What I Wish Every Home Care Owner Knew – Steven Gonzales
Release Date: 09/16/2025
What I Wish Every Home Care Owner Knew – Steven Gonzales
Home Care Hindsight
In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack is joined by Steven Gonzales, CEO of HealthView Home Health & Hospice, to demystify the world of home health. Steven breaks down the core function of home health, its role in the care continuum post-hospital discharge, and the critical financial challenges driven by payer mix and Medicare Advantage. He shares invaluable insights on how home care agencies can become essential partners by understanding clinical needs, tracking client payer data, and focusing on true care coordination. Steven also looks to the future, discussing...
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Home Care Hindsight
In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack welcomes Gregg Mazza, former home care agency owner and current coach to home care entrepreneurs. Gregg shares his journey from building a successful agency from scratch to selling it and now helping other owners avoid the pitfalls he experienced. He opens up about his biggest mistake: hiring seven salespeople who failed before he finally cracked the code on building a sales team that drives growth. Gregg emphasizes the importance of hiring for traits over industry experience, implementing clear systems, and holding teams accountable. He...
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Home Care Hindsight
In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack sits down with Lucas Carroll, CEO of The Business of Senior Care. Lucas specializes in guiding home care startups, change of ownerships, and expansions through the complex world of state licensing and compliance. He shares his unexpected journey from law school dropout to becoming a key resource in the home care industry. Lucas dives into a significant opportunity for agencies: diversifying into private duty nursing to retain clients, offer premium services, and increase revenue. He also emphasizes the profound value of building...
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Home Care Hindsight
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Home Care Hindsight
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Home Care Hindsight
In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack welcomes Guy Tommasi, a seasoned leader in the home care industry with over 25 years of experience. Guy shares his journey from hospital care to pioneering innovative, data-driven strategies in non-medical home care. He takes us to a discussion of the importance of differentiating your agency by aligning with stakeholders' needs, leveraging data to demonstrate outcomes, and the pitfalls of overemphasizing "scaling" as a measure of success. Guy also highlights the transformative power of collaboration, both within teams and with clinical...
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Randy Platt and Rodney Burris, co-founders of Care Partners, reveal how blind optimism and over-reliance on culture nearly derailed their home care startup, and the pivotal shifts that turned their $0M mistake into 40% growth. In this transparent conversation, the duo unpacks their early missteps: from chasing unrealistic budgets to hiring for "culture fit" over performance. Discover how they transformed their partnership through radical transparency ("no barnacles"), why EQ now trumps IQ in their hiring, and the surprising metric that proves their team’s resilience. From solving healthcare...
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In this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack interviews Rachel Gartner, founder and CEO of Carework. They discuss Rachel's life in rural South Georgia as an Army wife and mother, her passion for hiring military spouses, and the unique challenges in the home care recruitment industry. Rachel shares insights on building effective systems for employee recognition, managing rapid company growth, and the importance of maintaining a caregiver-first mindset. They explore the difficulties of balancing recruitment intentions with execution and the significance of analyzing recruitment...
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I Wasted Two Years on the Wrong Thing (Here’s How I Pivoted) — John Soltys
Home Care Hindsight
John Soltys, founder of Project Senior Care, shares his hard-won lessons from wasting two years (and resources) on an overcomplicated tech vision—and how a pivot to caregiver training and mentorship unlocked explosive growth. In this raw conversation, John reveals how his "big idea" mentality almost sank the business, why 96% of seniors fall into an unaffordable care gap, and the partnerships now helping agencies serve everyone—regardless of income. From rebuilding trust with his team to rethinking caregiver recruitment (hint: stop recycling the same hires), John breaks down the "no one...
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I Overcomplicated Medicare Advantage (And Found a Simple Fix That Worked) — Fady Sahhar
Home Care Hindsight
Fady Sahhar, a disability advocate and home care strategist with decades of experience, unveils how Medicare Advantage is reshaping home care—and why agencies must rethink caregiver training to thrive. In this eye-opening conversation with host David Knack, Fady shares: Why 750+ Medicare Advantage plans now cover home care (and how to tap into this growing market). The "lifetime value" mindset shift that turns clients into long-term partners. How peer coaching solves EVV resistance and caregiver retention challenges. Fady also reveals common cultural blindspots when expanding into new...
info_outlineIn this episode of Home Care Hindsight, host David Knack is joined by Steven Gonzales, CEO of HealthView Home Health & Hospice, to demystify the world of home health.
Steven breaks down the core function of home health, its role in the care continuum post-hospital discharge, and the critical financial challenges driven by payer mix and Medicare Advantage. He shares invaluable insights on how home care agencies can become essential partners by understanding clinical needs, tracking client payer data, and focusing on true care coordination.
Steven also looks to the future, discussing the exciting potential of AI and personalized medicine to transform patient outcomes and free up caregivers to focus on human connection.
Lesson Takeaways:
1. Home Health's Core Role: The primary goal is to help patients recover after a hospital discharge through skilled nursing and therapy, with success measured by preventing rehospitalizations.
2. Payer Mix is Everything: The biggest challenge isn't getting referrals—it's profitability. Declining reimbursement rates, especially from Medicare Advantage plans, force agencies to be highly selective about which patients they can accept without losing money.
3. Become a Data-Driven Partner: Home care agencies can stand out by tracking their clients' insurance (payer mix) and proactively presenting this data to potential home health partners to see if a business relationship is even feasible.
4. You Are the Eyes and Ears: Non-medical home care is a powerful tool for preventing hospitalizations. The key is to be "woven into the care plan" and act as an early warning system for changes in condition, communicating effectively with clinical partners.
5. The Future is Personalized: Advancements in AI and technology will lead to more personalized medicine and customized software solutions, freeing up professionals to focus on the human elements of care and coordination.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction to the "Home Health 101" series and Steven Gonzales
02:30 - Steven’s journey from non-medical home care to leading a post-acute continuum company
05:00 - How HealthView differentiates itself through culture in a competitive nursing market
09:15 - The day-to-day of home health: Who gets referred, from where, and why
12:45 - The real challenge: It’s a payer mix problem, not a referral problem
18:20 - Why Medicare Advantage plans are squeezing home health margins
22:30 - The metrics that matter: Hospitalization, rehospitalization, and proving value to health systems
28:50 - The critical gap home care can fill in the care continuum
33:40 - How home care providers should approach partnerships with data in hand
38:00 - The exciting future of personalized medicine and AI in home-based care
Quotes:
Steven Gonzales: "There's such a demand for home health... but it's not a referral problem, it's really a payer mix problem."
Steven Gonzales: "Home care [is] such a pivotal part of preventing hospitalizations as long as... they're weaved into the care plan. They're the eyes and ears."
David Knack: "Something to give is something that... takes very little extra work. Just make it part of the intake process."
Steven Gonzales: "The reason computers were built was for us to go do life... Freeing up people's time so they can... do the human stuff really well is what I think is pretty cool."
Resources:
1. HealthView Home Health & Hospice: https://healthviewhomehealth.com/
2. Connect with Steven Gonzales on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevegonzalez/
3. Connect with David Knack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-knack/
4. Powered by Zingage: https://zingage.com
5. Watch Episode on Zingage’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Zingage