Founded in 2007 by Clay and Christina Foutch, a couple from Beaverton, Oregon, the business has unique roots. Clay, a process engineer at Intel, brought a talent for process development and continuous improvement, skills that have significantly shaped Home Matters. Christina, an occupational therapist, wanted to use her therapy skills to help others. Driven by a shared interest in starting a business together, they saw a need in the Beaverton market for high-quality in-home care for seniors.

In 2010, Jeffrey Giedt, now Home Matters’ Chief Executive Officer, met Clay, who shared his distinct approach to the home care industry, blending his background as a process engineer. Captivated by the idea of building a thriving business centered on serving others, Giedt, after much research, agreed to establish an agency in the Arizona market. They shared best practices and supported each other’s growth until 2019, when Giedt had the good fortune of receiving an offer to sell his business.

“I sold my agency, and Clay and I talked about integrating the best of what he was doing in Beaverton with what we were doing in the Phoenix area and creating a playbook for a franchise organization that could help new entrepreneurs interested in serving seniors to create a successful business,” Giedt says.

A vital part of this playbook involved nurturing the company’s culture. “Creating a culture that gives us the ability to serve seniors in an effective way while also serving our caregiving team on a daily basis is crucial,” says Kristi Edwards, a Home Matters Caregiving Franchise Owner. “We’re continually considering how the choices we make and the actions we take allow our caregiving team to better serve seniors in our area.”

For Edwards, this mission includes removing obstacles for her caregiving team and ensuring they have all the tools needed to perform their job effectively. “We also believe in doing well by doing good,” she adds, describing her and her team’s active community engagement, such as participating in the Alzheimer’s Association and serving on the Commission on Aging.

In the past, keeping a senior at home long-term was not always feasible, but with state regulations and structured agencies like Home Matters, society is now better positioned to meet this need. While nursing homes used to be the primary option, today, well-vetted caregivers and structured procedures make in-home care a viable and often preferred alternative.

“In seniors’ lives, things are changing on a daily basis, and having the ability now to address those things and be proactive in care is allowing them to stay home longer,” says Edwards. “Ideally, I think almost everyone would want to stay home long-term.”

AARP’s extensive research has revealed approximately 92 percent of seniors prefer to remain at home and age in place during their golden years, Giedt adds. “It’s the same thing we see when we’re out talking to people’s families—the majority of seniors want to stay where they’ve been comfortable the majority of their life in familiar surroundings at home. That’s one of the gratifying areas of this business, as we get to help people do that.”

Home Matters’ care offerings can vary by state. For example, California does not allow medical care, but Home Matters provides comprehensive non-medical support, from companionship and meal preparation to transportation. For seniors who are bedbound or require hygiene assistance, the organization is well-equipped to support them.

The company also serves as a valuable resource in the senior medical space, connecting clients with necessary services. “Even though our responsibilities in California are strictly non-medical, we have a nurse on staff. This ‘nurse-guided care’ approach is a core philosophy of ours,” says Giedt. “Having a nurse with clinical and medical knowledge and education enables us to identify some of the warning signs of the aging process. “It puts us in a position to provide a higher level of care.”

Advanced technology has significantly enhanced Home Matters’ ability to support clients with various needs, enabling proactive and improved care, says Edwards. From a local agency perspective, technology provides vital client information 24/7. “In the past, agencies like ours used to only have limited information from the time we were physically with the client. But what’s happening when we’re not there?”

Technology has allowed the company to address the inevitable changes seniors face and be proactive versus reactive, allowing them to stay in their homes longer while also improving care outcomes.

“UTIs are very prevalent in seniors, and they can be missed initially, because the senior dismisses it and thinks they’re going to be fine, or if they do have some cognitive impairment, they may not be able to verbalize what they’re experiencing,” says Edwards. “Technology has allowed us to identify things such as a UTI that could eventually lead to falls, delirium, or even death.”

An early alert system enables prompt medical attention, helping to address mobility declines or confusion around medication. “If someone were to fall, we would be able to intervene very quickly and get them the help needed.”

In essence, technology is making a huge difference in the very way home care is provided. “Technology fits into that beautifully, because it’s giving us tools we’ve never had before,” Giedt says. “The industry has traditionally been slow to adopt technology, but when we developed our franchise model, we made technology a core focus, regularly evaluating and implementing the best tools available.”

Home Matters has adopted a system that monitors the well-being of seniors 24/7, establishing a baseline for each individual’s normal activity level and detecting any deviations. “We’re all going through the aging process,” says Giedt. “And for some seniors those changes are happening quicker. When we were blind to them before, we were always reactive. But now we have the data, and the system will tell us when these small changes are taking place.”

This example of the Purpose-Driven Care model goes beyond basic safety and sustenance, addressing the five keys of aging: physical activity, mental engagement, connection with loved ones, and maintaining a sense of purpose. “As we age, sometimes the younger generation doesn’t always appreciate the fact that this person has lived this long, beautiful, amazing life, and they have a lot to offer, and their sense of purpose can be lost,” says Edwards. “But it’s essential for well-being. It could be their faith, relationships, or hobbies, but maintaining their strong sense of purpose is really important, along with infusing fun into their care plan.”

Mental health is also a priority, particularly for seniors aging in isolation. Home Matters assesses potential clients’ mental health, helping those unable to leave their homes stay socially connected, often by working with community resources. “We engage in constant dialogue with clients and their families in how we can better improve their mental health and overall well-being,” Edwards shares.

“Ensuring clients get out of bed every morning and have something to look forward to, something purposeful to them—that really makes a big difference in their ability to thrive,” Giedt adds.

For those involved in Home Matters, this mission is personal. “We all have a heart for seniors,” says Edwards. “If someone’s heart isn’t in the right place, and they’re not getting into this business because they genuinely care and want to see seniors thrive and live their best lives, Home Matters may not be a good fit for them.”

Reflecting on her own growth in the business, Edwards appreciates the strong corporate support that has facilitated her success. Giedt agrees, praising her efforts: “Kristi has done an outstanding job of not only creating that culture of success and assembling a great team, but growing a thriving business focused on serving seniors. We’re incredibly proud of her.”

The post Doing Well by Doing Good: Home Care that Matters<p class="company">Home Matters Caregiving</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

There are many advantages to membership, and at the top of the list is community. “What our members value is being part of a community of like-minded individuals,” says Chief Executive Officer Jason Lee. “You can share your triumphs, your challenges. It makes you feel a part of something. There can be a sense of isolation for business owners, especially those who are starting off for the first time. It can be pretty daunting,” he says.

“The value of an association is to be able to join other individuals and groups who are doing the same thing. You can provide feedback, guidance, mentorship, that type of thing.”

Another key benefit “is being able to speak with a unified voice,” he states. “Being a part of an organization where we are speaking on behalf of the industry and having members be a part of that, I think is important. [There] is a mutual element in the fact that our members help us bring a broader voice, whether it’s based on geographic dynamics or their expertise, their personal interaction with government, and how policies would impact them on the federal and state level. It’s that synergy of membership and us as an organization working together and being able to provide that strong voice.”

Membership is also good for business. “We’ve seen that members who join HCAOA tend to have 45 percent higher revenue,” Lee says. “While most individual agencies pay $888 in dues each year, we’ve calculated that they receive about $200,000 in member benefits.”

Educational opportunities are another important benefit of membership. For example, HCAOA hosts the National Home Care Conference each year, “a great opportunity for educational sessions on things like AI, scheduling, how to support your caregivers. That conference really encapsulates a lot of the value [from HCAOA membership]. You’re getting the education; you’re getting the networking.” This year’s conference took place in October, in Seattle/Bellevue, Washington.

In addition to the national conference, the association has state chapters that convene regularly. “We are set to launch digital communities for each state in 2025 so our members can connect and collaborate on advocacy, business, operations, or any topic with ease year-round. We are always looking for ways to better support our members and believe this will be a great addition to an already robust list of member benefits,” says Lee. “In our state chapters, our members can coordinate on the local level about issues that impact their businesses, such as regulatory requirements and operational resources. A number of them have in-person conferences, pretty much all of them have virtual meetings, and so, again, it’s an opportunity to connect with your peers, learn from each other, hear from regulators and other key speakers, and to learn from those moments.”

Currently, a key federal issue the industry is tackling is the Medicaid Access Rule. “As you can tell from the name, the goal is to create more access to care,” Lee says. The rule’s 80/20 provision requires 80 percent of Medicaid payments to be used for wages and no more than 20 percent for administrative costs. “It’s one of those things on paper that sounds great, but [is] challenging when you get into the details,” Lee shares. “There are few states, if any, that can withstand that kind of ratio. When you talk about 20 percent for administrative costs, that includes training, background checks, all of your retention elements,” he explains. “All that would be thrown into the 20 percent, and that’s not much to work with. So our concern is, one, it could potentially put agencies out of business; or two, to stay in business [agencies will] pull away from the rural areas, underserved communities, and focus more on the large cities. We’ve heard that from our members, and clearly that’s the opposite of what you want to see happen.”

HCAOA is taking an active approach to remedy the situation. “We’ve been working with CMS,” Lee says. The association is also working with other entities within the sector. “We’re going to have ongoing conversations. They understand the challenges. At the same time, you can understand that they’re not prepared to roll back the provision themselves at this point, but they are listening. They want to know what the impact is on the state level.”

The association stands behind some of the provisions of the rule. “There are other parts of the Medicaid Access Rule that we support,” he affirms. “Quality measure sets, things like that, that are important and would be new, but we think this 80/20 provision would undercut that. So, there’s a bill on the House side that would remove the 80/20 provision and the other provisions that we think are good would remain intact. We continue to provide advocacy in that regard.”

The association has enjoyed success at the state level recently. “Our state chapters have led the efforts for increases in Medicaid rates in Georgia, Washington, and West Virginia, which are long overdue,” says Lee. “We’ve seen that lag behind inflation for so long. We hope other states will follow suit.”

The association supports Connecticut’s and Maine’s efforts “to set industry standards for a license to help improve delivery of in-home care to clients. One place where we’re providing education and, to a certain degree, opposition, is a domestic worker bill in New Jersey, as well as a separate bill which has a lot of auditing requirements.” HCAOA is working to prevent any unintended negative consequences of the bill that might occur. “We’re having different conversations. We’re meeting with, for instance, the Executive Director of Legal and Regulatory Services at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development as well as the Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs—again, providing education and trying to explain, ‘here are the potential negative impacts that might occur in the homecare industry if you were to impose this,’” Lee explains.

The association is eager to get members’ feedback in order to promote solutions and secure the future they envision. “We are listening,” Lee asserts, and a recent industry survey is helping HCAOA understand how to best represent members moving forward. “We’re trying to do outreach to make sure what we present resonates with our membership, and I’m always keeping an open ear and an open door for our members to make sure that they feel they can reach out to me and provide feedback and let us know [what] is really helpful.”

One issue about which members express concern when considering the future is the workforce shortage. “Our hope is that we can build out a robust workforce within the industry,” says Lee.

A promising area to watch is how the industry will leverage technology. In the future, “There are so many things that can be done with technology to make [life] easier for our members, the caregivers who work for them, the families we serve.” Take AI, for instance. “There are ways—even if somebody’s not in the home—to track if a family member has fallen. Technology can provide an alert.”

In addition to keeping people safer, AI could provide people with company. “We talk to Alexa and whatnot,” he points out. “You could easily see AI being part of the companionship element to provide an additional touch point with those in need, clients who may want some more interaction. You can’t replace an in-person interaction, but you could see how AI could complement that and give them another avenue of communication,” he explains.

“There are a lot of things coming down the pipeline that are incredibly exciting and will really make the industry vibrant,” he summarizes, “and so, with HCAOA, we want to promote that and find solutions as much as possible.”

From providing community, to advocating for the industry, to leveraging future technologies, the association is committed to representing its members and building a better home care sector both today and into the future.

The post The Voice of the Industry<p class="company">Home Care Association of America</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.