How Private Care is Reshaping Senior Living

How Private Care is Reshaping Senior Living

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Mike Paladino: Alrighty. Welcome to the CareSmartz360 On Air podcast, which is a home care podcast. I’m Mike Paladino, an account executive here at Caresmartz, and very happy to speak with Ryan. Here today.

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Mike Paladino: The best feature you know of private home care is it that it entails personalized care with the comfort within one’s home.

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Mike Paladino: This form of care represents a fundamental shift in the way aging and care giving are perceived, emphasizing autonomy and dignity for seniors as private home care services are tailored to individual needs. These foster deeper connections between caregivers and seniors, promoting emotional well-being alongside physical health.

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Mike Paladino: Further, to that by enabling seniors to age in familiar surroundings. These services reduce the stress and disruption often associated with relocation.

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Mike Paladino: You know they empower seniors to maintain independence and a sense of control over their lives contributing to overall happiness and quality of life. So it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this way of caregiving has revolutionized the way that we care for the elderly today.

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Mike Paladino: Now, today, I’m also very excited, as we have the CEO of Minute Women Home Care, Ryan McEniff. Hopefully, I pronounce that right on the panel today. Ryan has been handling the reins at Minute Women Home Care for more than 12 years now. And as far as home care services are concerned, there’s no stopping Ryan.

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Mike Paladino: Welcome to the show, Ryan. Great to have you online today.

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Ryan McEniff: Thanks for having me on the show, Mike.

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Mike Paladino: Amazing love it so Ryan, I guess we’ll just dive right in. I do have a couple of questions for you. I would love to garner your expertise and your feedback, based on your years of experience in our ever-changing industry. And I’m sure, in the last 12 years you’ve seen a lot of shifts. So love to ask a few questions and get your feedback on, and how others can follow suit and follow in your footsteps.

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Mike Paladino: So, Ryan, the first question I have for you today is, how do you see private home care services reshaping the narrative around aging and elder care.

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Ryan McEniff: Well, I mean, I think private home care is

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Ryan McEniff: It’s an interesting industry.

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Ryan McEniff: And it can be very State to State. You know, in Massachusetts we don’t have any regulations in home care.

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Ryan McEniff: Which is kind of surprising to many people. Considering the politics of this State, and you know the the

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Ryan McEniff: people call Massachusetts, Texas, and things like that.

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Ryan McEniff: while other States have more stringent

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Ryan McEniff: requirements and regulations around being a Home Care company, and I think you know, at least in Massachusetts. But to all home care companies, you know, we’re we’re

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Ryan McEniff: in a field in which generally, families don’t see us very often, meaning, like the office staff, the CEO. They don’t see the office very often. We don’t have to be on Main Street like a real estate or a bank

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Ryan McEniff: has to be. And so folks that they interact with are the caregivers and Matt, at the end of the day is, you know, the the face of the company, and where I think home care companies need to all do a better job, myself included, and constantly trying to improve our

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Ryan McEniff: Our business is to elevate our standards. Without the government needing to tell us to do that, and I don’t mean that politically it should be intrinsic as a company owner, that your standards want to be as high as humanly possible.

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Ryan McEniff: and then that way, if there are government regulations, you are already exceeding those

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Ryan McEniff: by leaps and bounds. And you know, typically a book that I never read. But I listened to his podcast. He’s productive. Got a Guru called Cal. Newport. He wrote a book, when he was in college or shortly out of college called

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Ryan McEniff: so good they can’t ignore you, which basically, it kind of summarizes what it’s about. Just focus on one thing, be the best at that and the prizes, the accolades, the speaking, the money that will all follow, doing a really good job at one specific thing. And I think if we do that?

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Ryan McEniff: We will be, you know, revolutionizing and improving. The care delivery that we’re we’re providing, because at the end of the day

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Ryan McEniff: families want to keep their loved ones at home. Most seniors want to stay at home in the house that they’ve been in for decades and nobody wants to. Nobody has on their wish list to be moving into a nursing home. Right? So you know, maybe assisted living’s okay and and is a compromise if you will, and not that assisted living or bad. But I would be willing to put money on that. The vast majority of people, when you ask them at 60 years old. Where do you want to be when you’re 80, right where I’m at right now, enjoying my own house that I worked hard for

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Mike Paladino: absolutely. And it’s something that I think we’re seeing more and more, Ryan, you know, just as a quick example not to get too off topic. I have a 95 year old grandfather. My grandmother passed away a few years ago, 93 years old. Now rest her soul. She was a lovely woman, and had a lovely life. But he is very stubborn. I’m from an Italian background. He came straight from Italy, immigrated here, and was very stubborn. I am not going anywhere but my house. I work too hard. I’m gonna stay here until I pass on

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Mike Paladino: as such. He’s elderly, ready. He needs care. Needs somebody to keep an eye on him and monitor him. And we were able to find an amazing agency to work with, to make sure that he has all the needs that he requires, even somebody that speaks Italian. So it’s something that is very personal to him. And allows him to be comfortable in the later stages of his life.

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Mike Paladino: Now we’ve also seen the flip side of that coin through Covid, and how much of a struggle long-term care facilities were in separating families, people not having the care they needed because of short staff. Right? So I think more and more about your point. Private or private duty, home care, private home care in general. It is something that we’re gonna see more and more. People emphasize right? And I think you know, I’m a good example of that. We wanted to keep them at home, too. Right?

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Ryan McEniff: Yeah. And and you know, I’m not here to to pitch this, but I also am the president of a company called Well Aware Care

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Ryan McEniff: And the reason I bring that up isn’t any hard sell. But part of the reason I was part of that company. And I’m part of that company because what they do is ambient technology, passive, patient monitoring systems. And I think that, and the reason I got involved in it, that company and passionate about it, whether you use well aware, care the competitors that are out there is that as the rising costs of caregiving continues to go up.

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Ryan McEniff: You know the lack of caregivers that are in this country right now, there’s just not enough to go around, and that because of that supply and demand they get more and more expensive every single year. I think home care companies over the next 5 to 10 years, let’s say, or maybe even sooner, will kind of revolutionize senior care. And what you were talking about be open to to new technology that come in here and

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Ryan McEniff: provide some level of a safety net for seniors that caregivers don’t necessarily have to be there for. And you know, if somebody is needing 12 HA day, but they can’t afford the other 12 HA day.

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Ryan McEniff: You’re not going to get that business. You’re not losing business because of that. You’re actually sustaining your business because you put some type of technology in there that will alert

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Ryan McEniff: family members or the agency themselves when something bad happens in the home. So I think that’s kind of the next logical step with home care companies getting away from my affiliation is technology being in the home to be able to

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Mike Paladino: fill that gap for people that can’t afford it or don’t necessarily need it right now, or don’t need can’t afford 24 HA day. Amazing over the past 5 years, like the technology advances we’ve seen is just insane. I go to conferences every year I go like 3, 4, 5 on a good year.

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Mike Paladino: And that 2 things I’m seeing very prevalent is caregiver retention. We know attrition is like an all time high. So that’s something to focus on. And how do we keep people and get more people in the industry? Right? That’s a burning platform, and will be probably for the next 2530 years, if not more.

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But the things that we can help bridge the gap is technology and know us as a technology platform. We try to be more revolutionary as well. With AI based information and caregiver retention based dashboard, saying, Hey, who’s able to be a champion who’s not very loyal, who’s likely to churn like these types of things? It’s just predictive analytics that allow agencies to do their jobs better. But also to your point.

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technology is gonna also help support those that need the care, be more cost effective and be more as needed and less like, you know, just sending somebody out there. That’s gonna drive up the cost, right? So I think there’s an amazing opportunity for all types of technology. And we should be welcoming it because it’s only gonna make our lives in the industry easier. Right?

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Ryan McEniff: Yeah. And and I would

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Ryan McEniff: I would kind of volley it to the I imagine agency owners are going to be listening to this. Podcast. Often. And you know, think about it. Think about the days when

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Ryan McEniff: hair smarts or your competitors. The cloud-based scheduling Crm

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Ryan McEniff: services didn’t exist like, would you want to go back to pen and paper and a notebook that you have to carry around, and when somebody’s on call they have to carry a binder with them all the time. No, of course not. It made life so much more simpler, able to work from home remotely, you can still go on a vacation, and yet, if a disaster happens, you can still log in and triage, if need be. Look at it through that lens of how easy it’s made

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Ryan McEniff: running an agency owner’s life and the employees in that. And that’s the same mentality that people should have with other technologies that could come in this space and help out with that, because

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Ryan McEniff: you’re going to be able to provide better services in general.

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Ryan McEniff: even without a note, like. One of the things that I’ve always been cognizant about is that we’ve gotten referrals from. Sorry if I’m going on tangent, but well, when we’ve we’ve we’ve got we might take the floor full 45

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Ryan McEniff: but when we get referrals from assisted living so often. Those referrals from assisted living would be that somebody fell or injured themselves. Assisted. Living doesn’t really know. Went to an emergency room for a few days, and now they just need somebody to watch Mom or dad to let them know what’s going on.

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Ryan McEniff: And and I always felt very I always was cognizant, I should say, of saying, Hey, listen!

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Ryan McEniff: You’re depending on an agency that you’re paying money to, to let you know whether you’re not. You need that agency like. There’s a conflict of interest intrinsically in that conversation. And it was, you know, kind of it was. It was what they had to do. And of course we were honest when we thought they could step down and when they didn’t need our services anymore. But imagine you have technology in there that can let you know that without having any conflicts of interest, what’s going on at night? What’s going on in the morning? What’s

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Ryan McEniff: and these various different things that I’m I’m as you can tell. I’m excited to see what that landscape is going to be in general, on how technology comes into home care and senior care as a whole, because.

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Ryan McEniff: You know, our businesses, even though they’re different, are focused on doing something that’s kind of antiquated. It’s hands-on care. There isn’t.

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Ryan McEniff: You know. Tesla is now driving around on their own for better or for ours. You know all these things have changed so dramatically. But at the end of the day our business is scheduling. A person to go out and provide in person, care, and technology is, has creeped in in different forms, but it hasn’t. If the

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Ryan McEniff: the the nail on the head with how is care delivery going to be

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Ryan McEniff: change via technology. And that’s gonna be really interesting to see what happens over the next 1020 years. However, absolutely. Yeah. That’s the funny thing. It’s like for all intents and purposes it could be sooner than we all expected. It probably won’t be. But the way technology goes today we just never know

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Mike Paladino: but I love everything that you’re saying, Ryan, because it’s it’s all hits so close to home, because at the end of the day, whether we’re on the technology side, whether on the agency side, we all share the common interest and common goal of how can we increase, care, outcomes, and make people comfortable at home receive the services they need that are tailored

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Mike Paladino: and fact based. That’s, I think, really the important thing that we all try to accomplish on both sides of the coin. And I’ve seen a lot of harmony among software vendors like there’s so many Emrs or Cmr platforms out there that you can utilize hopefully. You know, Kara Smarts has been looked at as one of the better ones. We think we are. Obviously everyone has opinions. But we, you know, strive to make our technology more modern, more supportive, more accessible, so that when agencies need to use us, they get what they need without a thought.

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Mike Paladino: And that’s really that the main premise of us making it easier whether it’s technology use as a Cmr or Emr or, you know, physical technology out in the field.

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Ryan McEniff: So that’s why I love that. No, no tangents allowed here, Ryan, but I know you and I will probably talk, and there have been. There have been failures like I remember thinking when I heard about on right where they tried to uber eyes home care. And I said to whoever I said I might be the typewriter salesman saying, Don’t worry about this computer thing that’s going on. But I was like, I think it’s a little bit more complicated than just pressing a couple of buttons, and somebody shows up, and everything goes

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Ryan McEniff: according to plan. And of course we saw what happened with honor that they basically took their money, bought home instead, and they went back to the old model to try to get their investors

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Ryan McEniff: returns on their investment because things weren’t going well, so it’s it’s

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Ryan McEniff: And I’m not trying to trash on honor right? That, you know, obviously would have affected my business. But there are difficulties in doing this. It’s not as simple as can be. And that’s what’s interesting to see what’s going to actually get through the cracks and be able to resonate with families, to resonate with seniors

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Mike Paladino: and be able to work out in the long run with adding technology to things. And I think it’s an exciting time. Yeah. Well, the last point before we go to the next question I’ll make on that is, I think the intentions were actually very good. I think the execution was a bit of a mess, whereas I think in theory it makes sense what they were trying to do. But yeah, to your point. It’s a lot more things. It’s not just cut and dry as like, I’ll schedule somebody. And here’s all the

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and a vetting process. There’s a personal approach that needs to be, you know, paramount when you’re providing home care services that the trust factor right like somebody that.

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Mike Paladino: Just let’s say, get an appointment. Somebody randomly gets to their house, takes care of them.

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Mike Paladino: Are they gonna really share everything with that person they’ve just met right? Or are they more likely to be more open with somebody they’ve worked with for many years, or for an extended period of time right? And you can’t really replace that human element in home care. And that’s never gonna go away.

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Mike Paladino: So that’s where I think the big challenge was with honor. But who knows? Maybe in the future there’s something that helps bridge the gap, but doesn’t necessarily replace the human element because they are the consistency element cause that honestly, is what helps agencies scale word to mouth, marketing, word to mouth referrals. That’s the strongest form of growth. Right? Do a great job. People are likely to say something to someone else.

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Ryan McEniff: absolutely. And I’m sure there’s going to be some somebody out there that cracks that now right eventually it will happen. And you know, but like anything to defend honor a little bit. The person that blasts through the wall first always gets the blood straight, like you’re the one that’s trying to forge a new path. And you’re gonna get the thorns, and you’re gonna get the cuts and the bruises trying to do it. And so they took the shot. It didn’t work out as well, and I’m sure somebody’s gonna learn from that and improve, and there will be the next iteration of

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Mike Paladino: oh, yeah, I’m fairly confident we’ll see that again probably sooner than we think.

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Mike Paladino: But you know, like you said, someone’s gotta do it. Someone’s gotta learn. And usually the companies that are most successful, or the second and third movers, cause they’ve seen what didn’t work, and they adapt

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but yeah, so the next question, Ryan, just to kind of keep on track is. You know, in what ways do private home care services personalize the caregiving experience for seniors? And how does this contribute overall? Well, being in your mind.

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Ryan McEniff: Yeah, I mean,

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Ryan McEniff: You know again going back to my experience of being a Massachusetts. I can’t speak to somebody in Virginia or Kansas, or wherever, but in Massachusetts, and I imagine it’s not much different. It is that I was at a chamber event once, and there was an assisted living executive director at that event as well.

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Ryan McEniff: The executive director of the Chamber introduced the 2 of us because we’re on the same business. And she, Matto, frankly, basically said, it doesn’t matter if I use minute women, because if you do a bad job and I fire you, you just send me out. I go to ABC. Or Xyz homecare.

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Ryan McEniff: And he sent me the same care, just with a different name, tag. The very caregivers that I fired you over are gonna come back with a different agency, and that perfect ego a little bit. But it was. It was brutal honesty that I appreciated because it made me think, hey, listen

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Ryan McEniff: this, if what she’s saying is what others are thinking and not saying directly to my face. And I’m also like 6 foot 6. So it’s not like, I’m the least activated guy in the world, either. And so, you know.

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Ryan McEniff: I look at it as when you’re trying to provide that personalized care. You, you really need to spend time on the the front end to to have less

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Ryan McEniff: better outcomes. Excuse me on the back end.

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Ryan McEniff: And my point with Massachusetts is that right now, with no regulation, you can go online register and LC, get a business card in a brochure and a website for probably under a thousand bucks. And you can look

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Ryan McEniff: gang professional. And so and so you know it is on the onus, is on us as owners and agency owners, to differentiate ourselves in some manner which then disseminates down through word of mouth and through customer referrals, and part of that is really getting to know the clients that we’re working with and spending time with them and

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Ryan McEniff: and doing training on the caregivers and not just sending a caregiver a word document or an email that has, you know, 2 paragraphs about what this person needs. And you know Adl’s cleaning, you know. XY, and Z. You, you need to spend time with your caregiver to make sure that they understand exactly what they’re walking into. That will give you good

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Ryan McEniff: outcomes with your caregivers. It will give you good outcomes with your clients, and your caregivers will feel supported. Your clients will be happy. Your caregiver may say, Hey, listen! This is not the case for me, because you mentioned that they have 3 cats in the house, and I’m definitely allergic to cats. Alright great. So we didn’t just send somebody out there that’s gonna walk out of the house within 10 min, and I bring that example up because we’ve made that mistake, you know, like the you know, it happens and and what we’ve learned over a decade, plus, if new agencies are

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Ryan McEniff: are listening, is, do the due diligence upfront, spend the time with the assessment, get to know the family, talk with them, and then try to find the right caregiver and the best caregiver for that situation and

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Ryan McEniff: You know we have a saying, admitted women, that is, fill the case. Fill the case for quality, worry about the money. Later, you know, they’ll check that Bill Bell is from Massachusetts. The best ability is availability. Right. So the person needs to have the ability to get to the case. But then from there we want the best person possible match for that situation. To be able to go out on that shift.

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Ryan McEniff: And if that means we’re paying a little bit more money. If that means that we gotta cover an Uber charge to get things going. Don’t let you know. See, the forest with trees here like this is going to be worth the while of making sure things.

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Ryan McEniff: go. Well, I mean, when you look at

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Ryan McEniff: when you look at cases, any case, it doesn’t matter where the 2 week spots are when this starts new care, right? That first week or 2, maybe up to a month, where they’re getting used to people coming in with different faces. Everybody’s getting used to everybody else. And then, when there’s a last minute, fill in.

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Ryan McEniff: And so.

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Ryan McEniff: you know, you want to make sure that when those weak spots come up and they’re going to come up, it’s a guarantee that you you take the time to, and you have the

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Ryan McEniff: processes in place to be able to inform that caregivers, so that they can have the best possible outcome, and

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Ryan McEniff: spending a little bit of extra money to make sure that the shift goes well, is going to

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Ryan McEniff: make the client happy. The business is gonna have a client for longer, which means more revenue, and all of those great things. So I look at it as doing it upfront and get an assessment. That’s more than just, you know, even in

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Ryan McEniff: cares. I. I’m not as familiar with care smart as other ones, but

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Ryan McEniff: You know you can. They all have assessments that’s great, but you can also add to that assessment you can add to it if there’s certain things that you say, hey, listen, you know. No, no, no, nobody’s perfect, no software is perfect. And so if you want to add a couple of things to it, that’s never gonna hurt right? So

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Ryan McEniff: You know. And I’m not trying to. You know, I’m not trying to say anything negatively about anything. But I’m just. I’m just saying, Hey, listen! Do the due diligence upfront, spend the time, get the information, spend an extra half an hour with the family, or 45 min. Make them feel comfortable with everything, educate them, let them ask questions, don’t have it. Be a transaction, and then you will have information to support your caregivers and to do a good job.

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Mike Paladino: I think that’s the best way to put it. And I. You know, naturally I’m a finance guy. That’s why I studied in school. I like numbers. I implement that usually in my day to day life, and also my work career but always look at the long time. Long term the Ltv. Value of a client or a person right, maybe at the start, like you mentioned. Maybe your profit margins aren’t as high because you spent a little extra to make sure the right person was going there. You’re paying them a bit more because it’s a challenging client.

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Mike Paladino: But you’ve now had that client on board for 3, 4, 5 years, and then you start to realize those margins even further, cause they’re getting amazing care. They’re willing to pay a bit more to have that level of comfort and ease, like at a site of the mind, ease, ease of the mind, right? And the other thing that you mentioned was something that I talked about almost every single day, and it’s via the assessments it’s caregiver matching. How do you ensure you’re assigning

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the best possible fit to work with an individual based on that specific criteria which no, we would capture in an assessment. Things like restrictions. Do they have pets? Do they have allergies? Are they allergic to pets? Do we have an allergy to pets and dogs at the caregiver level? These are things that just from the care smarts perspective we evaluate. And when we suggest, Hey, this person can go and fill this appointment. The individuals you see fit the attributes and criteria and don’t have any restrictions. And

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Mike Paladino: In place, maybe it’s smoking non-smoking allergies. Right? And these are some of the predictive things we’re trying to do to make it easier for agencies like Nope and individuals like you when it comes to staffing, especially with somebody new. Right? So I think it’s such a great way to think about it. And

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Mike Paladino: You know more and more as we advance, our technology and others in industry get better. That level of flexibility and information is going to just be super important, not only for Nope agencies who have been doing it for a long time, but startups. New agencies are trying to figure it out. They need that info or cause they don’t know where to look otherwise.

00:24:25.830 –> 00:24:46.220
Mike Paladino: Which is not a really good way to position it. I love your thoughts on that. By the way, now the next question, Ryan, I wanted to ask you as we go through. Can you lead on the technology side, can you discuss any innovative technologies or approaches that you know private home care agencies are utilizing to enhance quality of care for seniors.

00:24:47.030 –> 00:24:52.640
Ryan McEniff: Well, I mean, it kind of goes back to where? Where, in my mastermind groups that I use.

00:24:52.700 –> 00:25:10.439
Ryan McEniff: There are a number of agencies that are looking at passive, patient, monitoring systems. Not necessarily always well aware care. There could be competitors out there, since AI is a competitor. But that is something that I know a lot of the other agencies I interact with

00:25:10.450 –> 00:25:13.179
Ryan McEniff: are looking at. And

00:25:13.210 –> 00:25:29.410
Ryan McEniff: You know, I think, in the past, the aversion to a lot of these types of technologies in the home. Pears devices. They’re essentially no out of pocket costs. But they need to be used. They need to be utilized. And then

00:25:29.770 –> 00:25:46.580
Ryan McEniff: People don’t really like cameras, I mean, where falls happen? Where? Where? You’re spending a lot of time in the bathroom, in the bedroom where you’re naked, where you’re going to the bathroom, and the last thing you know a senior wants, and their adult child wants is to see somebody in a compromising position like that.

00:25:46.700 –> 00:26:10.199
Ryan McEniff: And so I think that that is going to kind of be the next step where technology can go. And it’s fascinating the stuff that’s out there. I mean, I’m gonna be on a national stage. It’s a nonprofit I’m part of, and there’s a company called Kansa that has a smart toilet seat, so that when you sit down it measures your heart rate.

00:26:10.280 –> 00:26:13.889
Ryan McEniff: And so, you know, then your brain starts thinking about like.

00:26:14.000 –> 00:26:33.460
Ryan McEniff: What are the other sensors they could put in there? Because people go into the bathroom, they’re using the toilet seat every single day, sometimes multiple times a day, depending on male or female. And you know what are the types of things that you can get from something that’s non-invasive that somebody’s going to use, no matter what, that they don’t have to learn. The technology and

00:26:33.580 –> 00:26:45.149
Ryan McEniff: are already incorporating it. And you’re just changing out the type of toilet seat that’s on there. And so I don’t know if they’ll be successful. But that’s where I think technology is going to go where it’s going to be

00:26:45.300 –> 00:27:00.190
Ryan McEniff: devices that people are used to using, or or that they don’t have to specifically wear for a specific purpose that they’re sitting down on a toilet seat. They’re laying down on a bed, and you put a smart pad under the bed. Things like that will be able to tell you quite a lot.

00:27:00.500 –> 00:27:25.419
Mike Paladino: Yeah, I love that right? Because in II, personally didn’t even know about this toilet, they could, you know, measure your heart rate? But think about it, somebody who is not a senior or elderly, having a bed or a toilet that could monitor these things give us this predictive analytics. All that does is allow us to better support them and send somebody there. If we notice something or make sure we’re adjusting how frequently we’re gonna work with them. Or maybe there’s appointments. We should be looking at scheduling

00:27:25.420 –> 00:27:50.170
Mike Paladino: for them for a medical visit or something like that right that is indicative of what’s been going on with them. And technology. Again, we can talk about this tour, both probably blue in the face, which we probably would if we weren’t on a schedule. You know, its technology is exciting. It’s there to help us. And we’re only gonna see it make hopefully our lives as agencies or owners or caregivers. Just a bit easier to know that we’re really focused on what that person needs.

11200:27:50.170 –> 00:28:15.650
Ryan McEniff: The better the care is provided. More likely that person or that clients can be retained. And the longer time you’re gonna have with them they’re gonna speak nicely about. You tell their friends or families of friends about the great experience. And they’re gonna come to you right? And that’s ultimately what you want. Right? So

00:28:15.940 –> 00:28:42.609
Ryan McEniff: You know that it’s interesting to bring it back to agencies. That’s going to be an interesting place to see what kind of technology I’m sure you experience. There is pain switching from one platform to another. You get used to the work and all of one platform, and to switch over to that. That means that, hey? Some things are gonna improve and some things may not be what you are used to from the previous platform. And I think

00:28:42.610 –> 00:29:03.180
Ryan McEniff: The innovation on these platforms is gonna be interesting on how AI is brought into that? Does that make scheduling different? Does it say, Hey, listen! Based on your criteria and based on this person’s open availability. We’re gonna a AI is gonna automatically put somebody in here and send out a

00:29:03.180 –> 00:29:16.209
Ryan McEniff: a notification that your shift is available. I mean that there’s definitely a lot of technology that can come through vendors like yourself that are going to make it easier to schedule, and

00:29:16.280 –> 00:29:32.040
Ryan McEniff: The easier it is to schedule, and the more automated that is, the more cost savings it is for folks in agencies, so that they don’t need that third schedule, or maybe 2 schedulers can handle what 3 could. And certainly

00:29:32.370 –> 00:29:39.609
Ryan McEniff: We’re seeing at least the reasoning behind a lot of that in the tech layoffs this past or 5 months.

00:29:39.640 –> 00:29:56.960
Ryan McEniff: The reason or the excuse that they’re giving is that they think AI is at a point where they can replace a lot of these jobs and they’re off suite, we’ll see. I don’t know what it is, but that’s at least what they’re telling Wall Street and you know.

00:29:57.070 –> 00:30:02.839
Ryan McEniff: did that. That. I guess that technology is far closer to being on the cusp of being

00:30:02.840 –> 00:30:27.590
Ryan McEniff: Well, she was not familiar with that. That’s what I’m saying.

00:30:27.590 –> 00:30:35.429
Mike Paladino: If that is all, she is kind of resistant to technology, a little bit right, whereas I like guns blazing. I’m learning everything new, every new tech gadget and toy

00:30:35.430 –> 00:31:06.330
So I’m like, go to chat GP and type in any medical diagnosis or anything that you would typically see in the ER and see what it spits back at you. She’s like, okay, she types in something to do with a heart condition, and it gives her all the details of everything she could possibly need to know how to treat it, how to manage it. Now, mind, you need to look through and make sure it’s accurate. But it’s 90-95% of the way there. And you know it. It’s just crazy to see how these things are impacting our everyday lives. She’s also a clinical instructor, and I’m like, I almost guarantee you, all your students are going

00:31:06.330 –> 00:31:19.869
and writing their papers about their shifts in this chat. Gp, and they’re just sending it directly. And she’s like, well, you know what. I didn’t have this when I was in school. But it is crazy to think about how easy technology is making that aspect of things. And

00:31:19.990 –> 00:31:37.559
Mike Paladino: Now we know with technology, it moves at a rapid pace quicker and quicker and quicker when we see it in home care. What we see today, and what’s normalized will probably be super different in 2 to 3 years from now. Right? And that’s I think the best thing we should all look for from an agency perspective or a technology perspective

00:31:37.560 –> 00:31:53.489
Mike Paladino: is being adaptable because of that change in behavior. We were doing it manually and paper based 10 years ago, 5 years ago. Even now we have technology in 5 more years like you said, maybe there’s AI based scheduling that can say this caregiver is available to go here. They’ve already worked with them with 3 h. They’re.

00:31:53.490 –> 00:31:57.710
Mike Paladino: you know, 10 miles away. Boom! They’re going right, cause they’ve indicated their ability

00:31:58.150 –> 00:32:25.500
Ryan McEniff: for your listeners. I’ll give them a tidbit of what we’re using. Chat. Cbt. For you know I’m not the most eloquent, eloquent speaker. I’m not the best writer in the world, so I will. Let’s say every agency owner every single year has to deal with sending out the email, notifying clients over right? That’s always a tough email to send because you’re worried that they’re gonna go ballistic, or you’re gonna hurt your relationship with them, or worst case scenario. They leave

00:32:25.530 –> 00:32:29.689
Ryan McEniff: right in your word document or in your gmail. What you would write.

00:32:29.920 –> 00:32:43.250
Ryan McEniff: copy it wrote in chat, Ept, and say, I want you to rewrite this with compassion and warmth and understanding and press enter, and it will spit out in seconds

00:32:43.320 –> 00:33:06.680
Ryan McEniff: an email that you would have probably never been able to write into, even if you could write that email as well as this. Spit it out. You would have spent an hour and a half on it, because getting the words on the paper doesn’t take the time you get the message out, it’s massaging those words so that it has the right impact that you’re looking for. And you can literally chat. Cbt. Get go, give me 7 different

00:33:06.680 –> 00:33:28.550
Ryan McEniff: versions of this email to choose from, and then it spits it out, and it makes your that will save you time that will help you with your communications a little bit better. And then, obviously, when people get on the phone with me or listen to me on a podcast they realize that I’m not as eloquent as I seem in an email, but it’s a time saver, right there. And it also helps you with your relationship with your customers.

00:33:28.550 –> 00:33:58.389
Mike Paladino: Yeah, well, it’s great, it’s an amazing point. And everyone should be leveraged. The thing is, technology is there for us to utilize, and if we’re not using it. I had this conversation with a marketer in the, in, the, in the industry, and how they use automation to save time and focus more on business growth activities and less efforts on like the other monotonous tasks. Right? And technology is there. You gotta find out how to use it most effectively for your business. What works well for you might not work well for somebody else, but it’s just finding out what that happy medium is for you and, like you said, if

00:33:58.390 –> 00:34:16.879
I use this for the same thing. By the way, I might write a long email. I’m like, I wanna make sure the message is there. But maybe I wanna massage it a bit differently. I do the same thing. Why wouldn’t I? Yeah, it’s there for us to use. It’s only gonna help us get better. Now, that’s a double edged sword, because we know with AI, especially in our roles here as salespeople or in tech

00:34:16.980 –> 00:34:30.830
Mike Paladino: remains to be seen how that’s going to look in 10 years. But I always think the human element is going to be impactful, maybe at a lesser scale. But I think in any industry human element is important, and that is directly related again to home care, right. That personalized touch

00:34:31.310 –> 00:34:44.640
Mike Paladino: Absolutely great. So these insights are just fantastic. By the way, this is such a lovely conversation. I know that everyone that tunes into this is gonna definitely have a lot of takeaways. The next question for you, Ryan

00:34:44.850 –> 00:35:00.080
Mike Paladino: actually relates to challenges. You know, what challenges do private home care services face in terms of accessibility, affordability? And you know, how can these barriers be addressed to ensure equitable access for all seniors in our space.

00:35:01.000 –> 00:35:07.120
Ryan McEniff: Well, I mean equitable access is is kind of a catchy term these days of of

00:35:07.150 –> 00:35:28.809
Ryan McEniff: what’s equitable, I mean, at the end of the day. I don’t think private home care is equitable whatsoever, because we’re essentially catering services to those that have the means to be able to pay privately for essentially what it is is one on one care. You know. Somebody’s coming to the home and catering to nearly all your your needs, and

00:35:28.810 –> 00:35:45.180
Ryan McEniff: at the end of the day. The vast majority of people in this country cannot afford to do that. So so you know that, you know, when you’re looking at government programs that try to do these things where the difficulty comes is that usually people that

00:35:45.460 –> 00:35:48.669
are looking at government programs that are usually getting low hours.

00:35:48.700 –> 00:36:10.469
Ryan McEniff: And that means caregivers aren’t as interested in those cases because they want 8, 1012, 16 h shifts. They want big goals. Yes, which, if you were in a caregivers position, you probably want that, too. And so then you’re dealing with getting inconsistent care. Continuity is very low.

00:36:10.470 –> 00:36:23.819
Ryan McEniff: Which then leads to, you know, just customer service issues or dissatisfaction in the delivery care model that they’re getting so how do you? How do you handle the class

00:36:23.820 –> 00:36:40.269
Ryan McEniff: issues? I don’t know. I don’t know how that’s a conversation for somebody much smarter and more elephant speaking that has jets chat Gvt in their head. But you know, at the at the end of the day all you can do is try to provide the best care that you can for the clients that

00:36:40.270 –> 00:36:56.090
Ryan McEniff: can afford your care. And you know, like we were talking about before. That’s where I think technology will be able to come in and breach that gap. Is it going to? Is is one on one care always going to be needed. I think so, because you know, a technology is not at the

00:36:56.090 –> 00:37:20.430
Ryan McEniff: and the Jetsons it play yet where you can have a a you know, to the Boston dynamics trying to make those those robots. It’s not here yet. But you know you still need somebody to help you go to the bathroom, make your meals and things like that. But there is going to be more and more technology that provides that safety net and so how to make that equitable. I don’t know, because where

00:37:20.460 –> 00:37:45.340
Mike Paladino: You know, we’re catering to those that have the means to be able to pay for these types of services. Yeah, I think you may have a fair point right? Because as a private duty or private equity, home care company, that is your audience. You don’t cater to those that can afford it, and you know we do the same thing with my grandfather. Very fortunate to know he has 4 or 5, I guess 5 kids now supporting himself right? So he’s able to go ahead and

00:37:45.340 –> 00:38:09.409
Mike Paladino: and get what he needs. And they’ve no, he’s 95. He’s worked his whole life. He’s got savings right. That’s not the case for everybody. So I think there needs to be. And this is the again, as you mentioned, it’s at a state level. It’s at a federal level figuring out how we can better fund programs for those that need the care, because just because somebody isn’t able to still have the means to afford it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get those care services. But the caveat to that right now

00:38:09.410 –> 00:38:27.450
Mike Paladino: is that Medicaid Medicare mainly Medicaid. It’s largely underfunded, or they don’t pay as much. So the caregivers can’t earn as much. The shifts are shorter. So the caregiver largely wants to work at a private duty. Home care cause they get to make more money, have longer shifts, and it’s honestly you’re working better services because it’s more one on one

00:38:27.450 –> 00:38:52.240
Mike Paladino: whereas not one to many. Right? So it is a double edged sword. It’s a tough thing to solve but hopefully, over the next. And again, state by state, it’s different. What’s different? What happens in Massachusetts is different from what has happened to California. It’s different than what’s ha! What’s happening in New York? Right? So everything is different everywhere. To think if we can, maybe streamline some things as best we can. It could make it a bit easier to just understand where those true gaps are.

00:38:52.360 –> 00:39:05.809
Ryan McEniff: because right now it seems like it’s all over the place. Yeah, I mean, I mean using an example down in Rhode Island, and I know they were trying to pass this in legislation in Massachusetts was, I forget the name of the law, but it was like a whole modification.

00:39:05.880 –> 00:39:18.209
Ryan McEniff: Grant where, if they would match you like 5,000, maybe 10,000, but I think it was $5,000. So you put in 5 grand. The State puts in 5 grand, and you can use that money to modify your home to

00:39:18.250 –> 00:39:24.620
Ryan McEniff: age in place more safely. And it’s those types of programs that I think make a lot of sense because you’re

00:39:24.690 –> 00:39:33.610
Ryan McEniff: you’re going to pay one way or another, and if you are able to pay to have grab bars installed, have have those wrought iron

00:39:33.620 –> 00:39:47.920
Ryan McEniff: railings outside of homes reinstalled because they’ve been rusted after 30 years in order to improve somebody for a low cost money, I mean grab bars are cheap. Installation is cheap and there are various other ways that you can improve somebody’s home.

155
00:39:48.110 –> 00:39:52.290
Ryan McEniff: You, I mean. All you have to do is prevent one fall, and you’ve

00:39:52.450 –> 00:40:02.000
Ryan McEniff: you’ve made your money because it’s just the er visit alone, and the ambulance ride and all that, even if it’s a 24 h turnaround right? So

00:40:02.150 –> 00:40:08.129
Ryan McEniff: That’s not to say if somebody really has a bad fall, and there’s confusion, or there’s a broken bone, or whatever it is, there’s

00:40:08.450 –> 00:40:20.370
Ryan McEniff: strictly the cost, not the human suffering, but the cost that’s involved in that is tremendous and then, of course, that person is probably their baseline is going to permanently be changed for the worse, and they’re going to.

00:40:20.450 –> 00:40:40.100
Ryan McEniff: then need to leave more on the healthcare system for various reasons. So you know, I think I think when you look at those types of things. It is definitely and I said it a few times, but the forest through the trees, and saying, Hey, listen! A little bit of preventative maintenance right like, hey? Listen! Nobody likes paying to have the roof

00:40:40.170 –> 00:40:58.339
Ryan McEniff: re shingle, but it’s a hell of a lot better than having a massive flood, and having $150,000 worth of damages. Right? And so that preventative measures. And I think that’s the problem we have in general not to be on a soapbox. But what we see. And I’m probably guilty of this, too. We’re all guilty. Is that

00:40:58.440 –> 00:41:17.020
Ryan McEniff: W. We’re not proactive. We’re reactive in these situations, and usually when you’re reactive, it’s been too late. And then, all of a sudden, you’re trying to put toothpaste back in the bottle, and that’s very difficult, if not impossible, to do. And going back to your your point with those government programs is that

00:41:17.270 –> 00:41:24.839
Ryan McEniff: And it triples down to private home care? How do I quantify? How many falls did I prevent? Well, it’s really hard to do that, because

163
00:41:24.950 –> 00:41:48.779
Ryan McEniff: you don’t know what the future would have looked like if you didn’t have 24 h care or 12, or whatever but that is mentality we need to have, especially as the the baby boomer generation is getting older and older, and they’re really, you know, my dad’s at the beginning of the baby boomer situation generation, and he’s 76. So he’s the front kind of line of

00:41:48.820 –> 00:42:16.450
Mike Paladino: when he’s starting to need care

00:42:16.450 –> 00:42:23.450
Mike Paladino: from largely needing assistance and living at home, or an Alp or an Ltc facility. Right?

00:42:23.590 –> 00:42:46.380
Mike Paladino: So I think that we haven’t really scratched that surface yet. We’re thinking about it. But we don’t know the impact caused there. The boomer generation is just massive. There’s so many people right that were going to be are going to be now transitioned into some sort of aging at home care service type, or in a facility. Right? That’s just really what’s gonna be. And our country’s massive. So a lot of people here.

00:42:46.380 –> 00:42:57.109
Mike Paladino: And you know, there’s gonna be definitely, I think a big need for services like that. You provide, or many other agencies across the country. It’s gonna be very interesting to see how that plays out.

00:42:57.990 –> 00:43:08.379
Ryan McEniff: Yeah, I mean only time will tell. I think we’re a little bit past the point of no return, I mean the way they go. The wheels of government turn so slowly. It’s probably

00:43:08.520 –> 00:43:36.570
Mike Paladino: past. A miracle is probably like, Hey, we’re on the roller coaster. We’re about to start. That is the first descent, and all you can do is hang on and try to enjoy the ride. That’s a great analogy. It’s like we’ve been slow climbing for years, and it’s like at the end, at the very top. We’re like, Oh, I don’t have my seat belt on the hill but you know, absolutely enjoy the loopy loops and the hanging on.

00:43:36.570 –> 00:43:54.900
Oh, that’s funny. Well, Ryan, this has been a great conversation. I have one final question for you. Then I’ll free you back to your Dave. But the last one I wanted to ask you, Ryan, is can you share a real life example that illustrates the impact of private home care on a seniors life and their families as well.

00:43:55.950 –> 00:44:12.549
Ryan McEniff: I mean, yeah, I mean, we’ve been a women’s business for 50 plus years now. So we’ve got a couple of those you know, where the one that jumps out to mind is that there was a gentleman that we ended up caring for.

00:44:12.580 –> 00:44:15.149
Ryan McEniff: who had a very nasty fall.

00:44:15.190 –> 00:44:30.500
Ryan McEniff: and he loved the red Sox, and he loves sitting out on the the deck of his assisted living and we got a very nice note from the family, and he was one of those many individuals that the family started using us because

00:44:30.620 –> 00:44:47.429
Ryan McEniff: Dad fell, and they needed to see kind of where his baseline was. So they were only gonna use us for a week or 2, and, like many of the situations, a week or 2 turns into a month or 2 turns into 6 months, 8 months, because, you know, the realization that Dad’s not bouncing back as quickly as you once would have

00:44:47.820 –> 00:44:53.579
Ryan McEniff: and the family was just over the moon that we were able to keep him in his home.

00:44:53.770 –> 00:45:00.780
Ryan McEniff: And be able to allow him to still watch the Red Sox talk about the Red Sox with Federal residents

00:45:00.810 –> 00:45:17.229
Ryan McEniff: during the Nice, you know. Spring and summer and fall months. Obviously the fall was big for baseball, being able to spend time out on that deck of assisted living and enjoy things, and he got strong enough that they ended up, you know.

00:45:17.260 –> 00:45:26.570
Ryan McEniff: we call it graduating from services, not needing us anymore. And it was, you know, just a really nice, nice, thank you card that we received.

00:45:26.670 –> 00:45:39.629
Ryan McEniff: To be able to do that. And you know any agency, if you’re in business long enough. We, we. We frame all of our thank you cards, and it isn’t meant to be like, it’s finding how great we are. But

00:45:39.630 –> 00:46:08.440
Ryan McEniff: this is a tough business to be in, and some days you question. Why the heck this business, you know. Why can’t I sell widgets that don’t talk back? They don’t talk late. They don’t make you go bald. You know all these things, and you just need a reminder to say, Hey, there was a lot of good that we did right. And it’s not meant to be a shrine of how great we are, but more of a reminder of saying, Hey, listen! We are doing a good thing. We’re getting paid to help people

00:46:08.440 –> 00:46:41.280
Ryan McEniff: That’s a good profession to be in as you know it. It makes the days a little a little bit more bearable on the tough days. And then on the good days, you know. Obviously you get to sit there and say, Hey, today was a good day. We helped a lot of people, and we did a lot of good love it. And you know the highs are high. The lows are low in this industry and it. It is something that can be tough, right? You’re especially if you’re working with seniors or the elderly people pass on. You build connections. There’s a lot of potential sadness that comes in the nature of how we work and who we work with.

00:46:41.280 –> 00:47:05.769
Mike Paladino: But that said, the outcomes and the positive impacts that we’re able to make on these lives and reassure families or make them comfortable. Make them, you know, allow them rather to keep doing the things they love like watching the red Sox play. I’m a Jays fan. So obviously I’m not a big red Sox guy, but you know the point. It’s all good. But you know the point stands where it’s just making people comfortable.

Mike Paladino: comfortable, and that is such an amazing experience and I learned that firsthand from my mother being a nurse for 35 plus years. My fiance has been a nurse now for 7 years. That was in long term care, and I see it. The bad days are bad, that’s challenging. It’s tough, but the good days are really what is the biggest motivation, and I see that with them all the time. And I’m sure you see that every day as well. So

00:47:30.310 –> 00:47:41.210
Ryan McEniff: yeah, absolutely, it’s it’s always and it allows you to remember why you’re doing like, you know. I think most agency owners have a I find even even your your

00:47:41.230 –> 00:47:57.370
Ryan McEniff: your girlfriend, your fiance, your wife, whoever was, you know, as a nurse. Usually people in the healthcare world get into it because of a personal experience, and you know, I always thought like, you know, just being frank, and I don’t. I don’t care that it’s recorded. I always thought that like

00:47:57.430 –> 00:48:03.839
Ryan McEniff: Values of companies were a bunch of it was just a big cross. You know, it was all just stuff on a website that

00:48:03.880 –> 00:48:22.450
Ryan McEniff: In real matters, somebody came with marketing, basically. And over time. I realized how important those values were. And over the years, you know, I sat down and I said, Hey, listen, what are our values and our biggest value was dignity. And we like dignity because of it. Dignity is a form of respect. We can use that for our

00:48:22.450 –> 00:48:45.609
Ryan McEniff: clients. We can use it for our coworkers. We can use it for field staff, who are co-workers as well. Everybody needs to show dignity and respect to one another, and I got into this because my mom died from cancer, and my aunt is at a funeral. We got talking. I had always wanted to be a business owner. I’ve seen 24 h home care, and that’s how I got introduced to all this. And I remember my mom having cancer everywhere in her body

00:48:45.740 –> 00:48:54.350
Ryan McEniff: and saying, It is just, you know it stinks to die. but everybody’s got to die. But you know this cancer has got to rob you of your dignity as well.

00:48:54.480 –> 00:49:04.619
Ryan McEniff: And you know you think about that. You think about people with dementia living with dementia. You think about other chronic diseases that for Co. Pd.

00:49:04.990 –> 00:49:28.170
Ryan McEniff: Those things that don’t allow you to age gracefully or as gracefully as you’re hoping to do or or like. My mom said she was needing total care near the end. And those are the things that you bring with you when you’re running an agency. And you remember, hey, listen, you know, like, you know, I went through this as well. Would this be acceptable? Is this acceptable? Is that acceptable? And if the answer is Yes, great, and if the answer is, no.

00:49:28.240 –> 00:49:43.179
Ryan McEniff: We’re all gonna face those situations, and you need to spend your time fixing those things. And you know, that’s kind of where I kind of will leave it off with you is that you know. Think about those values, think about those things that are important to you your past experiences and

00:49:43.200 –> 00:49:54.279
Ryan McEniff: bring them into your company, and then, you know, live up to them, you know. Have them be part of the processes and have them be reminded every single time. It’s not just words on

00:49:54.300 –> 00:50:07.809
Ryan McEniff: a website. It’s not just marketing, because if you don’t, then it is just marketing. So it’s something that you need to think about. And it goes back to the reasons why we get involved in this and having the good days and the bad days.

00:50:07.810 –> 00:50:26.739
Mike Paladino: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, obviously very sorry to hear about your mother and the struggles that she had. But that level of motivation, I think, is what sets those like yourself up for success in those industries. Right? And I think a similar sentiment motivated me. And this is the last thing I’ll say before we let you go.

00:50:26.740 –> 00:50:39.579
Mike Paladino: la! For me. My motivation to get into the technology side of home care was seeing my mother being a nurse, doing home care, case management, home care, health, care, and hospice as a case manager and coordinator at an agency for 35 years.

00:50:39.580 –> 00:51:04.010
Mike Paladino: She did it when in her time it was all paper based and manual. So I saw the hours of long hours charting at night before bed, or getting caught up on work that was just piling up right, and an agency where people just wear many hats is so much to do at all times, especially when there’s no technology. So for me, I saw my whole childhood growing up. And as soon as I got older I saw the industry basically

00:51:04.010 –> 00:51:18.359
growing and becoming more technologically savvy and focused. That’s what motivated me to get into the software side of it, because, like, I’m not somebody who’s gonna be a clinician or go there and do the practical work. But if I can help on the tech side, which I am very good at.

00:51:18.360 –> 00:51:37.350
Mike Paladino: That’s where I can make my impact right? So it’s always cool to hear the stories. That motivates everyone to get into our industry. I think, like you said, most people that are in the home care, healthcare hospice industry have a reason that motivated them. And I think that’s why our industry is so awesome. And I hope that technology can can help us level up even further.

00:51:38.580 –> 00:52:04.040
Mike Paladino: No, absolutely. That’s a great, great reason for your why, yeah, awesome. Well, Ryan, this has been fantastic. I want to thank you for your time, and sparing your precious time. You’ve been giving me a bit extra today, which is amazing. You’ve shared some wonderful insights, and I’m sure the audiences that tune in are going to find them useful and helpful as well, and guide them. Thank you. Everyone for tuning in. And until our next episode. This is Mike signing off.