Synergy Lands Partnership with Compassus, Sees 35% Growth in New Territories

Synergy HomeCare has partnered with Compassus. The deal will allow the pair to offer both companies’ services to their clients.

Synergy is a Gilbert, Arizona-based non-medical home care franchise that operates roughly 170 franchise locations nationwide.

Nashville, Tennessee-based Compassus offers home health care services, plus infusion therapy, palliative care and hospice care. Currently, the company serves more than 40,000 patients annually.

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As part of the agreement, Synergy’s clients will gain access to Compassus’ care services — and vice versa — in the markets where the two companies overlap.

“Compassus provides home health, palliative care and hospice care, which are obviously three levels of care that we do not provide,” Rich Paul, chief partnership officer at Synergy, told Home Health Care News. “We recognize our clients and their patients are going to have a multitude of needs as they move through the continuum of care.”

Synergy gravitated toward Compassus for this undertaking when the company recognized the significant overlap in geographic coverage areas between the two organizations. Overall, there is a 65% overlap between Synergy and Compassus when it comes to service areas.

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“We are very pleased to be able to expand our level of service to our patients with the help of Synergy HomeCare,” Compassus CEO Jim Deal said in a statement. “We find our patients, in many cases, require assistance with everyday activities, and we were delighted to find a partner at the national level that overlaps so well with our programs.”

Additionally, the two companies are culturally aligned, which made Compassus an attractive partner.

Behind the partnership is the belief that the combination of both home health and personal care plays a crucial role in improving outcomes.

“I think there’s increasingly a recognition by health plans and third-party payers that there’s value in the delivery of home care to help support the health and well-being of clients who may be receiving more intensive levels of medical interventions, whether it’s home health or even emergency care at home,” Paul said.

Often, personal care providers are filling in the activities of daily living gaps that contribute to a patient’s overall picture of health. This means longer stays with someone at their home, companionship, or even help with fall prevention, Paul noted.

Aside from Synergy’s partnership with Compassus, the company also saw major growth last year.

In 2020 alone, the company sold 38 territories — a 35% bump compared to 2019.

Synergy CEO Charlie Young credits the public health emergency for sparking interest in the personal care space.

“I think it’s done this in two ways,” Young told HHCN. “One is that the demand for home care continues to rise, driven by COVID. … But also the economic impact of the pandemic has caused people to think about their next step in their own lives and in their careers.”

In general, it’s not uncommon to see a rise in mission-driven work after times of economic strife. Potential new franchise owners flocking to the personal care space fits into this trend.

When vetting new owners, Synergy has certain traits in mind, according to Young.

“We want someone who’s compassionate, someone who has a strong commitment gene, somebody who has a high level of integrity. We are invited into people’s homes, which is a very intimate experience,” he said. “We also look for the entrepreneurial spirit, the drive, the grit and the commitment to be able to grow a business.”

In terms of its growth strategy for 2021, Synergy is focused on continued territory expansion, as well as finding ways to build on its existing locations.

“While we are really excited about the 35% growth we experienced in new territory expansion in 2020, we believe that we are poised to grow at a faster rate in 2021,” Young said. “The second avenue for growth for us is about our existing franchise businesses, and helping improve the performance of this population.”

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