Startups

Young entrepreneurs use technology to transform senior care

The young entrepreneurs who created HomeHero are working to transform the senior care industry instead of following the trend of focusing on newer generations.

By on June 26, 2015

https://vimeo.com/homehero/connect

In a world exploding with new technologies and gadgets to fit the up and coming generations, it seems that the older generations are getting cast aside. Even though it seems like new healthcare entrepreneurs are always moving forward, some companies, like HomeHero, took a generational step back to work in the senior care industry.
Kyle Hill is the CEO and co-founder of HomeHero, a website to find in-home, affordable care for seniors. He started the company in the hopes of making caring for loved ones easier, especially when distance separated them.
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The motivation to work in senior care was inspired by Kyle’s grandmother. Since their family was so separated, it made it very difficult to ensure she was getting the in-home care she needed. After he observed the poor care his family received, especially witnessing his grandmother being left alone for almost a whole day, completely immobile, and the lack of screening caregivers received, Hill and co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Mike Townsend decided to create a company that provided the best caregivers for the senior community.
To use HomeHero, clients fill out information on the website such as skills required by a provider, schedule and their location, and the company uses a complex matching algorithm to match them with a list of care-givers, or “Heroes.”

After the client chooses a match, an interview is conducted via video camera. If the match seems to fit, the Hero and client will be paired. Hill explained that once a match is made, a caretaker can be in the client’s home in as little as two hours.

Because of their personal experience with poorly screened caregivers in the past, all of HomeHero’s caregivers are given background checks and have past client references, a car, smartphone and a license certification.

HomeHero has current locations in Los Angeles and San Diego, California. Hill told MedCity News that the company plans to expand across the Sun Belt, including Arizona, Texas and Florida at the end of 2105.

Currently, more than 1,500 care-givers, or “Heroes,” have already provided hundreds of thousands of hours of care to Los Angeles clients alone. The company expects the number of clients and Heroes to more than double at the end of this year.

In order to differentiate them from things such as assisted living and nursing homes, Hill told MedCity News how HomeHero differs from other services.

“We have a 15-point checklist for our Heroes to ensure quality and we leverage a complex matching algorithm to help families find the right person (instead of giving them a thousand search results like listing services). Each Hero has an HD photo and video interview on their online profile, as well as certifications and references from past clients. This, combined with real time updates on your mobile device and automated scheduling and payments is what sets us apart from our competition.”

Like assisted living, HomeHero wants ensure that clients maintain the comfort of living at home around their loved ones. Unlike assisted living, however, Hill emphasized the company’s complex matching system, affordable rates and a technologically enabled product to keep them comfortable and connected.

HomeHero takes a 15% service fee. Client rates start at $18/hour or $180/day are paid out of pocket. Caregivers are paid daily through a direct deposit into their bank account.

“We are able to keep our rates so low because we automate so many of our processes (such as dispatch, scheduling and payments) and we have replaced high overhead costs (incurred by agencies) with technology,” Hill said. “With such affordable rates, we can accelerate our growth in California and across the country.”

So even though a lot of companies are focusing on technology for current and future generations, HomeHero is using technology to help seniors get the care they need.

Hill said, “With the baby boomers retiring by the thousands, HomeHero will save families the terrible heartache of finding and managing caregivers.”

Video: HomeHero