Courtesy Hometeam Hometeam CEO Randy Klein
- Hometeam, a New York-based startup that provides home care to seniors, just hired a new CEO as part of its push to work more closely with health plans including Medicare and Medicaid.
- The new CEO, Randy Klein, is taking over for Hometeam founder Josh Bruno, who will remain on the board.
- Hometeam hires caregivers who go into the homes of seniors to help with different tasks, ultimately with the goal of keeping them out of the hospital for longer.
Randy Klein's grandmother hasn't been in the hospital in eight years, and she just turned 101 years old.
That's not an easy feat for a centenarian, and keeping frail, elderly people out of the hospital can be critical to keeping them healthy. To do that, she's had the same home health aid for the past 16 years and support from Klein and his mother and the expertise they bring.
"That should be available to everybody," Klein told Business Insider. Klein is coming on board as the CEO of Hometeam, a startup that's trying to transform home healthcare for seniors.
Klein has accrued a lot of experience working with healthcare industries prior to Hometeam, particular in senior care. Most recently, Klein was an executive at Remedy Partners, a company that works with healthcare organizations to launch bundled payment programs.
Based in New York, Hometeam was founded in 2014 by 31-year-old Josh Bruno and has since raised over $38.5 million in venture capital.
Recode reported in April that Bruno was stepping away from his role as CEO, and the company's president was leaving the company. Following the CEO transition, Bruno is stepping away from day-to-day roles at Hometeam but will stay on as a board member.
Here's how Hometeam works
Hometeam works by hiring caregivers who can then go to the homes of elderly people who may need an extra hand or assistance in completing a daily task like getting to a doctor's appointment or taking medication. The home health industry is large and has historically been fragmented. There are an estimated 2.5 million home care workers out there, and about 12,400 home health agencies managing them all.
Instead of relying on independent contractors, Hometeam developed a training system and hired their caregivers as W2 employees. On top of this, Hometeam is extremely selective in screening caregiver applications.
"The company puts the caregiver at the center of the equation," Klein said, a move aimed to increase the reliability and professionalism while reducing the number of unnecessary hospital visits for patients.
On the technology front, Hometeam matches patients and caregivers around shared interests as well as medical needs. In addition, Hometeam helps keep family members in the loop through notes and updates provided by caregivers through a real-time monitor in the form of an iPad application.
The home health space has also historically been relegated to private payments, meaning it's not covered by Medicare or Medicaid, the government-run plans that oversee healthcare for the elderly, though that's starting to change. In 2016, Hometeam signed a deal with Medicaid Managed Long Term Care, which allowed anyone under the Medicaid plan to access the Hometeam services, extending the startup's clients beyond those who pay out-of-pocket.
Earlier this year, the company made a decision to shift its focus onto the side of the business related to Medicaid and Medicare service. The goal is to create a model that would provide better personal care and outcomes for patients.