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4 tips home care can use to achieve rapid growth in a rapidly changing industry

4 tips Home Care Can Use to Achieve Rapid Growth in a Rapidly Changing Industry

As the world was rapidly transformed by the pandemic, many business owners struggled to keep their businesses afloat. April Hansen, Group President of Workforce Solutions at Aya Healthcare, had a different experience. She successfully achieved rapid growth as the pandemic hit and changed the healthcare and home care industry. 

Aya Healthcare specializes in finding work for nurses and other caregivers in the healthcare industry (including home care). They can accurately match personnel with employers who need them. When the pandemic hit, the demand for nurses and caregivers skyrocketed and businesses like April’s needed to meet that demand while also focusing on keeping their employees safe while on the front lines. Within all that chaos, how did they manage to achieve such rapid growth?  

After hearing April’s story, we took away 4 key lessons from her experience that we believe home-based care businesses can use in a rapidly changing home care industry.  

1. Digital transformation  

Digital transformation was at the core of their success. By implementing technology into their systems, they were able to quickly match personnel with employers who needed them in a fraction of the time it would take manually. This allowed them to respond faster to job needs- ensuring that no nurse or caregiver went too long without a job! The systems were also able to adapt quickly when market conditions changed due to COVID-19-related regulations- allowing Aya Healthcare to remain agile when needed most.

2. True operational efficiency 

April talked about the importance of achieving true operational efficiency in workflows and processes so her organization could keep up with demand and continue to work more efficiently without sacrificing quality of care.  

Home care AI (Artificial Intelligence) and home care software can be used to automate mundane tasks such as scheduling, documentation, billing/payroll/invoice duties, and much more. Home care software also assists with analytics that can help identify areas for improvement in workflow processes. Home care AI can generate detailed reports on patient needs and trends in the home health market. 

Interested to learn more about how AI and home care software can help achieve operational efficiency? Read 4 tech solutions on how to optimize daily home care scheduling and routes.  

3. Rapid decision making 

Aya Healthcare implemented an approach where decisions were made as rapidly as possible – no longer spending hours agonizing over how best to proceed but rather having confidence in what needed done and acting fast. This not only saved precious time but also enabled April Hansen’s team to stay ahead of competitors who may have been struggling with slower decision-making processes during times of uncertainty like the pandemic period provided.  

Try the 40-70 information rule when making decisions. If you know less than 40% of the information, then it is “dangerous” to make a decision and if you know more than 70% then you’re already too slow in deciding.  

“Surprising truth: Internal barriers will stifle growth more than external…60-70% of all large-scale change efforts fail due to internal resistance,”  

– April Hansen

4. Focus and invest in your employee brand 

From 2020-2021, 108 people a day left healthcare. According to a 2022 survey on caregiver recruitment and retention, pay and benefits are the no. 1 cause of employee turnover. Hazard pay, mentorship/leadership programs, and employee discount programs are among the most underutilized incentive opportunities for improving recruitment and retention.  

“In order to relieve internal pressure, you need people.”  

– April Hansen

April and her team focused on building a strong employer brand. The employer brand is different from your corporate brand. With an employer brand, your audience is your employees both current and future, and your goal is to recruit and retain staff, how do you market this brand? Through your career site, job ads, company reviews, press, and social media.  

April stressed that it is important to put as much focus and invest into your employer brand as you do your corporate brand. This enabled them to retain existing workers while enticing new ones with attractive benefits packages such as extended health coverage, flexible hours, and competitive wages – giving employees more motivation than ever before. This has proven effective in keeping nurses happy so that repeat customers keep coming back for more services from Aya Healthcare. 

Want to learn more about recruitment and retention? Read our blog 3 Tips from top executives to help with retention and recruitment


In conclusion, April Hansen’s success story is worth noting as it offers great insight into what strategies any business owner should focus on when faced with such overwhelming challenges in a rapidly changing industrial environment. Digital transformation combined with true operational efficiency, quick decision-making processes, and a strong employer brand are key steps any business owner should take when wanting increased profit even during uncertain times.  

There are still opportunities for home care organizations to grow even during a post-pandemic recession, learn more with 3 ways to still grow your home care agency during challenging times

With software solutions, such as AlayaCare Cloud Home Care software, home care digital transformation is at your fingertips from systems of engagement (web application, caregiver mobile app, and secure messaging), systems of intelligence (Artificial intelligence tools such as route and schedule optimization, employee retention dashboard, etc.), to systems of record (CRM, HCM, ERP, and ITSM all in one). With AlayaCare’s end-to-end software solutions, your home care business can achieve true operational efficiency that will allow you to make quick decisions and focus on recruiting and retaining employees.

How are other organizations looking at growing their business? Learn how home-based care organizations are approaching financial health and growth strategy in today’s environment via the results of our survey report. Download the report by clicking the banner below.

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