hospital at home business plan

How to Buy a Hospital Bed for the Home

When aging or illness makes it necessary to have hospital equipment in the home, you may wonder how you’ll afford these items. Here are some options when you need to buy a hospital bed for the home, and you might not even have to make this sizable purchase.

Having a hospital bed at home has a number of important benefits. Patients with mobility problems will often feel more comfortable in a hospital bed with the adjustable head and foot of the bed. A bed that rises and lowers makes it easier to get in and out of it, and side rails can be helpful for preventing falls. Hospital bed mattresses are also covered with washable vinyl, which you can disinfect when necessary. You can also move a hospital bed easily thanks to the wheels.

Getting Help Buying Hospital Beds

If your doctor decides you need a hospital bed at home, you may be able to get help paying for it. Patients with Medicare Part B can have 80 percent of this purchase covered under the Durable Medical Equipment policy, explains the Paying for Senior Care website. If you’ve met your Medicare Part B deductible, you might have to pay the remaining 20 percent out of pocket, or a supplemental insurance policy might pick it up for you. You have to get your hospital bed from a supplier approved by Medicare.

You may have some other options for assistance too. Medicaid recipients may be able to get help, but these programs are administered by individual states. You might also find other state-funded programs as well, designed to help low-income seniors. Veterans have additional avenues for getting assistance with home medical equipment, including hospital beds.

How to Rent Hospital Bed for Home

If you won’t need a hospital bed for long, renting one is a great option, advises Mobility Home. Many equipment suppliers offer rental contracts. You can have the bed delivered to your home and picked up when you’re finished with it. Check with a couple of local agencies to find the best rental terms.

Finding Used Hospital Beds for Free

Local charities might also be an option for finding free or low-cost medical equipment. Your physician or hospital will often have information about local charities. Generally, you’ll need to be able to prove your need for the bed as well as your financial need to be able to receive assistance from a charity. Sometimes the items are gently used, while other times they are new.

Choosing a Bed

Hospital beds vary in features and quality, so explore your options before you proceed with a purchase or a rental.

Determine the features you need, such as manual or electric controls, raising and lowering and weight capacity. Some beds are designed to be used for extended use, so they’re built to last with more options for styles. Other beds are just standard hospital beds without special features.

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What Does the Hospital at Home Business Model Look Like?

The Hospital at Home® business model will vary depending on a health system's reimbursement model, (fee-for-service, managed care, or Veterans Administration). In addition, it may vary depending on the organization's motivation for developing Hospital at Home (improving quality of care, alleviating an inpatient bed capacity problem, etc.).

Our interactive business model spreadsheet can help you explore certain dimensions of the financial implications of Hospital at Home . You will be prompted to enter data on your organization's rates of admissions and payment structure. This information can help to determine if Hospital at Home can be a successful business model for your organization.

Business Model Spreadsheet

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How to Start a Home Healthcare Business

Tony Sekulich

14 min. read

Updated November 13, 2023

Free Download:  Sample Home Health Care Business Plan Template

Do you find yourself driven by both entrepreneurial and humanitarian interests? Is it important to you to build a business you can be proud of, knowing you are making a positive difference in people’s lives?

If any of this speaks to you, you could be an excellent candidate to start a home health care business. There’s never been a better time to do so— home health care is one of the largest growing industries , not just in North America, but around the globe.

• What do we mean by “home health care”?

Home health care is a very broad industry which can mean different things to different people. For some, the term covers both skilled home health care as well as non-medical home health care.

Non-medical home health care  involves assistance with daily living activities most commonly for senior citizens who wish to remain in their homes. These services can include meal preparation, housekeeping, and transportation.

Skilled home health care,  on the other hand, involves nursing or therapeutic services delivered in the patient’s own home which would ordinarily be provided in a hospital or medical clinic.

This article is intended to serve as a step-by-step guide for anyone considering starting a skilled home health care business. For the purposes of this article, the focus will be limited to a business providing skilled home health care services, the most common of which are:

• Skilled nursing
• Nursing aide
• Social work
• Occupational, physical, and speech therapy

To supplement this guide, I interviewed an expert in the home health care field: Carol Byrne is the National Sales Director for  21st Century Health Care Consultants,  a consulting firm which serves home health care agencies throughout the United States.

The state of the home health care industry around the world: 

In the United States alone, the home health care industry is an $84 billion behemoth with no signs of slowing down.

From 2010 through 2015, the industry saw a moderate but steady four percent growth. This growth is due, in large part, to an aging U.S. population. The population aged 65 years and older is  expected to increase  from 12.4 percent in 2000 to 19.6 percent by 2030.

There are also societal and political factors at play including a growing acceptance among physicians of the practice of home care, as well as pressure to alleviate the demands placed on hospitals and an overall desire to find cost efficiencies in the health care system.

“In the last little while, there’s been a big uptick in the industry because of all the baby boomers flooding into the marketplace. People want to be in their homes, not in a nursing home. In-home care allows them stay in the home and have more independence in their daily lives,” explains Carol Byrne.

At present, there are more than 386,000 home health care businesses in the U.S., an industry that  employs an approximate 1.7 million people . This represents both the pros and the cons of wading into these waters. With a low barrier to entry and a growing demand, it is an appealing business for eager entrepreneurs. But because of this, there is often tough regional competition which will need to be planned for if a new venture is going to be successful.

To date, North America has  dominated the home health care global marketplace  due mainly to a more sophisticated health care infrastructure and more resources committed to research and development. In 2013, North America accounted for just over 40 percent of the global home health care revenue.

The trend toward home health care is just as strong across the northern border. The  Canadian Nurses Association (CNA)  predicts that two-thirds of nurses in Canada will be working in the community by 2020, compared to 30 percent in 2006.

While North America may be the current hotbed for home health care businesses,  the fastest growing region is in Asia-Pacific,  where the markets expect a compound annual growth rate of 9.7 percent from 2014 to 2020. This is based on advancements in health care infrastructure in India and China, as well as a rapidly aging Japanese population.

• Things to consider before starting a home health care business:

While there is a tremendous growth opportunity in this industry, it’s not a business that is necessarily for everyone. The nature of the business lends itself to intense pressure and can create a high-stress environment.

Carol Byrne believes there is a specific personality type which is best suited to this type of work.“This industry draws people who are driven by compassion and desire to care for their fellow man. It’s a great industry and there is money to be made but you need that drive to help people. If you don’t have that compassion, this is not the business for you,” she says.

• Challenges in running a home health care business:

If as the business owner you are also going to be one of the key service providers, there are some unique challenges to providing home health care that should be weighed carefully before entering the field.

Long distance travel

The convenience of home health care is for the patient, not the caregiver.

Most home health care providers will see six to eight patients in a day; if the region is geographically large, that could mean lots of travel, which can cause stress and fatigue. If you are the type of person who finds travel stressful, this may be something to consider before launching a home health care business.

Technological upkeep and maintenance

One of the reasons home health care has become so prevalent in the last decade is thanks in large part to technological advances that have allowed high-tech equipment to be used in the home. Previously, this equipment was only accessible in a hospital or clinic.

However, because so much of modern home health care relies on high-tech equipment, keeping up with the latest technology and managing this equipment is something that a business owner will have to be comfortable with.

In other words, this is not the field to go into if you are a serious technophobe.

Working in isolation

A key advantage of providing health care in a hospital or clinic is that you have colleagues with whom to consult or otherwise ask for assistance. Home health care providers almost exclusively work on their own, without that support network around. This type of work environment is something that one would need to be comfortable with in order to do the job successfully.

If you’ve studied the industry at length, analyzed the market opportunity, considered the unique challenges, and are excited to move forward, the following steps can help you navigate this often tricky process.

• Step 1: Formulate your business plan

Home health care is unique in many ways, but the one thing it has in common with every other new business venture is that a lack of adequate planning and forecasting is a sure way to undercut its potential success. You’ll want to make sure you carefully plan out every detail of the logistics in getting the business off the ground and past the troublesome first couple of years.

Carol Byrne stresses the importance of business savvy in achieving long-term success. “It’s important to have clinical knowledge, but it’s just as important to have business sense, because at the end of the day it’s still a business and it must be run like a business to be effective at generating a profit. It requires a balance of skills.”

If you’ve never written a business plan before, you can find out more about the process here on Bplans. Start with  a lean plan  if you’re eager to get up and running fast or if you’re simply interested in validating your idea. If you’re seeking funding, or would prefer to work through the finer details,  a traditional business plan  should work for you.

What to include in your business plan:

Regardless of the format you choose, there are some things you’ll need to keep in mind as you write. These include:

Equipment and starting expenses

Providing top quality home health care requires sophisticated and expensive medical equipment. You’ll require a detailed list of everything you need to hit the ground running.

That list of key starting expenses will include:

• Business development
• Rental expenses
• Office equipment
• Office supplies
• Nursing supplies

Financing and cash flow

Once you  compile your list of starting expenses,  you need a plan to raise the capital. The most traditional routes are  bank loans,   small business loans,  or  angel investors.  There may be  state level grants  geared toward emerging businesses in the health care field as well.

It is almost a given that your business will operate at a loss for the first three to six months while your client base grows and you get on a regular billing cycle with Medicare and Medicaid. This means a carefully thought out  cash flow management  plan is required to ensure you can get through these key first few months.

Additional resources to help you write the financial section of your plan:

• The Key Elements of the Financial Plan
• How to Fund Your Business: A Comprehensive Guide

Market research and your competitive landscape

The greatest weapon you can have in your arsenal when it comes to raising capital is a  bullet-proof analysis  that yours is a great local market for this type of business, and that you can serve a need currently unmet by competitors.

There is no question this is a growing industry on a national and global level; however, if your community is currently over-saturated with home health care businesses, you will have a hard time making it work.  

Also, a strong competitive analysis will help direct you with marketing and recruitment strategies when you identify where others have fallen short in their attempts to penetrate the market.

• Step 2: State and Medicare/Medicaid certification

In the United States, the first step in navigating the certification process involves completing your state’s home care license application and all of the required home care business license paperwork.

This includes  incorporating your business  and  obtaining a Tax ID  and  NPI  number for your home health care business. The home care license and operation requirements and standards will vary from state to state. The best way to make sure you have your bases covered is by contacting your State Department of Health for assistance.

Medicare Part A  (Hospital Insurance) and/or  Medicare Part B  (Medical Insurance) will cover a patient’s eligible home health services such as skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services, occupational services, and others.

Unless you have an unorthodox business model, Medicare and Medicaid will be your primary source of revenue. It is critically important that your business obtains all the proper Medicare and Medicaid certifications.

Medicare accreditation:

To complete the process of Medicare accreditation, you must complete a three-day Medicare survey which is an audit of your business’s operations and patient clinical records. Carol Byrne cautions prospective business owners about the length this part of the journey can take.

“In the United States, it can take a year or longer to open a fully licensed and certified business. It can be a long path,” she says.

In order to be eligible for Medicare coverage for home care services, the patient must meet the following criteria:

• They must be under the care of a physician and receive the treatments as part of a treatment plan prescribed and reviewed by the physician
• Continued Occupational Therapy
• Speech-Language Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Intermittent Skilled Nursing Care (more than drawing blood)
• The home care business responsible for their care must be Medicare-certified
• The physician must determine that the patient is “homebound”
• The patient may not require more than part-time or intermittent nursing care

Some states will require a new home health care business owner to complete a state  jurisprudence exam  before granting a license to operate, so be sure to do additional research for your own state.

• Step 3: Staffing and management structure

Unlike most other businesses where your employees sell or facilitate your product, with a home health care business, your staff is your product.

The best way to retain clients and get referrals for others is to build your reputation of providing top-quality professional medical services in a personable manner. This means finding the absolute best of the best to work for your company and serve as the face of the company at the front line level.

“The most challenging part of this business is staffing,” says Carol Byrne. “Finding the right people is critical, because ultimately the person who walks into the home is your representative and they are the face of your business. Finding good staff is by far the greatest challenge a home care business will face.”

What kind of staff will you need?

If you are not a physician or medical professional yourself, your first hire will be a qualified clinical supervisor. It is a requirement of Medicare (and most states) that a physician or a registered nurse with more than one year of experience be in place as a clinical supervisor. The supervisor must be available as a resource at all times for the front line employees providing home health care services in patient homes. Most states also require a certified administrator be in place, although this position can be doubled by the clinical supervisor if that person is certified for both roles.

When it comes to the front line service providers, there are two routes you can explore. If you have the resources starting off, you can simply hire your staff and keep them in-house. This will require a significant cash infusion from the start as your salary demands will outweigh your revenue in the first months of operation.

The other option is to contract the work out to another agency or association of professional physiotherapists, occupational therapists, or skilled nurses. The most common approach is to specialize with one or two in-house professionals (skilled nurse and physiotherapist) and contract out the other fields on an as-needed basis.

Be sure to conduct a thorough background check for all hires. Your business could be liable for crippling legal action if it is discovered there was a problem with the treatment delivered by someone who had been sanctioned or suspended for similar malpractice issues in a previous job. It should go without saying that this is more important in this field than most.

• Step 4: Developing your marketing strategy

You’ve developed  a bulletproof business plan,  navigated the tricky process of state and Medicare certification, and have a top quality professional staff in place.

Now, the only question remaining is: “How do I get my first clients?”

This is where the home health care business starts to resemble many other businesses—success will depend on  effective marketing strategies  and some good, old-fashioned hustle.

Marketing strategies for home health care businesses:

The following are some of the most effective strategies for recruiting clients for a new home health care business:

• Set up a website:   Your client base may not be as internet-savvy as most; however, their family and loved ones will likely use the internet as the first place to find a qualified business.
• Reach out and network:  Contact local physicians, senior centers, long-term care facilities, hospital discharge social workers, and rehab outpatient centers to reach prospective clients.
• Set yourself apart:  Establish expertise credentials in certain areas of service to differentiate your business from your competition.
• Join local business groups or organizations:  Groups like your Chamber of Commerce or  The National Association for Home Care & Hospice  (NAHC) offer opportunities for agencies to reach home health care decision makers.
• Attend as many trade shows and events as possible:  Events like these give you an opportunity to meet with physicians, nurses, social workers, vendors of home health supplies, and the owners of related businesses who may have their own network of people in need of your services.

Below you’ll find a list of resources that can help you find out more about what goes into getting your home health care business off the ground.

21 st  Century Health Care Consultants: A consulting firm that specializes in assisting new home health business ventures in the United States. The website offers plenty of resources to help with questions of licensing, certification, staffing issues, and much more.

Home Care Association of America:   The Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) is the nation’s first association for providers of private duty home care, which includes non-medical home care services. The HCAOA is the recognized resource for information and definition of private duty home care practice.

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC):   A nonprofit organization that represents the nation’s 33,000 home care and hospice organizations. NAHC also advocates for the more than two million nurses, therapists, aides, and other caregivers employed by such organizations to provide in-home services to some 12 million Americans each year who are infirm, chronically ill, and disabled.

Canadian Home Care Association:   As a national association, the CHCA acts mostly as a professional development and political institution. It boasts an extensive resource library which could be helpful to new or prospective business owners.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Tony has returned to his early love of journalistic writing by freelancing long form articles and blog posts. He is currently turning his TV series pilot for The New Twenty into his first novel. Tony lives in Toronto where he continues to be tormented by his beloved Maple Leafs.

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A Vision for “Hospital at Home” Programs

• Bruce Leff, MD

Challenging the traditional model of care.

As a medical resident in the late 1980s, I made house calls to homebound older adults in Baltimore. I loved seeing patients and their families in their own space, thinking about their medical issues in that context, relying a bit more on my physical exam than I did in the hospital, and developing care plans consistent with patients’ preferences. I was a trusted guest in patients’ homes — being on their turf gave them power over their care.

• Bruce Leff, MD , is a geriatrician and the director for the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Partner Center

Home Care Business Plan Template

        You will have a clear, concise idea of what the business is about and how the founder and current president, [owner name], intends to start, grow and continue strong and steady growth.

        The purpose of a business plan is to create a plan, a blueprint or roadmap on paper to follow. It’s for you to really think through how your business will operate and about areas of the business you haven’t thought about. You’ll be most successful when you put in the effort and really THINK about it. Your goal is to develop a fairly simple plan first to start your Home Care Agency which often is enough for most small businesses getting started using their own capital. If you’re seeking one or more investors, a different, more comprehensive plan will serve you better with much more consideration in which case.

Executive Summary

        The Executive Summary is a summary of the highlights of your business plan. While it appears first in the layout of your plan, most find it easiest to complete the Executive Summary last. It should be succinct and no more than 2 pages.

Business Description

        The Business Description provides a complete overview about your business idea/concept/ service/ etc. It differs from the Executive Summary in that it goes into detail about the description. Challenge to yourself to truly THINK about what you see your business described as. Your business should be unique, differing from your competition. Describe who, what, why, where and how it’s different. Use the example to help get you started.

Your  Home Care

        provides  [medical / non-medical]  care services to  [elderly, disabled and people of all ages physical conditions and cognitive abilities]  who would like to remain living at home, yet require assistance with certain daily or weekly activities. Working closely with clients and their families we provide personalized assistance in client’s own home, the hospital, long-term assisted living facilities and other places of residence with things like:

Non-Medical Services

•  Warm Companionship
•  Meal Preparation
•  Incidental Transportation
•  Light Housekeeping
•  Errands & Shopping
•  Medication Reminders
•  Laundry & Linen Washing
•  Recreational Activities
•  Personal Hygiene & Dressing Assistance
•  Senior Information Resource
•  Alzheimer’s care / Dementia care
•  Respite Care

Home Health Care Services (Medical)

•  Professional Nursing
•  Personal care
•  Senior care
•  Pediatric nursing
•  IV therapy
•  Physical Therapy
•  Occupational Therapy
•  Speech Therapy

        To be known as the crème-de-la-crème of home care providers in our market, providing the very best, first-rate care to clients in our geographical market by employing only proven, hard-working, professional, honest, compassionate and ethical home care providers in the market who are dedicated provide outstanding home care services and improving the quality of clients’ lives.

        To assist every client with improving their quality of life, encouraging independence and allowing them to be comfortable with excellent care in their own homes by providing first-class, professional care with respect, dignity, compassion, the highest ethical standards and honor

Value Proposition

        What makes your home care agency services/products better than all the others? This shouldn’t be price – it will be difficult to defend and by differentiating yourself solely by price, it sets your business up as a commodity driven service – often suffering with poor service in lieu of charging a fair price for excellent services .

Industry Analysis

        What does the home care industry look like? Are there trends in your geographic area? What do your target clients buy, eat, education, income, habits, health levels, lifestyles, etc. The more detail you have the better your chances of success. This is an opportunity to find a specific niche that may be present in your own backyard. No example is provided in this area because you should know this. If you don’t – you need to do the homework to know and understand your market and the industry if you plan to enter it.

Competition

        Who are your competitors? Specifically, by name, location, age of the agency, what they specialize in and how they are different from you. What market share do they have? Are there any other service companies that could be considered competitors? (i/e: really inexpensive care homes, private caregiver market, etc). Even if there are no “direct” competitors, there will ALWAYS be some that are close

Marketing Strategies

        How will you get your product into the marketplace? Think of non-conventional (viral  Marketing) methods that are cheaper than traditional (TV, radio, print) and have a higher  Impact. Examples:

Networking –meeting people and creating the relationships with the many faces who refer clients to various home care service providers. By attending the opportunities for networking, meeting business leaders and more.

Online Promotions

          Website.   Develop an informative website and will include the website address in all online and offline marketing collateral.

          Press Releases.   Work with online press release distribution firms  to generate awareness of our services by issuing press releases to leading search engines and online news sites.

          Social Media Marketing.  Promote your agency on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media channels that may be frequented by your target market. All social sites will be used to generate a buzz about your services and build your agency’s image. The goal is solely to build connections with the health care industry and consumers and convince them to avail your services.

          E-mail Marketing.   Implement an e-mail marketing campaign to target local health care facilities and professionals that could provide client referrals to agency.

          E-mail Program.  Regularly distribute a newsletter to highlight new services, employees, agency certifications and home care industry news. Include links to lure subscribers to visit your website for further information.

Offline Promotions

• Cold Calls.   Develop a list of local health care facilities, senior organizations and social centers to cold call in an effort to gain client referrals.
• Brochures/Flyers.  Develop informational (postcard) brochures and flyers and distribute via a targeted direct mail campaign.
• Press Releases.   Share press releases highlighting news about our agency to print news outlets in our target area.
• Business Cards.  Distribute business cards in high-profile gatherings and share them indiscriminately to spread word of mouth regarding your services.
• Exhibitions.   Participate in health care industry trade shows and events hosted by senior organizations and other relevant industry events, workshops and seminars to generate buzz about your agency.
• Organization Affiliation  – Joining local and regional organizations like Health Care Industry Orgs, and Insurance company orgs.
• Public Speaking  – By speaking to organizations, senior centers, doctor, nurse and discharge planner meetings, etc. we’ll become seen as experts in our given niche. 

Business & Health Fairs – Attending and showing the presence at these shows brings more

  Barriers to Entry

        What will stop you from entering your market place? Regulations, competition, cost of entry, monopoly, syndication? Also, how will your setup your own barriers to entry for other potential entrants into the marketplace?

        State and county laws can thwart certain services from being provided by increasing the requirements and certification levels. Are there any present in your area? Maybe it’s obtaining the State Survey sign off or Medicare certification. List the obstacles that could keep you from getting started and growing.

Distribution Channel

        How will you get your services/product to your market? For example – if you cover 3 counties – how will you manage logistics? Who will provide the care? Who will do the follow up visits and ensure care quality? Will you team with another company that provides a complimentary business where you can team with one another?

Team Summary

        Often this can be the most important part of your business plan. Who else believes in the idea of you entering the home care industry and the experience of your team in the various areas?  (Technical, business, marketing, operations, HR, etc.)

Personnel Plan

        You will initially hire four staff members to manage the agency’s operations. Each hired staff member will meet the state of Colorado educational and training requirements. Additional recruiting will occur as the agency enters the expansion phase.

Organizational Hierarchy (example):

• CEO/ Administrative Director
• Administrative Assistant
• Home Care Aide  

        The  Administrative Director  will be responsible for planning, implementing, organizing, and developing in-home care services. This work includes, but is not limited to: operations administration, community/client education and staff supervision. This individual also will assume all social work services during the agency’s initial phase.

        The  Administrative Assistant  will perform routine clerical and organizational tasks. This individual will organize files, draft messages, schedule in-home care appointments and support other staff.

          Home Care Aides  will administer in-home client services. These individuals will assist with activities such as bathing and dressing, and will provide services such as light housekeeping, errand services, personal care and companionship.

  Financial Analysis

Insert all the financial projections and forecasts here. Cash flow, income statements,  balance sheet, as well as start-up income required. This is arguably the most important  part of your business plan, spend plenty of time on this and be able to justify any  assumptions.

SWOT Analysis

        S trengths  W eaknesses  O pportunities  T hreats

        Consider the conditions in which your service business will operate. What are your Strengths and Weaknesses? These are internal (team, company, service). Opportunities and threats are external (local, regional and national market place, trends, etc.)

• Comprehensive Home Care and Geriatric Services.   Custom home care and geriatric services aimed at enabling staff to deliver reliable, responsive care.
• Experienced, Well-Trained Staff.  Staff members will undergo initial and continuing education and training programs required by the home care industry.
• Long Operational Hours.   Provide service during normal business hours and also will be available for on-call emergencies 24 hours, seven days a week.
• Lack of Brand Identity and Image.  As a start-up business, currently lack a brand identity and image.  Will need adequate time to create awareness of your agency.
• Low Staffing Numbers.  Professionals hired to manage the agency’s initial operations will be experienced, yet you may not have enough staff to effectively cover the needs of the market. This could cause slow growth of your operation, which management could not afford.
• Small Marketing Budget.  A sizable marketing budget is required to get the most out of the agency’s initial launch. Anticipate needing a larger budget to make a substantial impact on the market.

Opportunities

• Growing Market.  The home care market is rapidly increasing which presents extensive opportunities for new agencies entering the sector.
• Aging Population.  As the U.S. population continues to age, the demand for personal home care and companionship is expected to significantly increase.
• Affordability and Comfort.  Home care services are less expensive than nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Studies show that most people would prefer to receive care in their own homes versus a facility or hospital.
• Expandable Business Model.  Home care agencies have the ability to expand into other markets as consumer needs grow.
• v   Local Competition.  Several local competitors have national, well-recognized and trusted brands.
• v   Professional Staff.  Recruiting, hiring and retaining quality, professional staff pose substantial risks. You will conduct extensive candidate research and background checks to eliminate some of the risks associated with employee recruitment and retention. Because studies predict patients will outnumber caregivers in the near future, you will need to position the agency as an attractive place to work with competitive and fair pay and benefits.
• v   Business Cash Flow and Funding.  While the owner is using personal cash flow to cover start-up expenses, continuing to maintain adequate cash flow and solicit funding from outside sources presents a challenge you must overcome to succeed.
• v   Regulatory Changes.  Federal health care laws like the Affordable Health Care Act and changes to Medicare and Medicaid payments can greatly affect your agency. In addition, state home care aide certification laws also could impact your business.

  Goals and Objectives

        What are your overall business goals? Your financials should include a lot of the income and expense goals. These goals/objectives are about identifying what you plan to accomplish with your business. It could be as simple as create a new career of owning a business or more in depth like using 10% of net profits going to a certain cause you believe in. The possibility of these things

Critical Success Factors

        What needs to be achieved that will enhance chances of your agency’s success? Identify what the possibility of these things happening are.

Exit Strategies

        How will you (or any investors) exit out of this project (if you want to) and make excellent return or to move onto your next “big idea”?

Future Developments

        What future plans do you have for your services (and products, if any)? As your company grows, what other plans do you have for your services? Do you want to grow into a regional or state-wide provider? Maybe you want to expand into medical and non-medical. The sky is the limit to what you’d like to do.

        Add any additional information here that may not fit into the sections above (quotes,  Recommendations, statistics, etc.). Your completed financials & projections should be included in the Financial Projections, however, you could place them in this section.

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Home Health Care Business Plan

If you are planning to start a new home healthcare business, the first thing you will need is a business plan. Use our sample home health care business plan created using upmetrics business plan software to start writing your business plan in no time.

Before you start writing your business plan for your new home healthcare business, spend as much time as you can reading through some examples of healthcare-related business plans .

Reading sample business plans will give you a good idea of what you’re aiming for and also it will show you the different sections that different entrepreneurs include and the language they use to write about themselves and their business plans.

We have created this sample home health care business plan for you to get a good idea about how perfect a home health care business plan should look and what details you will need to include in your stunning business plan.

Industry Overview

The home healthcare industry stood at a massive value of 299 billion dollars in 2020 and is expected to grow at a rapid pace going forward too.

The major reason for this growth is the increase in the size of the geriatric population. Also, many people prefer to stay at home, be it because of the expenses, the comfort it offers, the long-term convenience, and so on.

It is also less expensive and helpful for the government and institutions to better arrange the healthcare sector and make it more cost-effective.

Hence, this sector has massive growth potential for years to come.

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Things to Consider Before Writing a Home Healthcare Business Plan

Figure out the type of your healthcare services.

As home healthcare provides both medical and nonmedical services, you’ll have to figure out what kind of services you want to offer before you start planning. As both businesses require different skills, resources, teams, and procedures, deciding what you want to do helps you plan better and more specifically.

Decide your legal structure

Your legal structure decides the amount you’ll pay in taxes, the number of legal documents you’ll have to prepare, the liability on your personal assets, and so on. And although it might be intimidating to pick one option amongst several, it isn’t really that difficult. And with a little bit of legal help, it can be made even easier.

Also, it makes it easier for you to conduct your business and stay on the right side of the law.

Develop a marketing plan

Marketing your business right is essential. To ensure that people approach your business, it is important to let them know that your business exists. Also, your marketing should properly reflect your brand’s message and communicate what you want in the right tone.

Have a good team

Home health care business plan outline.

This is the standard home health care business plan outline, which will cover all important sections that you should include in your business plan.

• Mission Statement
• Vision Statement
• Keys to Success
• Financial Summary
• 3 Year profit forecast
• Financing Needed
• Management Team
• Personnel Table
• Startup cost
• Products and services
• Market Analysis
• Market Trends
• Target Market
• Market Segments
• Advertising Strategy
• Pricing Strategy
• Financial Plan
• Important Assumptions
• Brake-even Analysis
• Profit Yearly
• Gross Margin Yearly
• Projected Cash Flow
• Projected Balance Sheet
• Business Ratios

After getting started with Upmetrics , you can copy this sample business plan into your business plan and modify the required information and download your home health care business plan pdf or doc file. It’s the fastest and easiest way to start writing your business plan.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Download a sample home health care business plan

Need help writing your business plan from scratch? Here you go;  download our free home health care business plan pdf  to start.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your home health care business. Use the example business plan as a guide for writing your own.

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About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

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How to Start a Home Health Care Business

Home care providers are among the fastest-growing industries in healthcare in the United States. Every year, patients save billions of dollars by receiving care at home instead of in a hospital.

The Actual Definition of a Home Health Care agency

What services do home health care businesses offer, step 1. decide where to start, step 2: create a home health care business plan, step 3. file with the secretary of state, step 4. obtain an employer identification number (ein), step 5. choose the business name, step 6: certifications for medicare and medicaid, step 7. create policies and procedures, step 8. staffing and management, step 9. get adequate insurance, 10. open a business bank and 30 accounts and get credit cards, step 11. marketing and sales, step 12. develop a solid financing plan, home health care business plan writing service, how to start a home health business: faqs:.

Aging populations, chronic disease prevalence, physician acceptance of home care, medical advancements, and cost-effective treatment options from public and private payers are all driving industry revenue growth.

The industry is likely to grow in this area of healthcare over the next few years, which will allow it to compete effectively with institutional care providers, such as hospitals.

According to IBIS-World , Over the five years to 2026, as the Coronavirus pandemic subsides, industry revenue is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 5.1% to $140.8 billion.

Let’s take a look at what services home healthcare agencies offer and then check out the 12 steps you need to follow to start a successful home health care business.

Home health care is a relatively straightforward concept. It means medical professionals or professional caregivers visit people at home to provide some kind of assistance or care.

Home health care covers a wide range of services that can mean different things to different people. Home health care may include physical therapy, speech therapy, and skilled nursing. It might include assisting older adults with activities of day-by-day living, for example, bathing, dressing, and eating.

Home health care refers to medical treatment or assistive care for patients who do not need hospitalization or facility care but do need help to live safely at home. A medical professional or professional caregiver visits an individual at home to provide some sort of help or care.

Even though home care might involve medical treatment, the majority of health care is assisting people with daily tasks like‌ ‌bathing,‌ ‌dressing,‌ ‌and‌ ‌eating.

Medical Home Care vs. Non-Medical Home

• Medical Home Care: The medical home care industry provides wound care and other nursing services, such as monitoring blood pressure and mental health. Senior citizens and recently discharged hospital patients usually need this type of care.
• Non-Medical Home Care: Home care that is not medically oriented , such as non-medical staff or caregivers, is aimed at providing essential day-to-day assistance. Among their services are helping individuals prepare meals, cleaning the house, changing or dressing them, or driving them to doctors’ appointments. They may also play cards or board games with them to keep them active.

12 Steps to Start a Home Health Care Business

“Running or Starting a home health care business can be challenging and fast-paced, which can be stressful.

In this article, we will discuss the details of every step of starting a medical home health business outside of a hospital or clinic.

How do you get into this business? Each model has its pros and cons:

• Start a business from scratch . There may be lower startup costs, but more risk. It is important to have business experience. Thorough research of the industry is essential.
• Purchase an existing company. The cost is higher in mature businesses, there is less risk, and high diligence is required. Need to buy a company? An M&A business plan is essential before acquiring an existing company.
• Invest in a franchise. This business model has a higher entry fee but is proven. Consult a business broker and lawyer who specializes in franchise law. Investing in a franchise can be hassle-free with our franchise business plan to give you peace of mind.

Starting any kind of business starts with this step. As the basis of your company, you will need to create a home health care business plan . It will guide you through each step of the process.

A home health care business plan includes the following elements:

No matter what format you choose, there are some things you should keep in mind. Here are a few:

Equipment and starting costs

Home health care requires sophisticated and expensive medical equipment. For a successful start, you’ll need a detailed list of everything you’ll need.

Key expenses will include:

• Office equipment
• Office supplies
• Nursing supplies
• Business development
• Rental expenses

Finance and cash flow

After you compile your list of expenses, you need a capital-raising strategy. Traditional routes include bank loans, small business loans, and angel investors. There may also be grants for emerging health care businesses at the state level.

For the first three to six months of your business, you are almost certain to lose money while your clientele grows and you are on a regular billing cycle with Medicare and Medicaid. So make sure you have a carefully thought out cash flow plan in place to ensure you can make it through these crucial first few months.

Conduct market research and identify your competitors.

Your greatest weapon when it comes to raising capital is a bullet-proof analysis proving that yours is a great local market for this business and that you can serve a need that is unmet by your competitors.

Although this is a growing industry on a national and global scale, if your community is oversaturated, you will have a difficult time competing.

A strong competitive analysis can also help you with marketing and recruitment strategies when you identify where others have failed to penetrate the market.

Remember: Our guide on how to write a business plan will give you more information about the process if you’ve never written one before.

Free: Home Health Care Business Plan Pdf

To write a home health care business plan, you don’t need to be an expert. You can just download our proven health care business plan pdf to get a better idea.

Depending on your location and business structure , you will need to register your business . There are various types of business structures available, including Sole Proprietorship , Partnership, Corporation , and Limited Liability Companies (LLC) .

Generally, registering your business involves filing your business name with the state and local government.

You can check for business name availability on the Secretary of State’s website in your area and see if the domain name is available for your website. Once your business name and entity have been approved, you can order letterhead, business cards, and brochures.

Recommended: Learn how to start an LLC in your state in our free guides or choose Wise Business Plans to make the LLC registration hassle-free for you!

Need to get a License for Home Health Care Business?

We have simplified the process for you. Wise Business Plans can help you obtain business licenses, tax registrations, and seller’s permits in a hassle-free manner.

As you prepare to incorporate your company and set your business name, you might want to check domain names to ensure something you want is not already taken. When your business name is decided and availability is confirmed, create letterheads, business cards, and brochures.

Recommended: How to Choose a Business Name

In the United States, the first step to navigating the certification process is filling out the state’s home care license application and all documentation required for the home care business license.

Obtaining a Tax ID and NPI number for your home health care business is part of this process. Home care license requirements and standards vary from state to state.

If you need assistance, you should contact the Department of Health in your state.

If a patient is eligible for Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and/or Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance), they will receive skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services, occupational services, and others.

Medicare and Medicaid will be your primary sources of revenue unless you have an unorthodox business model. Make sure your business obtains all the necessary Medicare and Medicaid certifications.

Accreditation by Medicare:

A three-day Medicare survey is required for the accreditation process and is an audit of your business’ operations and clinical records.

The patient must meet the following criteria to be eligible for Medicare home care coverage:

• The patient must be under a physician’s care and follow a prescribed and reviewed the treatment plan
• A physician must certify that the patient requires at least one of the following services: Continuous occupational therapy Speech therapy Physiotherapy Skilled nursing care (more than drawing blood)
• Home care providers must be Medicare-certified and must determine that the patient is homebound
• The patient may not need more than intermittent or part-time nursing care

Be sure to research your own state’s jurisprudence requirements if you are planning on starting a home health care business.

The following needs to be addressed in your policies and procedures:

• Payroll and employee records
• Practices related to hiring
• The orientation
• The training process
• Billing for clients
• Customer rights and responsibilities
• New client admissions
• Plans for care
• Planned schedules

With a home health care business, unlike most other businesses where employees sell or facilitate your product, your staff is your product.

Choosing the right people is crucial because ultimately the person who walks into the home represents your company and is the face of your business. The greatest challenge for a home care business is finding good staff.”

What kind of staff do you need?

Your first hire will be a qualified clinical supervisor if you are not a physician. Medicare (and most states) require that a physician or registered nurse with more than one year’s experience serve as a clinical supervisor.

The supervisor should always be available to provide support to the employees providing home health care services.

Additionally, most states require a certified administrator to be in place, but this role can be performed by the clinical supervisor if they are certified in both capacities.

You have two options when it comes to frontline service providers.

• You can hire your own staff if you have the resources right away. Starting this business will require serious cash infusions as your salary demands will outweigh your income in the first months.
• A second option is to contract out the work to another physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or skilled nurse agency or association. The most common approach is to hire a qualified nurse and a physiotherapist on an as-needed basis (and hire the rest of the field as needed).

Your insurance coverage must be adequate. At the very least, you’ll need:

• Professional liability insurance – protects you from negligence, malpractice, or incompetence claims. It is also known as “errors and omissions” insurance.) Depending on the services you provide, you may also need:
• General liability insurance – Insures you against claims involving third-party bodily injury or property damage resulting‌ ‌from‌ ‌your‌ ‌product‌ ‌or‌ ‌ operation.
• Cybersecurity insurance – Protects you from some HIPAA penalties resulting from breaches or hacks that expose‌ ‌PII‌ ‌(Personal‌ ‌ Identifiable‌ ‌Information).

Personal asset protection is enhanced when you open specialized business banking and credit accounts. When your personal and professional accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, automobile, and other valuables) are vulnerable if your company is issued.

Furthermore, learning how to establish business credit may assist you in receiving credit cards and other financial resources in your company’s name (rather than yours), improved interest rates, greater lines of credit, and more.

Set up a business bank account

Apart from being a requirement when applying for business loans, establishing a business bank account has several benefits.

• Separates your personal belongings from your company’s assets, which is critical for personal asset protection.
• Makes tax preparation and accounting simple.
• It makes tracking expenses easier and more organized.

Recommended: To discover the greatest bank or credit union, read our Best Banks for Small Business review.

Open net 30 account

Net 30 payment terms are used to establish and grow firm credit, as well as enhance company cash flow. Businesses purchase products and pay off the whole amount within a 30-day period using a net 30 account.

Net 30 credit vendors are reported to the major business credit bureaus (Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business Credit). This is the way businesses build business credit to qualify for credit cards and other lines of credit.

Recommended: Read our list of the top net 30 vendors guide to start getting business credit or simply open your net 30 accounts with wise business plans in seconds.

Get a business credit card

It’s exciting to open a business credit card for your firm. A business credit card can assist you to establish credit, safeguard your company financially, access rewards (such as cashback), and simplify cash flow. It can also assist you to manage your expenditures.

Recommended: Check out our list of the 11 best business credit cards and decide which one is best for you.

Once you have your home health care business plan in place and your ideal staff lined up, you’re ready to find clients and get started operating your business. This is a challenging step for anyone who owns a business, particularly a service-based company like a home health care agency.

Identify the best referral sources in your area, including discharge planners, medical home care companies, existing client references, elder law attorneys, estate planners physicians, physical rehabilitation centers, churches, bank trust officers, and geriatric care managers.

Your business’s success depends on marketing and sales. Obtaining clients requires effective marketing strategies. Here are some marketing ideas you can implement to get your business off the ground:

• Make a website: If you want clients for your home healthcare business, Make sure you have a simple website that will promote your name and information. Create your promotional materials and learn specific sales techniques for home care.
• Make Google aware of your existence. Ensure that Google has access to your address, office hours, and phone number so you can reach potential clients. This is simple, but first, you need a website.
• Know what makes you different. Tell your prospective client what makes you different and better than the competition. Make sure that your employees know this and that it is clear on your website.
• Join a community organization. Join local groups and associations, such as the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, to show your professionalism and get your name out there.

Your Business Marketing isn’t Working?

wise business plans, our certified digital marketing specialists have great expertise in over 400 industries and are always ready to assist you in marketing your company.

When you bill Medicare, Medicaid, or third-party insurers, you may experience some financial stress due to the time it takes for payments to be received. To bridge the payment gap between periods, home healthcare agencies and businesses use receivable factoring.

Factoring allows you to receive an advance that you can use to pay your employees and grow your business. It will free up cash flow for your business, allowing you to focus on your business operations.

Long-time business planning leader Wise Business Plans is offering an effective home health care business plan for home health care agencies and other entrepreneurs assistance in gaining the market perspective and financial numbers needed to secure startup, business sustainability, and expansion funding, as well as regional consumer information to better guide future expansion options.

We’re dedicated to providing our healthcare clients with the very best home health care b usiness plan , prepared individually to ethically meet all their business planning needs,” said Ferriolo.

All Wise Business Plans include a market analysis summary that will help the business owner and investors, alike, understand the demographics of the community the client is serving.

Download Now: Home Health Care Business Plan in PDF   or Visit our Sample Business Plans gallery for over 400+ industries to help you create your plan.

Wise Business Plans (www.wisebusinessplans.com), staffed with MBA professional business plan writers , researchers, and financial experts, is a trusted partner for businesses across a broad spectrum of products and services. Our mission is to empower our clients to make the best possible business decisions, boost company performance and facilitate their funding success by laying the groundwork for strong businesses that excite, inspire and retain talented and exceptional employees.

Free: Non-Medical Home Care Business Plan Pdf

To write a non medical home care business plan, you don’t need to be an expert. You can download our proven health care business plan pdf to get a better idea.

Starting a home health care business typically requires obtaining the necessary licenses and certifications, such as state-specific home health care licenses or certifications for providing medical services. Additionally, having a background in healthcare or hiring qualified staff with relevant qualifications is essential.

Finding clients for your home health care business can be done through various channels. Networking with local healthcare providers, hospitals, and clinics, as well as building relationships with social workers and discharge planners, can help you establish referral sources. Online marketing, advertising in local directories, and building a strong online presence can also attract potential clients.

When starting a home health care business, it is crucial to comply with all legal and regulatory requirements. This may include obtaining the necessary licenses and permits, ensuring compliance with privacy laws (such as HIPAA in the United States), and meeting specific standards set by regulatory bodies in your region. Consulting with a business attorney or healthcare consultant can help you navigate these considerations.

Setting pricing for home health care services requires careful consideration of various factors. These may include the level of care provided, the complexity of services, the geographical location, and the market rates in your area. Researching the pricing structures of other home health care providers in your region can provide insights into industry norms and help you determine competitive rates.

Staffing requirements for a home health care business typically involve hiring qualified healthcare professionals, such as registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, and home health aides. The number and type of staff needed depend on the size and scope of your business, as well as the specific services you plan to offer. Ensuring adequate staffing levels and maintaining a skilled and compassionate team are vital for providing quality care to clients.

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Home Health Care Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their home health care businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a home health care business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your home health care business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan

If you’re looking to start a home health care business, or grow your existing home health care business, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your home health care business in order to improve your chances of success. Your home health care business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Home Health Care Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a home health care business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

The second most common form of funding for a home health care business is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding, or, like a bank, they will give you a loan. Venture capitalists will not fund a home health care business. They might consider funding a home health care business with a national presence, but never an individual location. This is because most venture capitalists are looking for millions of dollars in return when they make an investment, and an individual location could never achieve such results.

Home Health care Business Plan Template

If you want to start a home health care business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Below are links to each section of your home health care business plan template:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of home health care business you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a home health care business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of home health care businesses.

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the home health care industry. Discuss the type of home health care business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of home health care business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of home health care businesses:

• Nursing care business : this type of home health care business is the most common, where the patient is given a doctor-approved plan of care specific to the patient’s clinical needs and delivered within the comfort of their home.  
• Physical home health care business : this type of home health care business provides physical therapy to patients who need help regaining their muscle and joint strength. 
• Home health care aides : this type of home health care business provides patients with home health care aides who assist them with basic daily tasks, such as bathing, cooking, and dressing.  

In addition to explaining the type of home health care business you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of home health care patients, growth year over year, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the home health care business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the home health care industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating. 

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your home health care business plan:

• How big is the home health care industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your home health care business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your home care agency business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: parents of elderly individuals, retired seniors, senior community program managers, etc.  

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of home health care business you operate. Clearly, parents of elderly individuals would want different service options and would respond to different marketing promotions than senior community program managers, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most home health care businesses primarily serve customers living in their same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other home health care businesses. 

Indirect competitors are other care options that people have that aren’t direct competitors. This includes hospitals, nursing homes, and people who help relatives with home health care needs. You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone who needs healthcare assistance will utilize a home health care company.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other home health care businesses with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be home health care businesses located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of patients do they help?
• What types of services do they offer?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide superior services?
• Will you provide services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to use your services?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a home health care business plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of home health care business that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to home health care, will you provide superior customer service, 24/7 call centers, or emergency services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your home health care business office. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your home health care business office operated remotely, located near a main highway, near public transportation, etc. Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of customers. 

Promotions : The final part of your home health care marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local websites 
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your home health agency business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your home health care business, including hiring quality home care professionals, training employees, and administrative tasks.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your 100th patient, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your facility or launch in a new location.

Management Team

To demonstrate your home health care business’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company. 

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing home health care businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing home health care companies or successfully running small businesses.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you assist 50 patients per month or 100? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your home health care business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt. For example, let’s say a local senior living community approached you with a $50,000 partnership contract to provide home health care services for their occupants. Let’s further assume the contract would cost you $50,000 to fulfill in terms of increased staffing costs. Well, in most cases, you would have to pay that $50,000 now for employee salaries, utilities, etc. But let’s say the company didn’t pay you for 180 days. During that 180-day period, you could run out of money.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a home health care business:

• Cost of equipment like standard nursing supplies, sanitary products, and emergency medications
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your Medicaid and Medicare certifications.

Putting together a business plan for your home health care business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the example template above, by the time you are done, you will have an expert home health care business plan; download it to PDF to show banks and investors. You will really understand the home health care industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful home health care business.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Home Health Care business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

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Home Health Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my home health care business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Home Health Care Business Plan.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of home health care business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a home health care business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of home health care businesses?

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Home Health Care Business Plan Template

Home health care business plan.

You’ve come to the right place to create your Home Health Care business plan.

We have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their home health care businesses.

Home Care Business Plan Example

Below is a template to help you create each section of your home health agency business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

St. Helen’s Home Care is a new home healthcare business that serves the aging population of Austin, Texas. As individuals age, they are more susceptible to diseases and other conditions and need extra help to receive health care. However, many individuals wish to receive care in the comfort of their homes instead of going to a nursing home or hospital. St. Helen’s will provide this population with the care they need without them needing to travel. Our services include physical therapy, nursing, and other healthcare services that can be conducted in the home. We also provide warmth, compassion, and companionship to create lasting relationships with our clients.

St. Helen’s Home Care is run by Helen Parker, who has been a nurse for twenty years. She has specialized in working with aging populations and has extensive knowledge of the common conditions and needs of this age group. Her experience and connections have helped her find other medical professionals who want to join our company. Furthermore, she was able to establish an initial client base from the list of patients she has been helping for years.

Services Offered

St. Helen’s Home Care offers a variety of home health care services that serve the aging population of Austin, Texas. These services include but are not limited to:

• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech-language therapy
• Personal care and housekeeping

Customer Focus

St. Helen’s Home Care will serve the aging population of Austin, Texas, primarily residents over the age of 65. This population is susceptible to many conditions that make daily living difficult such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, arthritis, and diabetes. This population needs more health care than other age groups, but not all services require a visit to the hospital or doctor’s office. St. Helen’s will provide any medical service that can easily be conducted in a home setting.

Management Team

St. Helen’s Home Care is owned and operated by Helen Parker, a local nurse who has worked at local hospitals for over the past twenty years. She has worked with hundreds of elderly patients and their families and has helped them find adequate and affordable home health care upon being released from the hospital. Helen Parker has realized there is a lack of quality and affordable home healthcare agencies in Austin. She aims to provide the best in-home health care services while also being affordable for the patient and their families.

Aside from the medical professionals she will have on staff, Helen has also employed an Administrative Assistant, Accountant, and Marketing Specialist to help her operate the company.

Success Factors

St. Helen’s Home Care will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Compassionate Staff: Helen’s will employ a compassionate and friendly staff of nurses, therapists, aides, and social workers who are highly knowledgeable and experienced in their field.
• Quality Care: Helen’s will provide expert services so that the patients are at the highest comfort level.
• Pricing: Helen’s pricing will be more affordable than its competition. They will also work on payment arrangements with the patient and their family so that the patient won’t have to sacrifice any type of care because the cost is too high. The company is also working to partner with local and national insurance companies so that our patients can have their care partially or fully covered by their insurance plans.

Financial Highlights

St. Helen’s Home Care is seeking $340,000 in funding to launch the home healthcare business. The capital will be used for funding equipment and supplies, staffing, marketing expenses, and working capital.

The breakdown of the funding may be seen below:

• Equipment and supplies (such as computers and medical equipment): $150,000
• Marketing costs: $50,000
• Staffing costs: $60,000
• Working capital (to include three months of overhead expenditures): $80,000

The following graph outlines the pro forma financial projections for St. Helens’ Home Care over the next five years:

Company Overview

Who is St. Helen’s Home Care?

St. Helen’s Home Care History

Helen Parker has worked with thousands of elderly patients during her career as a nurse. She often found that many people did not need to travel to a doctor’s office or hospital for their care. Instead, these patients often enjoyed a higher quality of life when they received care from their homes. This revelation inspired her to start a business where she and other professionals could provide care to local elderly patients in the comfort of their homes. After conducting the research needed to establish the company, Helen incorporated St. Helen’s Home Care as an S-corporation on May 15th, 2022.

Since incorporation, St. Helen’s has achieved the following milestones:

• Found an office location and signed a Letter of Intent to lease it
• Developed the logo and website for the company
• Finalized list of services the company will be able to provide
• Determined the office equipment and inventory requirements
• Created an initial client base from Helen’s pre-existing patient list
• Started creating partnerships with local and national medical insurance companies
• Began recruiting key employees, including medical and administrative staff

St. Helen’s Home Care Services

Industry Analysis

According to Grand View Research, the global home healthcare industry was valued at $336 billion USD in 2021. It is also expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.93% from 2022 to 2030 and reach a value of $666.9 billion USD by 2030. This shows that these services will be in great demand, which means it is a great time to start a home healthcare business.

This growth is primarily driven by a growing geriatric population. People are living longer than ever before, and therefore, they will need comfortable healthcare services for much longer. Furthermore, baby boomers comprise a large population and are now entering their retirement years. It is expected that this enormous population will have a significant need for healthcare (whether in the home or doctor’s office) and may create a strain on the current industry. However, this also means there is an enormous opportunity for healthcare businesses to be extremely profitable in the near future.

This is especially true for home healthcare services, which are increasing in demand. Most aging people would rather receive medical care at home than go to a nursing home or hospital. Therefore, there is an incredible demand for these particular services.

The only challenge affecting the industry is a lack of properly trained staff who can take on a healthcare career. However, this will only mean that home healthcare services will be even more valued. These industry trends will only help boost the popularity and success of St. Helen’s Home Care.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

St. Helen’s Home Care will primarily target the aging population of Austin, Texas. This includes anyone over the age of 65, especially those who live with diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, or other conditions that affect their quality of life.

The precise demographics of Austin, Texas, are:

Customer Segmentation

St. Helen’s will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Aging individuals over the age of 65
• Individuals living with Alzheimer’s and dementia
• Elderly individuals with other health conditions

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

St. Helen’s Home Care will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Travis County Home Health

Travis County Memorial Hospital’s Home Health & Hospice has provided home health services for over a decade. Their staff is composed of dedicated professionals who are committed to providing quality care in the comfort and convenience of their patients’ homes. Their home health aides can assist the patient with grooming and light chores around their home. Home health care will verify if home health aide services are covered by their insurance policy. They accept Medicare, Insurance/HMO/PPO, Medicaid, and Private Pay. The home health care team works closely with the physician to plan the care and monitor the patients’ progress. The nurse will contact the physician with any laboratory results, medication changes, or alterations in their health status.

Elara Caring

Elara Caring is one of the nation’s largest providers of home-based care, with a footprint in most regions of the United States. Elara Caring brings together three award-winning organizations – Great Lakes Caring, National Home Health Care, and Jordan Health Services, into one transformational company. They provide the highest-quality comprehensive care continuum of personal care, skilled home health, hospice care, and behavioral health. Their intimate understanding of their patients’ needs allows them to apply proprietary platforms to deliver proactive, customized care that improves quality of life and keeps patients in their homes.

Encompass Health

Encompass Health is one of the nation’s leading providers of home health services. They continually set the standard of homecare through their people, their approach, and their outcomes.

The patient experience is at the core of everything they do. That’s why they work collaboratively with the patient’s team of experts to craft a plan of care that meets their specific needs. Their skilled nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, medical social workers, and home health aides use a coordinated, interprofessional approach to deliver compassionate, specialized care in the comfort of home. Whether recovering from a surgery, a recent hospital stay, or managing a disease or injury, Encompass Health’s services are designed to meet patients where they are.

Competitive Advantage

Marketing plan, brand & value proposition.

The St. Helen’s brand will focus on the company’s unique value proposition:

• Knowledgeable, friendly, compassionate staff of healthcare professionals.
• Quality level of service and care.
• Offering the best nursing, therapy, social worker, and home aide services at competitive prices.

Promotions Strategy

St Helen’s Home Care will target elderly residents living in the Austin, Texas area. The company’s promotions strategy to reach the most clientele include:

Local Hospitals

Helen Parker already has great relationships with the local hospitals. She will work to make sure the hospitals send referrals and highly recommend the company to its patients and their families upon releasing them from the hospital.

Website/SEO Marketing

St. Helen’s has a website that is well-organized and informative and lists all our available services. The website also lists the company’s contact information and information about the medical professionals who provide our services.  We will utilize SEO marketing tactics so that anytime someone types in the Google or Bing search engine “Austin home health care” or “Austin health care,” St. Helen’s will be listed at the top of the search results.

St. Helen’s Home Care will have a billboard at a busy intersection where thousands of cars and pedestrians pass daily. The location of the billboard will be in an area of town where there are a lot of doctors’ offices, rehab facilities, and a hospital nearby.

Insurance Partnerships

St. Helens will partner with local and national insurance companies so that our patients can be partially or fully covered for the services we provide. We will ask the insurance companies to recommend our services to their customers and have our business listed on their websites.

St Helen’s pricing will be moderate so customers feel they receive great value when purchasing its services. Services will either be charged directly to the patient or to their insurance plan.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for St. Helen’s Home Care.

Operation Functions:

• Helen Parker will be the Chief Executive Officer of the company. She will be in charge of the operations side of the business and provide home healthcare services until we have a full staff of medical professionals.
• Helen is assisted by her longtime colleague Mary Green. Mary will be the Administrative Assistant and help with all general administration tasks, including taking phone calls and scheduling appointments.
• Keith O’Reilly will serve as the Staff Accountant. He will provide all accounting, tax payments, and monthly financial reporting.
• Betty Lopez will work as the Marketing Specialist. She will run the website, social media, and other marketing efforts.
• Helen will hire a large team of medical professionals to serve our growing client base. So far, some of her former colleagues have agreed to work for her business.

Milestones:

St. Helen’s Home Care will have the following milestones completed in the next six months.

8/1/202X – Finalize lease for the office space.

8/15/202X – Finalize personnel and staff employment contracts.

9/1/202X – Begin refurbishment and furnishing of the office space.

9/15/202X – Begin networking at medical industry events.

9/22/202X – Begin marketing campaign to attract the first clients.

11/1/202X – St. Helen’s Home Care opens for business.

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenues for St. Helen’s Home Care will come from the fees it will charge the patients and their insurance for the provided health care services.

The major cost drivers for the company will be the staff payroll, marketing expenses, lease, and office equipment.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Key assumptions.

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials as well as pay off the startup business loan.

• Number of clients per month: 100
• Annual lease: $50,000
• Overhead costs per year: $100,000

Financial Projections

Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, home health care business plan faqs, what is a home health care business plan.

A home health care business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your home health care business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Home Health Care business plan using our Home Health Care Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Home Health Care businesses?

There are a number of different kinds of Home Health Care businesses , some examples include: Nursing care business, Physical home health care business, and Home health care aides.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Home Health Care Business Plan?

Home Health Care businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Home Health Care Business?

Starting a home health care business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Home Health Care Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed home health care business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast.  

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your home health care business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your home health care business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Home Health Care Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your home health care business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws. 

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your home health care business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms. 

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations. 

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events. 

7. Acquire Necessary Home Health Care Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your home health care business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your home health care business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful home health care business:

• How to Start a Home Health Care Business