Hospitals that have already tested the waters of the $15 billion home healthcare industry or are looking to expand into this industry's for-profit potential are being targeted by Homecare America, a new healthcare products "superstore" franchiser that is gearing up for its national rollout next year.
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Looking to reinvent the concept of the superstore to address a myriad of continuum of care issues, Homecare is marketing its "concept" stores to hospitals as the one-stop shop for consumers who require not only healthcare products but patient education as well, according to Vincent Baratta, Homecare's CEO and president. These stores will be located in high traffic areas, within close proximity to the hospital affiliate.
The Concept Shop Approach
Here's how the Homecare franchise works. Each massive facility (ranging from 5,000 to 7,500 square feet, so far) is customized to focus on a provider's particular service needs, like Diabetes, elder care and chronic care. Each Homecare facility is:
- designed with "concept shops" that are categorized and stocked with products for a specific medical or healthcare need. These shops are physically separated from one another to ensure privacy;
- uses "kitchen tables" to encourage patient comfort during one-on-one meetings with healthcare professionals;
- staffed with trained professionals (nurses, dietitians, therapists, case workers, etc.), from both Homecare and the provider, to educate shoppers about the products and conduct educational seminars and programs on healthcare services. All stores are located near hospitals and are open seven days a week; and
- designed with education centers (full-service conference rooms) for healthcare lectures, seminars and community education programs.
So far, Homecare has seven hospital franchises throughout New York and New Jersey and is anticipating six more by year-end, according Baratta. Although he could not disclose actual franchise costs, Baratta guestimated that a comprehensive turn-key Homecare program (with all of the promotional services) would run about $500,000. And since the competition for this kind of store is minimal, he projected a "better than typical" return on investment compared to other franchise operations.
Nationally, Homecare is starting with smaller provider systems from 6 to 11 sites but after the bugs are worked out, larger provider systems will be targeted.