Home Care Partnerships that Scale Referrals & Revenue

Home Care Partnerships that Scale Referrals & Revenue

00:00:09
Hello and welcome to CareSmartz360 On Air. I’m Dennis Gill, Senior Sales Consultant at Caresmartz. Today, I’m excited to welcome Shaun Farrell, Area Sales Director for Greater Los Angeles at TheKey, where he drives partnerships that meaningfully boost referrals and revenue in both non-medical and full concierge nursing services. Tune in as Shaun breaks down how smart collaborations transform pipelines and power sustainable growth for agencies in competitive markets. So, welcome to the podcast, Shaun.

00:00:47
. Hey. Yeah, thank you, Dennis. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it and am excited to be here. No, we’re really glad that you were able to take time for our audience today and I hope it is a pretty fruitful and then a session where there is value added to all the audience that is listening to our session all over the world today. Yeah, I hope so. . Okay, so without wasting any time, I’ll just jump in with my first question for you Shaun . So, John, what type of

00:01:13
referral partners have historically driven the highest conversion and revenue for agencies? . Yeah, I think it kind of depends on your business model from a home care standpoint and kind of what you’re looking at. So, there’s two different I guess two different avenues that you can go on. you have more of your low volume, high revenue um referral channels which can be more of your wealth advisors, your fiduciaries, uh geriatric care managers. Um these are more like your trusted uh your trusted

00:01:46
referral partners from a high revenue standpoint. So they have more of them . The higher revenue net worth clients especially because we are in a predominantly private pay world uh on the home side. So, when you’re talking about it from that standpoint, if you’re looking for more low volume but high revenue, that’s probably more of the trusted advisors is kind of what they call it. Um, channel to go by. Now, there are other companies out there that go a little bit more high volume,

00:02:16
slightly lower revenue. Um, where it’s kind of like you’re casting more of a wider net. Um, and there’s nothing wrong with any of these channels because it’s also to say it’s not like you can’t get a high revenue uh client from this channel either, but some of these are a little bit more just high volume, slightly less revenue to where you’re you’re talking more skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, um, to where there’s many many many discharge charges per day or per week or whatever

00:02:42
it might be. The unfortunate thing, especially living in a large metropolitan area um is that for I say unfortunate from a business standpoint from a home care private pay standpoint um not to sound you know what I mean not not to sound . I get that I completely get that . Speaking completely from a business standpoint it turns into slightly more of a payer mix that we just can’t service uh because of what we do. Um, trust me, I think everybody listening would love if uh well, I don’t know if

00:03:12
everybody, but I know I would love it if Medicare covered our services. Um, and there’s certain Medicare Advantage plans that some companies are uh partnered with, but the benefit is very very slim. So, we’re mainly going after those private pay clients um and long-term care insurance where it comes into play. And generally your wealth advisors, your geriatric care managers, these are the people that have the right clientele that are that that lead to that uh longevity. . Okay, good to know that. And how do you

00:03:43
recommend agencies to cultivate and maintain strong relationships with hospital discharge planners and physicians? . Yeah, I think especially hospital discharge planners, I think the biggest thing is they’re busy. um they see a whole lot of you and me and and everybody a lot and that’s just like one little part of their job. So I think coming in and making it as if you are going to come in to talk to them, if you are going to come in to whether it’s pitch your own business or whether just

00:04:16
I feel like getting down to what their actual real issue is in their internal job like what they are struggling with on a dayto-day um that is really keep whether it’s keeping them up at night to not to be cliche or it’s this this is essentially just what is weighing them down. Um, and sometimes it’s really it’s readmissions. It’s worried about getting folks out of the hospital, but they don’t have a sniff that can take them and how might home care be able to help um in certain

00:04:47
scenarios where sniff’s not really appropriate, but maybe home care is a little bit more appropriate. Having these types of conversations with them and trying not coming in at shift change. I think that’s a really big one as well. . That’s a big correction. . Try trying to pick and pick and choose what time of day you go in. It really does help uh sometimes too. um because there are really stressful times and like pivot points of the day for them. . Um . then with physicians as well um

00:05:13
. really getting in tight with their receptionist, their PAs, if they have a physician’s assistant, that’s really like their right-hand person uh half the time. And honestly, the PAs are the ones that do have the referrals anyways. Um the doctors might just refer it over to their PA and be like, “Hey, refer this out or help me. I have to go see six other patients right now.” and the PA is the one back there doing everything themselves, right? So, like . trying to get to know the whole team in

00:05:40
the physician’s office outside of just strictly targeting the doctor because half the time the doctor is going to . I love doctors. I’m not Once again, I preface this by saying I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I’ve had a lot of different experiences, but the doctors are really really uh they’re really busy. They’re probably trying to do notes half the time and you’re coming in there and they’re like, “What do you need, Shaun ? I I I got two seconds for

00:06:00
you.” And then it’s like the PA and the front desk people are a lot more willing to give you a little bit more time. So I feel like developing that relationship with them too . and I think they can provide you much better information than the doctors also because they will have more detailed information about the person. Right. . 100%. And once again this takes away nothing from the importance of what the doctor’s doing. . Definitely not at all. Not at all.

00:06:23
. Yeah. The PA is more on the back end, right? They’re the ones figuring out everything, especially the continuity for when they go home. What might they need? Setting up DME, setting up a lot of the background noise that the doctor just doesn’t do normally. So, while it’s good for the doctors and physicians to know what we do, um I think it’s much more beneficial from a standpoint of . figuring out who actually makes the referrals. It could be the doctor, but it could actually be somebody else.

00:06:49
Right. . Correct. Correct. And what are common pitfalls agencies face when building partnerships that are meant to generate steady referrals? I think falling in, this is uh the term I used. It’s kind of more of a modern term, I’m sure, but it’s falling into the friend zone, as they say, right? You uh a lot of sales folks always I’m sure we’re familiar with this if you’re listening to this podcast or listening to this broadcast. . Um you become you tell your boss, man,

00:07:18
like I have such a good relationship with XYZ. You know, I’ll go in there, I know everybody. We high five, we talk about the weekend, and I just never get anything from them. you have essentially turned into their doughnut delivery Uber Eats person that comes and just gives them donuts on Friday . and you’re sitting there shooting the breeze with them and it seems like man like this is such a good referral source for me but then you look at your ROI on it and it’s been nothing for the last

00:07:44
three months . So you’re trying to figure out why and it’s because you’re doing a really good job of breaking down the barriers but it’s almost turned more into it’s gone too far into the other direction of friend zone they almost forget what you do. They forget that you’re there for a reason as well. It’s like I do want to be friends with some of these folks and I actually am like some of my referral sources. . We’ve we’ve grown really close over the

00:08:08
years. Um but the reason why we’ve stayed close too is because of business as well. Like there there’s a certain give and take to where I had a referral source say this to me the other day. They’re like, “Shaun , I get it. I’m you’re you’re not a volunteer. I understand.” Like so like there when I when I have these conversations and you kind of have to call certain folks out sometimes to be like and it’s okay to do so to be like hey you know I’ve been coming and doing uh you know a program

00:08:34
at your place for the last 6 months you know uh once a week I’ve been coming to see you. What can I do to really earn that business? It sometimes is direct if you’re not already getting referrals . What’s there to lose? You know what I mean? Like that’s kind of what I’m , how I view it sometimes. So, . no, rightly said. Rightly said. Obviously, you don’t have anything to lose at that point of time. And even if you get something out of it, bingo.

00:08:58
There you go. . That’s what I’m saying. Yeah. So, yeah, being friend-zoned, that’s my one uh that’s my one thing. Try not to get friend-zoned in a relationship at work. So,. correctly. Everybody has that. . All right. And just continuing with this, how can agencies measure the ROI and revenue impact of strategic partnerships effectively? Yeah, I think especially like for me working at the key, we’re a national company. So, we have a lot we’ve been in

00:09:25
business for over 25 like between 25 and 30 years. So, I mean, we have a lot of integrated systems uh software systems that we run internally. I think especially depending on who’s listening to this, right? So, it’s you could be working for a large corporation like the key or you could be working more in a mom and pop. I think it is important to have a customer relationship management system. So, some type of CRM um and then something like Salesforce or something like that to be able to track your

00:09:53
meetings. And I know that this is a certain issue. I was thinking about this question. This is an issue I feel like and it’s not a knock on them, but it’s an issue sometimes with smaller mom and pops because it’s a big investment in the beginning, right? Salesforce isn’t cheap, right? Some of these CRM systems are not necessarily cheap. It’s a lot per month. It’s hard to do. Oh, then I could just I I’ll do a lot of this via paper and that’s what makes me

00:10:17
kind of mom and pop. That’s what makes me different. I understand that from a certain perspective, right? And like mom and pops I think have a really good competitive advantage in certain areas compared to something like the key, right? There are certain pros and cons that you can argue for both, but I really do think . that CRM and things like that, it’s something that you really can’t skimp on because you have to be able to track your ROI month over month, you have to be able to see, okay, all of this effort

00:10:46
I’ve been putting in at XYZ and all these places for the last like year, what has it netted me? Right? and Salesforce and things like Salesforce, you can run reports to where it shows your ROI over the last three months, six months, nine months, year, multiple years, and you can build that out and look at trends time, you know, over year over year over year to be like, oh, you know what? I didn’t actually realize that this senior living community was giving me a little bit more than I thought, you know, and I haven’t really

00:11:14
been leaning into that. So, I feel like really having some of these CRM systems, having Salesforce, having something like that to really track and measure these things is so important as opposed to just winging it. Um, and I know sometimes there are companies that don’t want to just wing it, right? And they’re like, I just don’t have the capital to do it. It’s hard. . Understand that. . Like, I get it. But, um, I do think it’s it’s vital that you have some type of

00:11:40
tracking system or you’re just you’re just going to get lost. You’re going to assume things because I’ve assumed that I’ve had a really good referral source somewhere. I’ve gotten a lot of referrals, but we never converted them. So, that’s another thing that I’m looking at. How many leads because that’s something that Salesforce does, your leads to opportunities, your opportunities to conversions. There is a gap there. We got to figure out are they actually

00:12:03
giving us they’re giving us referrals, but are they actually giving us the referrals that we can open? You know what I mean? So, um, that’s kind of my my biggest thing is that, you know, stay in tune with if you don’t have a CRM, I understand, like I said, from a from a financial standpoint with some of these companies, but you have to have some type of system that tracks your ROI. Maybe you’re really good with Excel or something like that. I’m not, but if you really are, fine. Um, you can build out

00:12:30
your own, but you have to be able to track measure . and yes, they get a proper funnel for that. And that funnel can be tracked in a very right manner. I’ve seen this. I’ve seen this many agencies because I’ve been working with the home care agencies now since 2019 for the past 7 years now and they know with the midsize agencies or the uh established agencies I would say they definitely do require this because they do require that they need to track all these things and it is

00:12:55
pretty easy for them also then . that everything is there in front of them. I’m just speaking on behalf of or from when I worked with Thekey. I worked for Maxim Healthcare which is a very large staffing and home care company for six or seven years and also worked for accent care. So, it’s one of the really big ones. I’ve worked for a lot of major big corporations. Yeah. . And it’s really one of the key threads that has been something that has helped me at all of those companies be able to

00:13:20
track my ROI and really track where I’m going right or wrong with certain clients. . Correct. Okay, now the thing everybody wants to talk about from your experience, how can AI tools support referral and partnership workflows in home care operations? . For sure. So, it’s so funny. I, you know, live in the day and age that we’re in. Uh this is May 28th of 2026. There’s been a lot of AI talk, especially in commencement speeches recently to where . I’ve seen colleges booing people that

00:13:53
I have been talking about AI. Now, . AI. Now, that being said, AI can be used in multiple different ways. There are certain things about AI that I think a lot of people can be wary of. But there’s also certain things that AI can do that really basically can enhance what home care companies can do while simultaneously not really replacing anything that we do. It just makes our job more efficient. It allows us to actually, for example. So, there’s two two ways. One, there’s an AI system that we actually utilize

00:14:24
that summarizes a lot of our referral history with all of uh a certain account. So, let’s just take UCLA for example. It shows up in Salesforce. Here’s an AI summary of your historical relationship with UCLA since the beginning. I think as a new salesperson that’s learning, let’s say you’re brand new with the key and you’re trying to learn your new territory, this is extremely helpful and time-saving to where you can get an AI summary to be like, oh wow, like this

00:14:52
This helps me immensely. This helps me look at what our relationship is as opposed to going back in and looking at notes that could take you hours. So AI can really help you get more to the nitty-gritty of exactly what we need to do quicker. Um, so we actually get to do what we’re paid to do, like our real job faster. I think . the way AI can be utilized as well, the other way that I think companies are I know there’s little there’s startup companies that are trying to do this and

00:15:19
we’re actually implementing it too. When we go out, there’s a there’s certain systems and companies that have programs to where when you go do an assessment, for example, I go to a client’s home, . there’s an AI software we can set up, and we obviously get the permission of the the client uh before we do it. Um, but we said, “Hey, do you mind if we record this session?” Because instead of us writing down by hand or even typing down the assessment, we can just have a

00:15:47
full conversation, you and I, just like you and I are having. The client can tell us their likes, dislikes, where they grew up, everything, you know, their ailments, what their medication list is, anything that we might need. And AI will take that . put it all into one and make a care plan out of it. And it’s all HIPPA compliant. There are companies, there are little startups that are doing this. We actually are implementing this currently. Um, so we have something like this. And once again, this this will

00:16:14
never replace our internal client success managers or like it’s like our internal case managers. That’s like what we call them. They oversee our clients’ care, all of those things. It’s never going to replace them. . Simply all it does is cut out the two to three hours of paperwork they would have when they go back to the office writing this care plan. . Right now, they have an AI summary, essentially a full comprehensive care plan of the conversation they just had with that family. And then they can add

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in other things that either it missed or that they wanted to add on the back end. And then they can read through it and essentially double check that everything looks correct and it’s all HIPPA compliant. The uh the family signed off on it. Um, it’s not required. Like obviously we give this to families. If they want to participate in it, they can. They don’t have to. But these are just certain ways to use AI . like scary AI can actually can actually be beneficial um in certain ways because

00:17:10
I know once again it’s a hot topic right now and I know a lot of people listening to this probably have it in their LinkedIn DMs saying I have this AI software I have this AI software . obviously yeah . it’s everywhere right now . everywhere it’s a lot of noise but I do think there are certain aspects of it that can be highly utilized because my biggest thing is companies in the employees of the companies when when CEOs and all these people start talking about AI automatically creates fear

00:17:38
internally. it automatically creates like, oh great AI, now I’m going to be replaced. Like that’s . it’s automatically what pops into people’s minds, right? And I don’t blame them, right? At the same time, I think when you implement certain AI tools like this that can just simply enhance them and allow them to do their job better, not the threat of replacing them, that is where I feel like it could help utilize or more properly utilize internal employees. It can help our

00:18:06
relationships with referral partners because we can do assessments quicker. Um, so if they’re talking about a fast start, bang, we can get this, we can do this conversation, the care plan’s already been written in a matter of minutes and we can start that shift . right away as opposed to, well, I got to go home and write the care plan real quick. We can start in 3 to four hours. Now the care plan’s written in 3 to four minutes. You know what I mean? So, right. That’s something once again just

00:18:31
like two examples of ways that I know that we currently utilize it that I’m sure either other companies are thinking about or also currently doing. All right. So guys, you can just have a look at this that don’t be scared of AI. Obviously, uh there are some places where AI has some more work. Uh but in the homecare industry, I see the human touch is always required . always. I think that’s I think in healthcare we all kind of know it’s you know there there are machines that can

00:19:00
do surgeries nowadays, right? It’s really intricate . But surgeons are still vastly needed as we all know. Um, and nurses, I don’t think, unless we’re eventually going to go into the root uh uh phase of life where nurses are just replaced by these Boston dynamic uh uh robots, I just don’t see it happening in the next . a couple hundred years. I mean it’s just there is still that . until AI gets fully um . uh forward thinking as opposed to reactionary because a lot of what AI is

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doing it’s taking information right that already has access to and then basing everything off of that. um a lot of nursing decisions and whatnot. Some of these and physicians and things like that um it it just it’s it’s it’s more forethought that goes into a lot of it and there’s more imagination that goes into certain things. There’s more hypothesizing and AI I don’t think is to that level yet. I don’t know if it’ll ever get to that level. And I’m also not the biggest

00:20:05
AI expert as well. But I just think there’s that human element to a lot of this that AI can’t touch, if that makes sense. . That that that a small thing would always be there where a human touch is required. . 100%. . Okay. And lastly, Shaun , looking ahead to 2026, what emerging market trends should agencies consider when planning long-term partnerships to scale revenue? I think for home care right now, I think in general, I think everybody’s kind of

00:20:36
feeling it. I And I think if we can all put on our honesty hats, I feel like 2026 has been um and it’s not just in home care. I think it’s in senior living because I have a lot of really strong senior living partnerships and you know, they’ll come to me, they’ll be like, “Shaun , man, it’s been slow this month. What’s going on? How are you guys doing?” And I think it’s just with talking about the market, the economy’s been interesting recently,

00:21:00
right? Gas prices have gone up which have caused shorter shifts for us to be harder to staff because . caregivers don’t want to take shorter shifts because gas prices are higher. And it’s a trickle down effect everywhere because now we have to then tell families, well, hey, if you want more consistency, we have to get longer hours. But if everything costs more, they don’t want to, they don’t want to do longer hours because they can’t afford it. . So, it’s all it’s this circular thing

00:21:24
that we’re kind of going through right now. I think that being said, we can’t, you and I can’t do much today to really have any change on that. So, how do we combat this? It’s really leaning into some of these trusted advisors cuz we’re going through the boomer age, right? The silver tsunami, as they’re calling it there. You know, there’s I can’t remember the number, but there’s thousands and thousands of people turning 65 every day. Like, I saw the number and it was alarming how many 65

00:21:51
This year people were turning 65 every day. And eventually these folks are going to need care. The good thing is for them, I feel like this generation is more into the 2026 era that we’re in right now. The boomer generation is actually taking care of themselves a little bit better than their predecessors. . Um, I feel like weightlifting and then, you know, yoga, like I feel like the health trend that has been going on for the last 10 to 15 years has helped and it will help their longevity. Um, but I

00:22:21
think really, and once again, I don’t want to get sidetracked, but I think as a home care company, leaning into more of the wealth advisor channel, leaning leaning into more of the trusted advisor channel, I think is going to be crucial because once again, as things get as inflation rises, things just get inherently more expensive. It’s going to be harder as we keep going on for folks to afford our type of services. um from a private pay perspective and I mean folks as in everyday folk, right? Like

00:22:51
um to be completely honest with you, like most, you know, the amount of uh if my mom fell and and and had something, knock on wood, obviously, but if she if one of my family members fell and needed 24/7 care, it’s a lot of money. And I think to kind of wrap up my point, I think more companies hopefully will start leaning into preventative care for a lot of these folks because I feel like where a lot of homecare companies get a bad reputation is people will push off caregiving. They’ll push off a companion

00:23:23
for mom or dad or grandpa or grandma for a while and they’re like, “Oh, no, they don’t need it.” And then the fall happens, right? And I hate to say this, but it does. And it and unfortunately it kind of will. Um, and I really think people need to understand that it’s not an if, it’s generally a when. Um, and when it happens, hopefully it’s okay. But if there is a broken hip, if there is something that is drastic, that’s when it goes from being a manageable amount of money to a

00:23:50
ridiculous amount of money because if it’s 24/7, if it’s we know how much these numbers can get to, . you know, tens of thousands of dollars and then people, especially on a concierge nursing side of things, if you need any type of IV help, any type of medical help when you go home, it’s like you can double what caregiving is from a financial standpoint. So, I think it’s really like trying to use this as preventative care. Like, hey, let’s get somebody in there for three days a week,

00:24:17
get dad a companion, get mom a companion, and start leaning into more of the wealth advisor channel. So, I guess it’s twofold. It’s trying to be as preventative as we can be. So, we’re in the house already. So, if there is a fall two, three, four years down the line, they already know who we are, right? They’re familiar. They don’t have to Google. They don’t have to, oh no, who do I have to find a person for that? Yeah. Right. But and then B, it’s really leaning into the

00:24:42
wealth advisors because there are folks that are going to be starting to prepare for this because they know that inflation’s high. They know that they know so they’re going to start preparing when they’re, I don’t know, my age, your age, and they’re going to start throwing money into certain areas to where they know they can pull out of it later and utilize it. So really really utilizing wealth advisors and just educating them on what we do, why we’re important, and not to forget about us because it’s very

00:25:10
important. It’s one of the largest expenses that seniors can have later in life is unexpected medical expenses. It can absolutely wipe out an entire savings of seniors. And I sometimes I feel like I don’t mean this to all wealth advisers, but sometimes I feel like they know it, . but it’s kind of one of those like in the background things where they’re like, “Yeah, but let me work on his investments and let he wants to go he wants to go to Europe next year, you

00:25:34
know.” And it’s like, I get that. I understand that. And that’s great. And get him to Europe. No problem. But also make sure that we have the proper channels set up to where if slash when that fall does happen, we are considered and we’re remembered. You know what I mean? So, . Correct. Correct. No, thank you Shaun . Thank you uh for your time today. It was a great, wonderful session. I would say uh a lot of inputs. I hope our listeners would have loved that and it was a very very fruitful session. I

00:26:03
would say specifically for me and the other agency owners or nurses, whoever is listening to this. So we really thank you for your time today. . Yeah, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. And feel free if anybody wants to reach out to me, reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m always open to DMs. Feel free if anybody wants to chat. . All right. So everybody has that. So thank you. Thank you again Shaun and thank you my listeners. I will be back shortly with you. So this is Dennis Gill.

00:26:27
signing off and I’ll be in touch with you shortly again.