We are pleased to welcome Scott Hillstrom, Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder, of The HealthStore Foundation®, as our keynote speaker.
Scott D. Hillstrom, J.D., is co-founder and Chairman of The HealthStore Foundation®. Mr. Hillstrom is a U.S. based entrepreneur and business/legal advisor. Prior to co-founding The HealthStore Foundation® in 1997, Mr. Hillstrom served for 10 years as the volunteer President of Steiger International, a youth evangelism ministry spun out of Youth With a Mission. After practicing business law as Managing Partner of Hillstrom & Bale, Ltd., in the 1980s, he became co-founder and Managing Director of Rehab One, Inc., a multi-state network of hospital-based medical clinics in the 1990s. Since then, he has advised and invested in businesses involved in computer networking, software, entertainment, intellectual property and other fields in the U.S., Europe, Africa and New Zealand.
On December 15, 2011 the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that would extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. Currently, the Fair Labor Standards Act exempts “companionship services” from its requirements, which has been interpreted to exempt home care workers. The new rules would limit the companionship exemption to “fellowship” and “protection,” which would include activities such as playing cards, visiting with friends, and taking walks. There are also related changes proposed to record-keeping requirements and the treatment of home care workers employed by third parties.
We anticipate that the proposed rules will be published in the Federal Register soon, at which time the public will have 60 days to comment. We will continue to monitor the rulemaking process and will provide a detailed update of the final rules, if and when they are promulgated.
Highlighted at the 2011 Health Care in Franchising Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., was the fact that health care regulations continue to evolve, health care costs continue to rise and a broader delivery of health care for seniors is necessary. Due to this environment, franchising has become a desirable option for broad spectrum of health services and an opportunity for individuals to get into the business of health care. While these opportunities grow, conference organizers continue to express a need for caution in making the right decisions in legal, marketing, financial and operations. Layering the complex worlds of health care and franchising has great potential, when the right decisions are made.
Fox Business recently published a report in its Small Business Center describing the growth of home health care/senior care franchises. The article, “Home Health Care Franchises on the Rise as Boomers Age, Costs Rise,” effectively describes the need for franchising in this industry. If you are interested in learning more about health care and franchising, be sure to subscribe to our feed or check back for more updates and announcements related to our 2012 Franchising in Health Care Conference.
The September issue of Franchise Times dedicates full-page coverage to the inaugural Franchising in Health Care conference held in late July. The article focuses on the role of customer service as the engine for growth in health care franchising. It also cites Kevin Hein’s observation that the complexity of regulations confronting health care franchisors may be daunting, but it also “does provide nice little barriers of entry to other folks trying to copy you.”
Click here to read the full length article.
The following post originally appeared on The Side Note, a Weise Communications blog.
The inaugural Franchising in Health Care Conference was held at the law offices of Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis. The purpose of the conference was to bring together franchisors and perspective franchisors in the health care industry to discuss challenges, opportunities and best practices associated with the legal, marketing, technology and service sides of both franchising and health care.
What follows is a list of our top take-aways from the conference.
- Franchising succeeds because of the ability to replicate a brand experience in a measurable way, but health care is a service-oriented industry. This juxtaposition is what makes franchising in health care a challenge, but also means great success for those who can consistency in the delivery of health care services.
- Second only to food, health and wellness is the fastest growing franchise sector. While this means competition is coming, the market is far from saturated and there is great opportunity to create brand awareness and become an industry leader with a replicable service model.
- The growth of franchise models will, without a doubt, have a significant impact on the delivery of health care services in the U.S.
- Primary health care practices that may be losing money can become profitable through the shared services in a franchise system. As the acceptance grows, physicians are likely to turn to these business opportunities to provide their services.
- The perception of franchised medical services is evolving as communities embrace the cost effectiveness and delivery efficiency of franchise systems.
- Layering the legal issues of franchising on top of the legal issues of health care can create management nightmares if the programs and services of both the franchisor and franchisee are not established properly before the sale of the first franchise.
Do you have great take-ways from the conference we missed? Share them here.
Minneapolis, MN
If you missed the inaugural conference, do not worry. The second Franchising in Health Care Conference is preliminarily scheduled for Fall 2012 in Denver, Colo. If you are interested in receiving additional information, please let us know by clicking here.
Tracy Weise is the President of Weise Communications, an integrated marketing, advertising and public relations agency specializing in the healthcare and franchising industries.
Current and prospective franchisors and suppliers from the franchising and health care industries gathered at a ground breaking conference in Minneapolis to discuss opportunities and best practices for offering franchised services in the health care industry. Speakers included C-level executives from successful franchisors, medical payers and a government securities regulator.
Two of the largest issues to come out of the conference include the fact that more doctors are retiring than ever before, leading to increased opportunities to deliver a number of health care services through the franchised business model. In addition, many franchise companies operating in the health care space have been naïve to the extensive regulatory issues faced by health care providers as they offer services in multiple states. These companies (e.g., weight loss centers and home care services) may even believe that their services are not “health care” oriented and therefore not required to comply with health care regulations or various professional licensing requirements. The 2012 conference will continue to discuss these issues and educate attendees on important compliance issues, best practices, and additional opportunities to utilize the franchised business model to offer services in the health care industry.
Conference attendees received a white paper, Franchising and the U.S. Healthcare Industry: A Special Report for Medical Professionals and Prospective Franchisors. The white paper – a study commissioned by the presenting sponsors – examined innovative opportunities and market growth in the space. In addition, it provided in depth case studies for the medical weight loss and urgent care verticals. Future conferences will examine franchising opportunities for other health care verticals.
The event and commissioned white paper were well received by attendees. Don’t believe us? Read what attendees had to say:
A superbly planned and executed event. I felt like I had a return on the investment to be here in the first 30 minutes.
Great 1st time conference-well done.
Tremendous Information.
Planning for a Fall 2012 conference in Denver is currently underway. Stay tuned for more information!
The franchisor should have a business plan for the system that covers at least the length of the agreement you are being asked to commit to. Ask for the plan for the market where you are going to locate the operation. Ask for their analysis of the competition. Ask how many units are being planned for your area and why that many. Why not more, why not less? Ask how much is going to be spent on marketing in your area.
Ask to look at the operations manuals or at least to see an outline of them. This is important because the operations manuals are your guideline to a successful operation. You need to feel comfortable that they are complete and clear and meet your abilities, needs, and goals.
Ask to receive a full explanation of the initial and subsequent training programs. Ask how people are trained. Is it classroom or hands-on practice? Are there case studies and discussions or is it straight lecture?
Ask for a full explanation of the pre-opening assistance offered by the franchisor. Understand any help franchisors give for site selection and lease negotiation. Be clear about what ongoing support the franchisor provides to the franchisees.
Consider is the overall business in “growth mode?” Home care is becoming a more popular option among elderly persons who need help but are not yet ready for a nursing home. This trend is expected to increase as life expectancies grow and the U.S. population continues to age. In addition to the elderly, however, home care may be utilized for younger adults who are disabled or recuperating from an accident or illness, and for children and infants who need medical treatment that can be delivered in the home. Persons of all ages who need care for a terminal illness are opting to spend as much time as possible in home care, rather than in a nursing home, hospital, hospice or other inpatient facility. Because of its convenience and relatively lower cost compared with institutional care, home health care is by far the most widely used option for individuals requiring long term care. In the U.S., more than 10 million individuals of all ages are estimated to need long-term care.
Today’s post was contributed by Bob Gappa. Bob is the President of Management 2000, a consulting company focusing on companies who want to grow using franchising.