and healthcare expertise and how that knowledge is being shared.
• Some providers have one admin team answering daytime and afterhours calls. Other providers use answering services or remote call centers staffed by people who cannot answer basic questions about services and policies. A few use 3rd party answering services and may or may not respond locally.
• CommunityPlus has a three person Coordination team that know local health care and answer the phone 7 days a week 0800-2000 and respond within 30 minutes.

‘Big’ home care is often associated with disjointed organizations

that treat people like numbers and put profit ahead of everything else. However, ‘Small’ home care means more difficulty providing service flexibility and reliability. 

• Home care benefits from network effects so larger home care is theoretically better if they are also well-organized, well-managed and have scheduling expertise.
• Small home care is less able to meet changing care requirements and provide flexible services.
• Most small home care does not survive over time with the ups and down of the business seasonality.
• CommunityPlus is a medium-sized organization with exceptional organization and scheduling expertise. We built in-house tools to scale effectively and maintain a high quality of service through growth and change.

• Home care scheduling expertise is very hard to find and makes a huge difference in the service quality and experience clients and employees have.
• Local healthcare knowledge matters when the admin team know the systems, resources available and how to connect you with them.
• An organizations integrity of purpose is the 'Why' that drives the culture of what we do.

• CommunityPlus is owned by Matthew, a 19 year home care scheduler and healthcare operator in Government and Private. He developed and built the home care software we use to provide organized, effective, person centered support to all the people in our scope. He's a relentless efficiency nut with humanist tendencies.
• There is a wealth of local healthcare information on our website that we maintain each year. Our entire admin team participates in this process and we then use the website as an internal and external resource.
• The people that work here long-term are all conscientious, caring and reliable. They care about the impact they have on the world and those around them. We are united in purpose to the service we provide and the larger goal to improve industry tools and practices for all home care providers.