Home Health Leaders On Leaders: 4 C-Suite Execs That Are Driving The Industry Forward

The most compelling and innovative leaders in home health care don’t just inspire the people who work at their companies, they also catch the attention of fellow industry leaders.

These leaders have earned the high esteem of their peers by hurdling operation challenges in the space, creating impressive recruitment initiatives, consistently embracing new ideas and constantly keeping an eye on the future.

Home Health Care News recently caught up with four C-suite executives to find out which leaders they believe are driving home-based care forward and why.

Last month, HHCN talked to five leaders in the home care space.

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Trent Smith is someone, regionally, that I believe is on the cusp of really changing how our nurses engage in documentation.

Operating multiple hospice and home health sites under the Accentra Health banner in Oklahoma, Trent has created a software AI interface that will work with the three largest home health EMR providers.

I have not seen a product that engages both AI and speech recognition at the level his product “Apricot” does. It’s going to completely change the game. Trent is attacking the core issue holding our industry back from having the “best” nursing job. If we can move to 100% in home documentation with high execution on accuracy all while ensuring our nurses are not working into the night, it is a massive step forward.

I believe he is very close and his work will advance not only his agencies, but others.

— David Jackson, CEO of Choice Health at Home

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Shelly Sun and her leadership team are doing a fabulous job paying attention not just to where the industry is today, but focusing on where it’s going to be in two years. They are positioning their business well to be serving the needs of patients and payers as the post-acute care needs evolve.

Shelly is an inspirational leader and someone who maintains a strong presence and public visibility with her team and patients. Home-based care is extremely personal and private. She’s done a great job providing patients and their families with that sense of personal touch, accountability and caring that makes them comfortable engaging with BrightStar Care and their franchisees.

I think she has also been very forward thinking in engaging in workforce growth through caregiver development and recruitment programs. She’s also done the same forward thinking and innovation on working with payers and ACOs on advancing the concepts of pre-acute care versus post-acute discharge from hospital-only care, which is where the industry is heading.

We will continue to see Shelly and the BrightStar Care team being leaders and innovators in our industry.

— John M. Kunysz, president and CEO of Intrepid USA Healthcare Services

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The leader I would like to spotlight is RJ Gagnon of Androscoggin Home Healthcare & Hospice.

As I’ve talked with RJ at events and discussed what he is doing at Androscoggin, I am convinced that he is the future of the industry. He’s strong in the key business areas that every company needs to survive a future of uncertain rates. He’s curious and always looking to find ways to improve himself and his company. He’s intensely inquisitive and that has led to new innovations, as he has worked to bridge himself from a traditional CFO to a COO with a much broader set of responsibilities. I have also been impressed by the generosity that he has with others, sharing tips and tricks on best practices, EMR systems, and corporate governance.

As I’ve worked with him as a part of the HHFMA Advisory Board, I have learned how to better run my agency and how to properly balance the competing needs of a finance head and a company head. I know that with Ken and him in charge Androscoggin is well-positioned to be a winner and I want to take this same know-how and apply it across our organization.

— Beau Sorensen, COO at First Choice Home Health & Hospice

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Beau Sorenson, at First Choice Home Health & Hospice, is an innovator, a conscientious leader, and a rising star in home care. He’s forward thinking, hardworking, and understands the power of giving back to the industry. Beau is not looking at yesterday’s answers to tomorrow’s problems. He is deeply engaged in payment reform, legislative work, and leads his agency as an innovator.

— Brent Korte, CEO of Frontpoint Health