RAH: A Truly Unique Medical & Non-Medical Care Offering

Within the current parameters of the companion care category, a huge chasm exists between Remain At Home Senior Care and other companion care agencies. Our truly unique offering is a necessary hybrid – the combination of skilled and non-skilled medical care, which prevents any/all forms of institutionalization. This highly-specialized form of caregiving is mostly provided by licensed caregivers who attend to all ADL, concierge and medical needs of at-home seniors. Moreover, RAH’s licensed caregivers are overseen by an RN and a MD, which provides ultimate oversight.

The Founder & CEO, Brian Carrigan, has extensive marketing and operational backgrounds in both home health and hospice management. After many years in the home care business, he identified the lack of skilled companion care as a glaringly obvious replacement alternative for institutionalizing seniors. RAH’s proprietary companion care business model “plugs” a glaring gap in the continuum of elder care by self-imposing the seemingly harsh (but necessary for sake of patient safety and overall positive outcomes) home health and hospice governmental regulations to the comparatively “unregulated” companion care category.

The companion care industry charges fees in hourly increments, from having a minimum threshold (typically 4 hours) to offering “round-the-clock care, ” or 24/7/365 – and RAH is not different in that respect. It is an efficient and effective way to operate and garner effective cash flow. Clients are billed every 10 days. Approximately 50% of RAH’s clients pay by credit card or wire; the remaining clients pay with hardcopy checks. RAH is also approved by all major LTC (“Long-Term Care”) insurance companies (Met Life, Genworth and AARP) and interns from local colleges are used to submit all of the requisite filings to the vendors on behalf of all clients. The team at RAH, as an added benefit, does all of the paperwork in regards to filing long-term care insurance claims.

Pricing: National industry average=$18 per hour; RAH’s average hourly rate=$18.61. RAH’s overall hourly charge ranges from $17-$24, based on a client’s levels of medical acuity.

Even with the dramatically-higher level of quality clinicians, service and overall care are overseen by an RN and MD. The RN also performs the initial assessments along with developing the clients specialized plan of care, Remove parenthesis RAH is able to charge the industry average to maintain ultimate competitiveness. The reason is simple: RAH is not a franchise, so funds that would otherwise go to a franchisor are invested back into personnel. The average pay for a licensed caregiver is approximately $10-$11 per hour in the Athens/Atlanta area. All caregivers are paid “by the shift; not by the hour” (flat rate). Another distinct advantage in the marketplace is the fact that RAH pays its employees on a weekly basis, which affords better access to the caregiver talent pool in the areas we serve.

All employees are on-staff (not contract workers; taxes are deducted accordingly) but have PRN (industry reference for “part-time”) declaration. Most caregivers also work at a hospital or skilled nursing facility in increments of 12 hours or three half-days. During their “off days” (typically 4 per week), they make themselves available to RAH. All benefits (medical, 401K, etc.), with a handful of exceptions, are paid through their “regular” job at said medical facilities. RAH management has structured this model as such, given the employee benefit mandates that are soon to be imposed by upcoming federal legislation.

Every client, without exception, is “matched” with a client based on personality types – not by proximity. A caregiver is only considered “a perfect match” when a client indicates as such, a process that beings with the admissions process.

RAH operates under a “full-disclosure” policy and actively encourages shared ideas/input from loved ones to provide the ultimate caregiving experience.