Care Across America
"Care Across America, an Approved Senior Network® Podcast"—your go-to source for engaging conversations and practical insights from home care and senior care experts across the United States. Each episode will spotlight industry professionals, and their referral networks, sharing impactful stories, proven strategies, and innovative solutions in senior care. This podcast is perfect for professionals, adult children of aging parents, and family members struggling with senior care choices and care.
Care Across America
Elder Care Reimagined: How Feldcare's Therapy Network Is Supporting America's Aging Population
Imagine an Uber-like system for connecting home health patients with qualified therapists—that's exactly what FeldCare Connects has built with their groundbreaking Cliniconnect app. In this enlightening conversation, CEO Randi Peled and Marketing Administrator Julia Shaw reveal how their nationwide network of over 4,000 clinicians is transforming access to physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy services for the growing elderly population.
Feldcare operates at the critical intersection of several healthcare challenges: home health agencies needing qualified staff, patients requiring specialized care after hospital discharge, and therapists seeking flexible entrepreneurial opportunities. Their innovative model allows therapists to function as independent contractors, building personalized caseloads while Feldcare handles the administrative heavy lifting—from documentation quality assurance to Medicare compliance.
What began in 2011 has evolved into a comprehensive solution that spans multiple states including California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, and Hawaii. Beyond just connecting therapists with patients, Feldcare provides crucial support for home health agencies navigating complex regulatory requirements, even helping them through challenging survey processes with accrediting bodies like Joint Commission and CHAPS.
For therapists looking to join this revolution in home health care, visit feldcareconnects.com or email recruitme@feldcareconnects.com. Home health agencies interested in partnership can reach out to 818-926-9057 or info@feldcareconnects.com. As our population ages and patients increasingly prefer healing in the comfort of their own homes, Feldcare's solution addresses a critical and growing need in our healthcare system.
View More at HomeCareMarketingNews.com
Thank you again for having us join. My name is Randi Pellett. I'm the CEO of Feldcare Connects. We are a therapy referral agency that provides physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, a little bit of registered dietician. We partner with home health agencies. We have a network of over 4,000 clinicians throughout the nation California, arizona, florida, texas, I don't know if I missed a state there, hawaii and we partner with home health agencies. They use Feldcare as a referral agency, partner with home health agencies. They send they use Feldcare as a referral agency. They send referrals. They don't have their own rehab staff or they have an overflow of referrals from different community-based sources that for patients that need home health services. They send those referrals to us.
Speaker 2:We created an app it's kind of like Uber for home health. It's like it's called Cliniconnect. So the therapist will download the app on their phone and they mark themselves available. They can accept those patients based on their availability. And then administratively we have a very large staff. Administratively we support the home health agency, make sure nothing falls through the cracks and the therapists are free to actually be an entrepreneur, create their own caseload and take on these referrals based on their availability. That's healthcare.
Speaker 1:That is pretty amazing and, as I can tell you from working with home care agencies across the country home health care agencies there's always a need for more physical therapists agencies. There's always a need for more physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and sometimes, especially in our underserved areas, in our rural areas. We need a little extra help there. Julia, do you want to introduce?
Speaker 3:yourself and tell us more about what you do with Feldcare? Hi, yeah, so I'm Julia Shaw. I'm the marketing administrator here at Feldcare Connects, and Randy gave such a good intro. I'm honestly not sure what to say, but I work with outreach and helping us connect with various clinicians who want to take advantage of the Felcare Therapy Network and make sure that they connect with us, that they can utilize our services as entrepreneurs, because they are essentially running their own business, and then we connect them with the home health agencies as referral partners. Yeah, I work with getting all of them connected up with us so that we can provide our referral partners with qualified clinicians who can't help out their patients.
Speaker 1:That's great, and so I have a few questions about all of this. So, first of all, how long has Feldcare been in business or been around?
Speaker 2:We've been around and first of all, just a little bit more on Julia. So she posts on social media. We have YouTube. We have several other social media spots that she's very involved in presenting Feldcare out there. I just wanted to share that, but we've been around since 2011 or 2012. Mind you, I don't know the exact date, but I've been in healthcare for eons prior, a long time, but I did see the niche specifically for rehab with the elder population, which is primarily what we serve. We do see a little bit of pediatrics, but obviously elder population is baby boomers and it's growing, and years ago I just tapped into that and we created an agency that can support the community. It is family based. Son and husband are all part of the team, along with a big administrative group.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, and so this is a question for the entrepreneurs at heart out there. If you're a physical therapist and you sign up with Feldcare and take a few shifts, who's the payer? Is it Feldcare or the home care agency?
Speaker 2:So I'm just going to answer that, julia. Okay, so the home health agency is the one that owns the patient. They're doing the billing to Medicare or to the insurances. We're billing the home health agency and then we're paying the clinicians. They're all independent contractors.
Speaker 2:But on top of everything that we have, I just do want to share that we also have a Feldcare franchise opportunity Because, again, elder community across the nation is humongous, so that we're growing, even exponentially, which is pretty significant. We created a franchise opportunity because it would be so much more effective to support the community with franchisees all over the place, rather than just Feldcare trying to expand and running it on their own. So we have a full on operational support and development for that franchisee. So, since you asked about the entrepreneurship and that's something that Julia brought up, the therapist obviously is the entrepreneur. Pt OT speech RD. They're the entrepreneur. They could create a business, take as much or as little caseload as they want. Supplemental for new grads they can pay off that student loan. There is actually no reason why a new grad can't get the foot into the home health world. But for those entrepreneurs that actually want to create a full-on business and they don't have to start from scratch. Healthcare could be a really good solution for that.
Speaker 1:I can see how it would be. You guys are doing this nationwide, but I can see how it would be to an advantage if someone did want to start a business like this and they wanted to inquire. I can see how it would be to their advantage to be local. So if they're in Tampa Florida, they have that whole territory, they can market and be in that territory and there's a face behind the support and in that actual area. So I see how it can be advantageous both ways. I know you guys if you have a huge team I would imagine you do, because if you're supplying a lot of work across the country, that's a big amount of support people that you need to have in place to manage all those things.
Speaker 2:But yeah, we do have a big administrative support team and, what's really cool for a potential franchisee, we've put a whole operational process in place and we have an awesome the whole operational process in place and we have an awesome like healthcare university process online where they go through every single department with all the policies and procedures and processes that they have access to, along with shadowing.
Speaker 1:And I see home health agencies. What I find is that and you guys can correct me if I'm wrong, you're the experts on all of this Sometimes either they're like you said they're so busy that they have overflow, they can't serve and so they need to hire a few extra people, but it's temporary. Or they're newer at this, or maybe haven't been around as long, or maybe haven't had enough physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy business to keep that person full-time hours always busy. They just don't have they don't have that many referrals yet, so it's much more advantageous to hire someone as needed, because they just haven't gotten to that place where there's full-time requests. Does that sound like some of the issues you face?
Speaker 2:So first of all, everyone is an independent contractor as far as the therapists go, so technically there's no employment type contract involved here. So I just wanted to point that out. But the agencies, you're right, they might have a smaller census and they have the PT or OT or speech requirements that pop up, or they're a brand new agency and they're going through survey and they have to do, they have to comply with those 10 initial patients in the beginning and they don't have anyone. So they partner with Feldcare to provide that support and we go through Feldcare actually goes through the entire survey with the agency to get them set up. So we provide a little bit of consulting there and coaching.
Speaker 2:We deal with getting all the credentials and really complying with Medicare guidelines to ensure that a home health agency gets. We're always in survey actually, whether it's through joint commission or CHAPS or HAC, to make sure that the agency is compliant. But an agency, again, like you said, might have a large census and they might have their own. We have staff on board but they have a lot more coming in and they want to be able to take those referrals from those community referral sources and they partner with healthcare to help them through that and our internal team will QA the notes. There's a whole big internal team that will really make sure administratively that the agency is supported.
Speaker 1:Well, it's pretty interesting that you guys actually help get folks through survey, because that's such a stressful time for everybody, and having a consultant or just someone to coach you along and make sure that position is covered and all the bases are covered with what survey is going to look for, that's a big deal. That's just amazing that you guys have recognized how important that is. How do you get that first client and how do you have all of this in place? So that's great that they can reach out to you and get involved for that Exactly it is.
Speaker 2:Some of the therapists will actually go with the surveyors to the home on that initial visit for physical therapy or whatever. We definitely go over infection control and some of those key words that will come up during survey. But the agencies sometimes years ago I had opened up a home health agency so I do understand a little bit more of the intricacies that go behind that. The agencies might not know just the basics on credentials they're so busy trying to find nurses and home care aides that they know that piece. They know about the documentation, about the MD orders, about all those parts, but the other pieces they might not know. So that's where we come in to actually provide a lot of that support.
Speaker 1:So now I need you to do that with nurses, LPNs, home health aides.
Speaker 2:You know I have, and it is not an area that I'm interested in.
Speaker 1:It's really hard. It's hard all the way around, but working with professionals that are credentialed and licensed is amazing. But it is hard to find all of these roles. Sometimes, depending on where you are and how long you've been in business, it can be challenging for every single role across the board, and that's very true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how much this is needed. How many seniors need help? How many folks are coming home from the hospital and need the assistance of PT, even if it's just for a short period of time Discharging after a surgery or a long hospitalization it's rough. Coming home, my husband recently had open heart surgery and he's perfectly okay and we're here to support him. But that's a big surgery and once you get home from the hospital you're just so debilitated. Even though it was only a five day from surgery to discharge, it was about five days total. But it is a it is hard on you. It's hard especially if you live alone and don't have a lot of support. It's rough. So I the need for live alone and don't have a lot of support, it's rough. So the need for physical therapy and occupational therapy and speech therapy is it's just as you said. It's just going to get bigger and bigger all the time. It's hard to feel like you can manage during the day without a little help. Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. First, I'm glad to hear your husband is recovering well and he has your support, so that's amazing and great. With your background as well, I understand you're a nurse, but Bell Care does go to all the conventions to recruit. So we're at APTA, we're at California Physical Therapy Association conventions, we're at a lot of the different schools, usc and just throughout various places constantly recruiting the therapists.
Speaker 1:Is there a particular part of the country where you find that it's harder to recruit, that you're looking for more people, or is it just the same across the board?
Speaker 2:There's supply and demand and it does. There's supply and demand and there's a pendulum, if you will. We're probably in that pendulum on needing more supply. We do have a lot of referrals every day, knock on wood. But the rural areas, of course there's not enough nurses and the PTs. Now OTs can do started cares but they have to get trained up. But it's a billable item. Otec has approved it. The National Board has approved OTs to do started cares. So that is very challenging because of the amount of work and there's not enough nurses. So there's a lot more started cares coming in to open those cases and that's tough. Yeah, to answer your question. Flying demand all over the place. Yeah, yeah, california, oakland, san Jose, sacramento, stockton, modesto, florida, gainesville, tampa, st Petersburg, dallas, phoenix, lake, havasu, just everywhere.
Speaker 1:And Julia, you are marketing and recruiting, and what's the best way for folks to connect with you all and say, hey, I'd love just go to the website, or what is your website address? We should say that first.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so the website address is healthcareconnectscom. We do have a contact page and if you say that you are looking to connect with us as a clinician, it will go straight to our recruitment staff. You can also just email directly at recruitme at bellcareconnectscom. So those are all options and then, yeah, those are probably the best ways to connect. Obviously, if you go on social media, you're going to talk to me, but I'll just probably send you that recruit me at healthcareconnectscom email, because that's the team that you can talk to, ask the most questions, get all of the answers that you want, get hooked up with the referral partnership, so that's probably the best way to get in touch for sure.
Speaker 1:I would imagine there's an onboarding process.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, there's a really great training process too that helps to orient clinicians who are looking to get into this. We're not just grabbing someone straight out of college and saying, here you go, here's a patient, yeah, that would be really overwhelming. So we have a great support staff and a great training module that they go through and they can always ask questions and we're always here to answer those questions. We're just here to support those clinicians who really want to get those connections, connect with home health agency patients and really grow themselves, develop themselves, become entrepreneurs. See what that, see what the industry is like. We also have, we've connected with clinicians who are perhaps professors, who just want to keep their hand in, people who are looking. Maybe they're working at schools and over the summer they need some extra work. There's just a plethora of ways that somebody can utilize self-care to get those connections and work with those patients.
Speaker 1:And how about home health agencies? What's the best way for them? Same, go to the website, yeah so, yeah, oh, go ahead, wendy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sorry, don't mean to cut you off there, julia, but somebody can always call our corporate office 818-926-9057 and ask to speak. Press zero and ask go to the contact page, put their information. You can send an email to info at FeldCareConnectscom as well. But, yeah, definitely, we are nine to eight Pacific Standard Time to support the different areas, so we're definitely stay open later. But best way if somebody needs something urgent, they can email, like Julia was saying, or they can call the main number.
Speaker 1:That's great. What an amazing opportunity that's out there that you created all those years ago. And I'm sure that it'll be a very long time, or maybe never, that the demand for folks that to come in and fill in a few shifts or fill in a few assessments is never going to go away. So I think that's pretty amazing. I'm so glad that it's not going anywhere. Yeah, those discharges to home can be rough those first few weeks or days or weeks, depending on what you're facing, and so having that physical therapist or OT person or speech therapist there is just a necessity sometimes. It's great, do you?
Speaker 2:do home health or are you strictly in media now?
Speaker 1:Well, personally, I do not do any nursing anymore, so we are. Care Across America is developed by Approved Senior Network, and Approved Senior Network is a company that I co-own, and we've been doing marketing for home care agencies, home health care agencies and other senior care providers since 2008. So we're also long in the tooth, as they would say. I tell people I am 200 years old. In nurse years we're like dogs Well established established.
Speaker 3:Yes, excellent.
Speaker 1:That's great Around a while. You've seen it all and you've heard it all, but our main focus is helping home care agencies home health care agencies with their visibility and their branding and their online presence, but also their in-person sales and networking presence. So we do both of those things, and Care Across America is an effort to make sure that people who are out there whether they are a business or they are a consumer looking for care they know have more resources. There's lots of resources available out there and I don't think there will ever be a time when we have too many people shouting out the benefits of in-home care. There's, I think that's obviously. I think we can see now that care is shifting. We're sending patients home sicker, we're sending patients home relying on home health care. There's challenges all across the board with this stuff, but there will always be challenges, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Look at Kaiser. They have a whole eco program, emergency care at home, and they don't even go home unless there's a home care aid. We're not talking now. We're talking about the non skilled, which I'm not involved with, but that is one of the criteria that's needed. And then, of course, the rehab and the nursing comes in. But the patients want to stay in their home if they can, and they'll do anything possible to make that happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we heal better, we feel better, it's just not. Hospital beds are not comfortable. Somebody coming in every four hours to take your blood pressure is not that you don't just. You just don't sleep, you don't sleep. So, yeah, home is where we heal better, for sure, and I agree, if you can be at home, that's the best place for you. I agree, if you can be at home, that's the best place for you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I'll thank you, both of you, for coming on and telling us about Failed Care Connects. We will make sure your website, your phone number and all your contact information is with this episode, so people know how to get a hold of you, either home health care or PTOTST.
Speaker 2:That's amazing.
Speaker 3:All right great.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having both of us. Hey, we're glad to have you.
