A new capital infusion for Honor Technology Inc., may indicate that the market is ripe for companies that are trying to use technology to improve the efficiency, convenience, and quality of non-medical in-home care.
Honor is one of several home care startups using technology to “better connect clients and caregivers, bring more efficiency to operations, and increase transparency and communication among family members and health care providers,” according to Senior Housing News.
The company first made headlines in 2015 when it raised $20 in capital to launch its home care enterprise. It was back in the news this August when it raised an additional $42 million in funding from Thrive Capital, 8VC, and Syno Capital.
Bloomberg reports that Honor plans to use the funding to focus on expanding into new markets and improving its technology. The company currently operates in the San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.
How Does Honor Work?
Honor is “basically a software platform that connects the older consumer, his or her family members, the professional caregiver, and the company,” according to a 2015 blog by Steve Maag, director of residential communities at LeadingAge.
While several companies match consumers with care providers after conducting basic background checks, Honor differentiates itself by actually employing the caregivers it sends into homes. The company screens those caregivers through in-person interviews and what Business Insider calls “deep background checks.”
The Washington Post reports that Honor accepts only 5% of its applicants and has extremely low turnover. In addition, Honor is developing an in-house training system designed to give workers specific skills -- like coping with dementia or incontinence -- that are in high demand among the company’s home-care consumers.
Once older adults join the Honor network, reports TechCrunch, the system works a lot like Uber, the web-based ride service:
- Older adults have an “Honor Frame” appliance with a screen that lets them know who their caregivers are and when they will arrive at the home.
- In-home caregivers get an app that helps them keep track of job offers from Honor.
- Families use a mobile app to see who took care of an older relative on a particular day, what the caregiver did, and for how long.
- Honor uses its platform to monitor the caregiver and to prevent fraud and abuse.
Using Algorithms to Ensure Quality and the Bottom Line
Like any home care company, Honor’s biggest challenge is matching clients with the right caregiver. The company’s software engineers have created algorithms to improve that process. For example, these algorithms ensure that only professionals with experience caring for people with dementia get those assignments. In addition, the algorithms take into consideration human factors that engineers discover after talking with employees.
Honor also has a logistics program that considers location, traffic patterns, hours requested, and skills required before assigning a caregiver to a client.
Automated processes mean that Honor can charge customers about 10% less than traditional agencies, according to Bloomberg. The news service reports that Honor is in the process of overhauling its back-office functions so it doesn’t require employees.
“Technology can squeeze out the inefficiencies and give that margin back to the worker and the customer,” Kareem Zaki, who invested in Honor on behalf of Thrive Capital, told Bloomberg.