Establishing a Home Health Care Company in San Diego

Home Health Care in San Diego, California

Today, the people of San Diego, California enjoy a comparatively high standard of living as demonstrated by a sustained growth in the city’s population over the past half century. Although the city’s population is also young compared to national averages, the growth in the percentage of elderly residents continues to outpace other demographic segments. This trend has been matched by corresponding efforts to help the elderly and others in need on ongoing health care services remain in their own homes in order to optimize their quality of life. The juncture of these trends has resulted in increased demand for home health services in the San Diego area. The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of establishing a home health service, Adaptive Home Health, LLC, in the San Diego area by providing a market analysis summary of home health services in this region, including both skilled and unskilled workers and a market segment strategy for the San Diego area. In addition, a discussion concerning recent and current trends and growth in this industry is followed by a needs assessment, an overall industry analysis including current competition levels and a summary of the research in the conclusion.

1. Market analysis summary

Home health care services are segmented according to the types of services they provide. In general, home health agencies provide a wide array of private in-home skilled under the supervision of a physician as well as unskilled care for elderly individuals and those who require assistance with chronic diseases or other disabilities (Barnes Reports, 2021). Some of the typical skilled work that is performed by home health care workers include the provision of post-surgical/post-inpatient care; wound dressing and care management; observations and assessments; physical therapy and intravenous therapy (About Us, 2022). In addition, many home health services also provide home health aide services that include assistance with personal care and daily activities of living such as grooming, bathing, assistance getting dressed, linen changes and even meal preparation (Home Health Services, 2022).

.2. Trends

The major trends in home health care have largely matched growth in the elderly demographic segment. The increasing elderly population not only requires a higher percentage of health care compared to the general population, there has also been greater emphasis on helping the older people remain in their own homes rather than being institutionalized in recent years (Hovlin et al., 2022). One especially noteworthy trend in this industry has been increased reports of burnout and fatigue skilled home health workers, most especially professional nurses, due to an increase in demand for their services during the Covid-19 pandemic (Krityakierne et al., 2022).

3. Growth

As shown in Figure 1 below, the population of San Diego has experienced sustained growth over the past half century (San Diego Census, 2022). The current population of the San Diego metropolitan area is 3,295,000, representing an increase of 0.7% over 2021 (Marco Trends, 2022). At present, about 5.7% of the San Diego population has some type of disability and 13.3% are aged 65 years or over (Marco Trends, 2022). These population and aging trends have combined to generate increased growth in the home health industry as well (Hovlin et al., 2022)

Figure 1. San Diego Population: 1960-2030 (projected)

Source: https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/23129/san-diego/population

4. Needs

Like many other industries in the United States today, the home heath care industry is struggling to recruit and retain talented skilled workers who are willing to travel in heavily populated urban areas where commutes are difficult and time-consuming (Filbin, 2022). Moreover, the home care workforce increased during the period from 2021 to 2022, while the residential care workforce decreased, signaling a greater emphasis on helping people remain in their own homes (Filbin, 2022).

5. Industry Analysis

The home health care industry is experiencing sustained growth across the country (Barnes Reports, 2021). This trend is attributable to the rapidly aging American population but other factors include individual preferences for in-home care, especially during the worst phases of the Covid-19 pandemic. This reality indicates that wages for both skilled and unskilled home health workers must increase in order to keep up with the demand for their services.

6. Competition