Integrity Home Care traces its roots to two separate companies in Kansas City, but since 2004, Springfield has been home base for the company which provides home care services through seven locations in Missouri and Kansas.
“There was some common ownership, but independent management at that time,” says Paul Reinert, treasurer and co-owner, of the company’s early days. The company’s other co-owner is Greg Horton; a third co-owner, Phil Melugin, left the company in 2010.
Integrity has evolved from providing personal and nursing care to Medicaid recipients to offering a rosterof home care services that includes special needs pediatric care and home telemonitoring.
A more recent change occurred in the first quarter of this year, when Integrity became a certified hospice provider in Greene County and its adjacent counties. That change joined a long list of others that have come through the years.
In 2002, when Integrity began offering in-home care for pediatric patients and became a Medicare-certified home health agency.
“That was huge,” Reinert says. “It was the first time our services were covered by Medicare.”
Working with Medicaid and Medicare brings challenges for the company, as cuts to those programs in 2011 and this year cut pay rates by 8 percent.
“We cannot just pass that on to our caregivers … so we are struggling to become more efficient and find new ways to cope,” Reinert says, noting that Medicare accounts for 20 percent of Integrity’s total business.
The company reported revenues of roughly $52 million in 2011, up nearly 2 percent from 2010, excluding data from Integrity Pharmacy. It employs 2,300 employees companywide, with 830 in the local market.
Reinert says being able to provide services such as post-hospital nursing or physical therapy at home gets patients home quicker and also helps keep a lid on medical costs by reducing the likelihood of return trips to the hospital.
Perhaps the biggest change for Integrity came in 2008, when Reinert and Horton became minority owners in Integrity Pharmacy.
The pharmacy is different from others in that it prepackages patients’ medications with labels noting when each packet of pills is to be taken, and packets are delivered monthly to patients’ doors.
“It has shown to tremendously improve compliance. People don’t get their medicines mixed up,” Reinert says. Last fall, Integrity Pharmacy began daily deliveries of OnePac prepackaged medicines to patients at long-term care facilities, offering potential savings on unusable medications, he adds.
Beyond taking care of health needs in the community, Integrity reaches out in other ways, sponsoring a pro-am golf tournament during the Price Cutter Charity Championship and encouraging employees to support area nonprofits. Reinert points to a work day at Good Samaritan Boys Ranch when 40 or 50 employees volunteered. Employees also have spent time working at Camp Barnabas.
While Integrity doesn’t have a formal program for encouraging giving to nonprofits, Reinert says he and Horton strive to lead by example.
“Supporting the community is what we’ve got to do to be good citizens,” he says.
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