Lessons In Home Care Innovation From Short-Hour Models
By Audrie Martin | June 5, 2025 Via Home Healthcare News
In February, I wrote an article that became one of the most-read during my time at Home Health Care News. It all stemmed from a phone call with an old friend who was seeking very part-time home care for a family member.
Her uncle had just gotten out of the hospital after surgery, and she wondered if I knew of a home care agency that provided assistance for just an hour here or there. They mainly needed help getting him out of bed and ready in the morning, as well as helping him back into bed at night. A couple of hours a day at most.
I asked my colleagues, and no one was sure whether that type of care was available in her area. That led me to ask sources about where patients can find such care and if short-hour care models are a feasible option for providers. I discovered that some home-based care organizations have started to introduce short-hour care models to help individuals like my friend’s uncle stay out of care facilities and remain in their homes, where they can recover more comfortably.
This is a win for clients – and it can be for providers, too. However, short-hour care models can cause some short-term pain. And as I’ve reflected more on the article I wrote, the more I believe that the story shows both the need for home care innovation and also holds lessons for providers about what innovation actually demands and what success looks like.
I offer some additional perspective from the providers featured in my February article and offer analysis and key takeaways, including:
- The financial strategy for providers
- The hidden benefits of short-hour models
- That shorter care sessions are the way of the future
If at first you don’t succeed
My friend was seeking shorter care periods for her uncle for two common reasons: he didn’t require full-time care, and her family couldn’t afford to pay for more care than necessary.
This type of care is uncommon in the industry, but Cantata is one of the few providers that allows patients to receive care for shorter periods.
Located in Brookfield, Illinois, Cantata offers a comprehensive range of services, from personal care to home maintenance, with a focus on enabling clients to live comfortably in their own homes. The organization’s move into offering fractional home care shows that innovation demands persistence, an iterative approach and a willingness to look beyond the home care industry for inspiration.
Indeed, these lessons are embedded in the program’s very name: Take2. While I shared this name in my February article, I didn’t explain its origin story, which goes back to the very start of the initiative. CEO John Larson first investigated short-hour models as an option after noticing a decline in patient census.
“Our home-based offerings were seeing a slight decline, and initially, I asked my team if this decline was due to people being unable to afford our services,” Larson told me. “They stated it wasn’t because they couldn’t afford it; it was because it wasn’t meeting their needs or they weren’t seeing the value. That doesn’t mean they were affluent enough to afford care for any duration, but they could have afforded it at that moment if we were operating with one-hour minimums, which was quite rare.”
So, Cantata launched an offering that met the one-hour minimum work requirement but allowed patients to receive bite-sized care sessions. The model fell short of success.
Larson told me that there were too many logistical challenges with the model’s initial iteration, and it was not sufficiently cost-effective for clients. Cantata’s team went back to the drawing board and relaunched this type of care, calling it Take2.
“We researched [this type of care] across the U.S., and after considering new technologies and their potential impact, we ultimately developed a model that required two years of refinement. However, this led us to discard our previous model and adopt this one in its place. That’s why it’s called Take2,” Larson said.
Larson noted that the most significant challenge with the first model was breaking away from a mold the industry had used for decades. He also mentioned that he developed the Take2 model after observing how a well-known chain of sandwich shops manages its deliveries.
He said he learned that the sandwich shop will only deliver as far as it knows it can satisfy customers. If the customer isn’t satisfied with their delivery, it’s time to adjust the zone. In the Take2 model, Larson’s team will provide only the level of care that the client needs without trying to push further into services that would waste the client’s time. As a result, caregivers can see more clients in a day while ensuring everyone is satisfied.
Clients seeking short-hour care sign a contract, similar to signing up for a home warranty. This arrangement allows Cantata caregivers to visit during the day and provide necessary care without needing to track the time spent at each location. It also ensures that the organization maintains a steady income from each source, according to Larson.
This storyline is one that I don’t hear enough about in my job. I frequently report on new program launches or the positive results after a year of operation. Executives are, understandably, less likely to share stories with a reporter about failures than about resounding successes.
Cantata’s story shows that the stories that aren’t pristine are possibly the most important – because the takeaway here is crucial. Short-hour models of care aren’t easy to institute. The industry is mired in a certain model of care, and breaking that mold isn’t easy. It might even be messy.
Despite setbacks, Cantata’s example proves the adage about getting back on the horse, demonstrates that transforming the industry standard is possible and validates that short-hour models can pay off for both patients and providers.
The underrated benefits of short-hour models
My previous reporting on short-hour models revealed some key benefits of this type of care model, most notably, that patients need it. But providers can reap other rewards from this model, though they may have to be okay with playing the long game.
Cypress HomeCare Solutions’ approach to short-hour models seems like a long game to me. David Sax, manager of client care innovations at Cypress, refers to the model as a ‘loss leader.’ The model isn’t a clear-cut financial win, but it’s a form of marketing – and a valuable one.
Cypress HomeCare Solutions, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a non-medical, private-duty home care provider that offers companionship, light housekeeping, meal preparation and planning, transportation and respite services.
The organization recognized the need for shorter hours due to industry trends that can put a strain on clients. Indeed, while the affordability of services wasn’t the primary reason for the decline in client census that Cantata was seeing, the escalating costs of care are a very real challenge that consumers face – and that fractional home care can help address.
“With the costs of care increasing by as much as 50% over the past five years and a shortage of caregivers, prospective clients are trying to figure out how to do more with less,” Bob Roth, managing partner at Cypress HomeCare Solutions, told me. “This is why we’ve introduced fractional, on-demand care.”
The company offers care for time periods as short as 20 minutes.
This saves clients significant sums. Without the option for a shorter model, clients may have been forced to pay for four hours of care. At $40 per hour, that would cost clients $160, even if they only needed a caregiver for as long as it takes to shower.
From a business standpoint, however, shorter hours of care can mean revenue loss. Looking at the bigger picture, it becomes a worthy investment.
“The cost-effectiveness of shorter-hour care can be viewed in two ways: first, by ensuring that the ratio of service hours closely aligns with the hours caregivers spend in the community, and second, by evaluating the number of longer hourly cases captured as we increase our presence in the area,” Sax said.
Having caregivers in homes improves the company’s visibility in the community, according to Sax, and once the concept gains traction and achieves sufficient volume, it will “swiftly” become cost-effective.
I see short-hour models as a Swiss Army knife. They help patients (which builds relationships with the provider over time) and act as a form of marketing.
As most Americans want to stay in their homes for as long as possible, finding new ways to make home-based care sustainable for both clients and their caregivers is critical.
Short-hour models are here to fill the gap between complete independence and full-time caregiving. Witnessing the need for this type of care firsthand, it’s clear to me that providers who are willing to innovate can deliver what people want and need while setting up their businesses for long-term success. They just have to be willing to go through the effort and time that innovation requires and have the financial strength to endure some financial setbacks along the way while also evaluating success not simply in terms of profit margin but more holistically, including elements such as sustainability of a long-term client base.
