Homecare: the End of Referral Salespeople and 5 Other Key Role Changes
Felipe de la Fuente
Homecare is changing and, in most aspects, for the good (see our article "We need Homecare 3.0 after Homecare 2.0"). Although there will be obstacles, we like painting the future of care for Seniors in a bright colour. Ageing and dependency will never be easy but we believe in the power of innovation and knowledge to improve the way we care for our Seniors.
An area where change is already happening is in the roles and responsibilities of the staff of Homecare companies. As Seniors’ and Families’ demands in terms of interactions and care coordination evolve, as technology transforms Homecare processes, organizations are adapting to improve resource allocation and chase new opportunities.
Here are some changes in roles and responsibilities that we are already seeing or are likely to see happening in the Homecare industry .
1. Digital Marketeers vs. Referral Salespeople
This is happening in most of the networks I know. The weight that used to be on building strong local referral networks with doctors or hospitals has been shifting to Digital Lead Generation. Why do you need local referral sales persons when you can invest in developing your digital marketing capabilities and get a better lead flow? As this article, “The New Era of Homecare” points out digital marketing is quickly making referral sales obsolete, expensive, less strategic.
Additionally, the way organizations source their services (including government agencies, hospitals, and all businesses) is changing: most now use the internet to find suppliers and partners. How about investing in local B2B Digital Marketing?
2. Community Managers vs. Schedulers
Given the scarcity of good caregivers and the generational shifts within the caregiver community, the rules of engagement between Homecare companies and caregivers are changing. Schedulers’ responsibilities are shifting from the more technical to the more human aspects of their jobs.
Automation and scheduling platforms simplify the purely mechanical elements of scheduling (including slot assignment, record keeping, matchmaking and caregiver selection) but keeping the caregiver community engaged, motivated, and ready to serve is harder than ever. Although in many ways, the caregiver community is increasingly individualistic, there is a strong need of belonging and of sharing within a community (this individualistic-community conflict is embodied in the huge success of Facebook). Creating and animating the community of caregivers of a Homecare agency will be capital in the future.
3. Community Managers and Digital Marketeers vs. Recruiters
Because the rules of engagement with caregivers are evolving and because competition from other agencies and marketplaces for the best caregivers is increasing, recruiting is changing dramatically. It’s clearly become a sellers game these days and loyalty needs to be earned by the agencies.
Recruitment of caregivers necessitates now a different skill set and tools. From digital and guerrilla campaigns to network cultivation, and community building, the work agencies need to (a) identify, (b) attract, and (c) hire talented caregivers looks more and more like Marketing and Community Management.
4. Development Managers vs. HR Managers
This is probably the most profound of the changes and the one with the biggest impact on the profession and the Seniors. As the industry gets polarized between Marketplaces and High Touch, High Quality agencies (see our article "How Senior Care Marketplaces Are Going To Disrupt Homecare"), Homecare agencies will have no choice but to offer a service of the highest quality and this require improving the capabilities of their caregivers.
Homecare organizations will have no choice but to engage actively in the professionalization of the caregiver role. This will require for many agencies a quantum leap in terms of training and development competences and a change in attitude towards caregiver retention and career planning. The current HR Management function as it is today structured in most Homecare independent agencies and networks will need to be rethought entirely.
5. Care coordinator 3.0 vs Care coordinator 2.0
As Homecare becomes increasingly personalised, patient-centered, and outcome-focused (see our article "The New Era of Homecare"), the role of the care coordinator will become increasingly important, sophisticated, and difficult.
Although evaluation, scheduling, and caregiver matching will be simplified by automation and technology, the coordination process will become more complex and demanding. Care planning will be more agile and dynamic, interactions with the family and the Senior more frequent. Assessments will be more regular. As Homecare is progressively integrated into the healthcare continuum, coordinators will be asked to interact with very tough partners more frequently.
Also, care (non-medical and medical) will become increasingly data-driven and care coordination is where the rubber meets the road: where data suggestions, predictions, and analysis are transformed into real care plans and actions.
The new era of Homecare will bring the dawn of a new species of care coordinator
Jamie's Home Care Services
3049 Cleveland Ave Suite 276
Fort Myers, FL 33901
239-333-9517
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