By the year 2030, 1 in 5 adults will be over the age of 65. That’s an alarming amount of people who now have a different set of constant healthcare needs.
Home health agencies are a great opportunity for any entrepreneur looking for a profitable business that also helps society. Take a look at this overview of the biggest benefits of starting a home health care business.
Why Home Health Agencies?
The U.S. government spends around 40% of the national budget on health care expenses. But hundreds of billions of dollars from this budget gets wasted each year.
Things like complicated hospital administrations, bad pricing, and uncoordinated care all contribute to wasteful government spending. Home health agencies are a major asset to our society because they make senior care more simple.
In-home care offers very straightforward service plans for seniors.
Because home health providers work with the same seniors day in and day out, the care is easy to coordinate preventing this like overtreatment. The nurse or health professional builds a relationship with the patient and understand how they are progressing over time.
Without the help of home health agencies, the government is stuck paying for things like high hospital readmission rates if the patient has a problem. Having consistent care is a good way to prevent going back to the hospital for small issues that can be taken care of at home.
This makes home health agencies very valuable and profitable businesses for the long term.
Related: 10 Reasons Being An Entrepreneur Is Better Than Employment
The Rise of the Baby Boomer
Baby boomers make up a massive portion of aging adults. Hospitals won’t be able to provide the ongoing treatment needed to keep this group healthy.
More families are choosing to age in place to maintain the comfort of home. This means they’ll either travel constantly to the doctor to get care or in-home care will be needed.
The difficulty with traveling to the doctor is that it forces people with severe health problems into transportation situations that might not be ideal. For example, a senior with bad arthritis might experience pain driving to and from the doctor every week.
It’s much easier to get treatment at home and not sit for hours in a waiting room where they will be exposed to other illnesses.
Shortage of Doctors
Another reason home health agencies are valuable is that there aren’t enough doctors in the country. It’s estimated that there won’t be enough doctors to provide care to all Americans by 2030.
A way to avoid this issue is to separate aging adults from the general population. Aging adults can get their own specialized care from a home health agency.
This means less strain on hospitals and independent doctors’ offices. These providers can focus instead on spreading their services among everyone else.
Job Creation
Home health agencies are an opportunity to create jobs for many people. The industry has grown much faster than the rest of the economy.
The healthcare industry now accounts for around 10% of all jobs in the country. This is higher than it’s been in our nation’s history.
Home health jobs keep growing. This is a great sign that a home health agency is a good business to start because home health professionals are trainable.
Unlike in a hospital where nurses and doctors need years of schooling, home health agencies can hire people that don’t have a healthcare background. Instead, you can train your employees, giving you access to a wider talent pool.
Profitability
The cost of healthcare continues to increase year after year. While you don’t want healthcare to be unaffordable for your patients, you can gain higher profits if you find the right balance.
Costs that are too high mean your patients can’t pay for your services. This leaves you with fewer customers and less money.
But if your home health business finds a good pricing model, you’ll benefit from the constant rise in healthcare costs. Aging adults are more likely to stick to a home care provider that allows them to age in place.
It’s convenient and doesn’t mean completely changing their lifestyles or being away from a familiar environment.
Recession-Resistant
The home care industry is not entirely recession-proof, but it’s much easier to maintain your business during an economic downturn than in other industries.
Demand keeps growing because it isn’t based on people having disposable income in order to request your services. People request home care services based on need, not want.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic actually creates a greater need for aging adults to stay in their homes for basic care instead of risk infection at an outside facility. Home care is a unique industry that sets aside the fear of exposure to just about any illness as long as your care team takes the right precautions.
Opportunity With Home Health Agencies
Starting any new business is risky. It’s hard to know exactly what customers want until you open your doors for the first time. But with home health agencies, the business concept is nothing new.
Your customers already know why and when they’ll likely need in-home care. Some might already have plans in place to make the shift at a certain time.
This is a major marketing benefit to anyone starting a home health care business. You have a service that’s in demand among customers who already know why they want it.
Instead of trying to convince them to buy, you can focus your energy on providing the best quality home health services. Train your employees well to help keep customers coming back each time their contracts expire.
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