Climbing to the top

Integrity Home Care

Address: 4247 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, MO 65804

Top executives: Phil Melugin, Paul Reinert and Greg Horton

2003 revenues: $6.5 million

2004 revenues: $9.9 million

2005 revenues: $20.4 million

3-year growth: 214 percent

Employees: 130 full time, 350 part time

In addition to being the No. 1 fastest-growing company among SBJ’s 2006 Dynamic Dozen, Springfield-based Integrity Home Care has the distinction of being the only contender that has made the Dynamic Dozen for three consecutive years.

Between 2003 and 2004, Integrity’s revenues grew 53 percent, from $6.5 million to $9.9 million. But between 2004 and 2005, revenues jumped from $9.9 million to $20.4 million – representing 105 percent growth. Since 2003, the company has grown by 214 percent.

That the company has achieved that level of growth is perhaps more impressive given the fact that about 55 percent of Integrity’s revenues come from providing services to Medicaid patients. Missouri’s Medicaid program has undergone several cuts and changes in the last year.

Phil Melugin, chief operating officer, said Integrity has made up for decreased Medicaid funds by capturing greater shares of the Medicaid patient-care market for its offices in Springfield, Joplin and Columbia.

Last year for example, Integrity probably served about 30 percent of the Medicaid market in those cities.

“We probably have 40 (percent) to 50 percent of the market now,” Melugin said.

Increased referrals for service in the Springfield market have produced market presence locally, he added.

“For the 10 referrals that are out there, there was a day when we were getting two to three (of them),” Melugin said. “We’re probably getting 50 (percent) to 60 percent now.”

Expansion

The latest addition to Integrity is its operation in Columbia, which opened in 2005 and grew out of a need in that market for caregivers of chronically ill children.

“We were drawn up there by mothers of special-needs kids, and nurses that wanted us to be part of that marketplace,” said Paul Reinert, chief financial officer. “There’s a network of mothers of very ill kids (who have) long-term, chronic illnesses. These are kids that would probably have to be in an institution without some support from their homes.”

Companywide, he said, there are several hundred nurses taking care of sick children through Integrity’s pediatric, private-duty nursing program, which accounts for about 20 percent of business overall.

The company, founded in 1998 and operated by Melugin, Reinert and Chief Service Officer Greg Horton, also has begun using telephony – a system by which employees clock in and out via telephone at clients’ homes – to increase accuracy in billing. Telephony, Melugin said, is driving business up in all sectors.

“Our telephony allows us to supervise our caregivers on a real-time basis,” Melugin said.

Telephony also is important for clients whose families are paying for their care.

“It may be a family member who doesn’t even live in the city, who’s paying for the care for their elderly mother or grandmother, and they want to know that service is being provided,” he added.

“Not only that their family member is being cared for like they should be, but also that they’re not paying for care that was never provided.”

Companywide, Integrity adds between 30 and 40 employees a week to its 130 full-time and 350 part-time staffs, and CSO Horton said making sure those are the right people for the job is “a struggle every day.”

“We have a significant system of background checks that we do on every caregiver that we employ, not only the requirements of the state … but we also have our own standards and requirements to make sure that these people are passionate about what we do,” Horton said. “We’re looking for people who have a heart for caregiving. … If it’s someone we would want in our home, or caring for our mother or father, that’s the greatest test we can give.”

However, the fact that more than 50 percent of the company’s new employees come by way of a recommendation from existing employees is extremely helpful, he added.

Melugin said that the company started out on a foundation of putting people first, which he admits sounds trite. But he said that putting people first has brought the company to where it is today.

“We’ve made a commitment to our employees that we will never sell the company out from underneath them,” Melugin said. What the trio would like, he noted, is for Integrity to become employee-owned, but that won’t happen for awhile.

Horton said, “We always tell our people that integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody else would know. In the work that we do in caring for people in their homes, you get an opportunity to put that into practice every day.”[[In-content Ad]]