Home health agency marketing: win referrals the compliant way and give families a reason to choose you
Home health is a referral business with a consumer decision inside it. A hospital, physician or skilled nursing facility orders care, but federal rules give the patient the right to choose the agency, and families increasingly check Google and Medicare’s Care Compare before they do. Agencies grow when referral sources trust their speed and communication, when families find clear answers online, and when every marketing arrangement stays inside the Anti-Kickback Statute. 2026 adds a new factor: heavier federal scrutiny of the whole sector.
- Referral sources start most episodes: hospital case managers, physicians, SNFs and senior living. Speed to start of care is what they remember.
- Patients have a right to choose. Hospitals must not limit their options and must share quality data, so your Care Compare ratings are marketing.
- Pay referral-facing staff as bona fide employees or under fixed, fair-market-value contracts, never per referral.
- Separate home health (skilled, Medicare-covered) from non-medical home care on your site; families confuse them.
- CMS announced a six-month nationwide moratorium on new home health and hospice enrollment in May 2026. Expect scrutiny of marketing practices.
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How patients and referral sources choose a home health agency
Short answer: a physician, hospital or SNF identifies the need and writes the order; the patient or family chooses from the agencies that serve their area and accept their insurance. Referral sources favor agencies that accept quickly and start care on time. Families favor agencies they've heard of, that look trustworthy online and that answer the phone.
The rules that frame the choice
- Medicare eligibility: the patient must be homebound, must be seen in person by a doctor or allowed practitioner who confirms the need, and must need part-time or intermittent skilled care. Covered services cost the patient nothing.
- Patient choice at discharge: the hospital discharge planning rule says the hospital must not specify or limit the qualified providers available, must list Medicare-participating agencies serving the patient's area, must disclose any financial interest, and must help patients use quality and resource-use data to choose.
- Start of care: the home health conditions of participation require the initial assessment visit within 48 hours of referral, within 48 hours of the patient's return home, or on the start-of-care date the physician or allowed practitioner orders. Speed is both a compliance requirement and your best referral pitch.
- Medicare Advantage: plan networks and prior authorization decide which agencies a member can use. Keep an up-to-date list of the plans you are contracted with.
2026: a year of heavier oversight
On May 13, 2026, CMS announced a six-month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollment for hospices and home health agencies, including certain majority ownership changes. Existing enrollments are not affected. CMS also announced payment suspensions for about 800 hospices and home health agencies in Los Angeles suspected of fraud, more revocations, and stronger enrollment screening including fingerprint-based background checks.
For a legitimate agency, two marketing lessons follow. First, every referral arrangement will be read by regulators in the worst light, so document fair market value and keep compensation away from volume. Second, transparency is now a differentiator: quality ratings, accreditation, years serving the area, clinical leadership and clear patient-rights information on your website help referral sources and families tell you apart from the agencies regulators are targeting.
Referral-source marketing that stays inside the Anti-Kickback Statute
Short answer: educate, respond fast and report back. Don't give referral sources anything of value, and don't pay anyone based on referrals.
- Map your sources: hospitals and their case management teams, SNFs, primary care and specialty practices (cardiology, pulmonology, orthopedics, wound care), senior living communities and Medicare Advantage plans.
- Lead with capability: a one-page sheet per service line (wound care, cardiopulmonary, post-surgical, diabetes education, therapy), counties served, plans accepted, intake hours and your start-of-care performance.
- Make referring painless: one intake number, e-referral or secure fax, a named contact and an acceptance decision within a stated time.
- Close the loop: confirm start of care to the referring office, send the plan of care for signature promptly and flag changes in condition. Physicians remember agencies that make their work easier.
- Pay people the right way: the Anti-Kickback employee safe harbor covers bona fide employees; contractors need fixed, fair-market-value compensation set in advance and not tied to referral volume. Per-admission bonuses for liaisons need counsel's sign-off.
- No gifts to referral sources: meals, gift cards, free staff for a hospital's discharge work or "free" services can all be treated as remuneration. Home health services are also a Stark designated health service, so physician financial relationships (medical director agreements, leases, ownership) must fit an exception.
See our Stark and Anti-Kickback marketing guide for common arrangements and the questions to ask counsel.
Search terms, Google Business Profile and reviews
| Search | Who's searching | What the page must explain |
|---|---|---|
| home health care near me / home health agency [city] | Adult children, patients after discharge | Services, counties served, plans accepted, how to start |
| Medicare home health eligibility / does Medicare pay for home health | Families researching | The eligibility criteria in plain words, and that covered care costs nothing |
| nurse at home after surgery / wound care at home | Patients and caregivers | Skilled nursing services and how a physician order works |
| home health vs home care | Confused families | The difference between skilled home health and non-medical help, and what you provide |
| home health jobs [city] / home health nurse jobs | Clinicians | Careers; staffing limits how many referrals you can accept |
- Profile type: home health agencies travel to patients, so most run as service-area businesses with the office address hidden and counties listed, as Google's guidelines expect.
- Category and services: the most accurate home health category, with skilled nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy, medical social work and aide services listed.
- Reviews: families write them. Ask at discharge, never pay or reward reviews (the FTC's reviews rule bans incentives conditioned on sentiment), and reply without confirming anyone was a patient.
Website structure
- For families: "Is home health right for my parent?", eligibility, what the first visit involves, service lines, counties served, insurance, patient rights and how to request a specific agency at discharge.
- For referral sources: a separate section with the referral form, intake hours, acceptance criteria, plans accepted, and the quality and start-of-care results you choose to publish.
- Trust signals: accreditation, years serving the area, clinical leadership, Care Compare link, and a clear statement of how to reach a nurse after hours.
- Accessibility: many readers are older adults. Large text, high contrast and simple forms; see our ADA accessibility guide.
Quality ratings, ads and patient-facing compliance
- Quality is marketing: under the expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model (nationwide since January 1, 2023), Medicare payments are adjusted up or down by as much as 5% based on quality performance against peers. The same measures feed what families and discharge planners see.
- Beneficiary inducements: the Civil Monetary Penalties Law penalizes offering Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries remuneration likely to influence their choice of provider. OIG treats items worth no more than $15 each or $75 a year per person (never cash or cash equivalents) as nominal. Free non-covered services to win admissions are risky.
- Paid search: Google treats health as a sensitive interest category, so you can't target with your own patient lists. Use family-intent keywords and location targeting, and run ads only for counties you serve.
- Social media: good for recruiting and community trust. Meta prohibits copy implying a viewer's health condition.
- HIPAA: no patient stories, photos or details without written authorization; keep ad pixels off referral and intake forms.
What to measure, and a 30/60/90-day plan
Track referrals received by source, acceptance rate, referral-to-start-of-care conversion, hours from referral to start of care, episodes by payer, readmissions and patient survey results, plus website and Google calls from families. Report by referral source monthly so liaisons spend time where it matters. Count website conversions without their contents; our HIPAA-safe tracking guide explains how.
| When | Focus | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1–30 | Compliance and basics | Have counsel review liaison compensation and referral-source practices. Fix the Google profile as a service-area business. Publish eligibility and "home health vs home care" pages. Set up call tracking. |
| Days 31–60 | Referral program | Build service-line sheets and the referral-source section of the site. Map the top 20 sources and visit them with capability and start-of-care data. Start discharge review requests. |
| Days 61–90 | Measure and expand | Review referral-to-start-of-care by source, test search ads for family-intent terms, publish quality highlights and a careers campaign to raise capacity. |
See all specialties, US research and reputation management for US healthcare.
Sources
- Home health services (Medicare.gov).
- 42 CFR 482.43, hospital discharge planning.
- 42 CFR 484.55, home health comprehensive assessment (initial visit timing).
- CMS announces six-month hospice and home health agency enrollment moratoria (CMS, May 13, 2026).
- Expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model (CMS).
- 42 CFR 1001.952, Anti-Kickback safe harbors (employees; personal services).
- Fraud and abuse laws (HHS-OIG).
- Policy statement on gifts of nominal value (HHS-OIG).
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google (Google).
- Personalized advertising policy (Google Ads).
- Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (FTC).
Related pages from the US team
Hospice marketing
Similar referral sources, stricter rules.
Wound care clinic marketing
A close clinical partner for home health nursing.
Occupational therapy marketing
Therapy in the home and the outpatient handoff.
Primary care marketing USA
How your physician referral sources market themselves.
All US practice guides
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Common questions
How do home health agencies get more referrals?
By being the agency that discharge planners, physicians and SNF staff can rely on: fast acceptance, a start-of-care visit within the required window, good communication back to the physician and strong quality ratings. Liaisons who educate referral sources, a clear website and Google profile for families, and Care Compare results that hold up to comparison all help.
Can a hospital steer patients to a particular home health agency?
No. Under the Medicare hospital discharge planning rule (42 CFR 482.43(c)), the hospital must not specify or otherwise limit the qualified providers available to the patient, must include in the discharge plan a list of Medicare-participating agencies serving the patient’s area, must disclose any financial interest in an agency it refers to, and must help patients use quality data to choose. Agencies should compete on quality and service, not on access to the list.
Can we pay marketers or liaisons per referral or admission?
That is the classic home health Anti-Kickback risk. The employee safe harbor protects amounts paid to bona fide employees for furnishing covered items or services, and the personal services safe harbor requires compensation that is set in advance, consistent with fair market value and not based on the volume or value of referrals. Commission-only independent contractor marketers fall outside both. Have counsel review every liaison and marketing contract.
Who qualifies for Medicare home health?
According to Medicare, the patient must be homebound, a doctor or allowed practitioner such as a nurse practitioner must see them in person and confirm they need home health care, and they must need part-time or intermittent skilled services. Covered home health services cost the patient nothing, though durable medical equipment carries 20% coinsurance after the Part B deductible.
Do Care Compare star ratings affect referrals?
They can. Hospitals must help patients choose post-acute providers using quality data relevant to their goals, and families increasingly look themselves. Under the expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model, which started nationwide in 2023, quality performance also adjusts Medicare payments by up to 5% either way.
Should a home health agency advertise on Google?
Selectively. Family searches such as "home health care near me" or "nursing care at home after surgery" do happen, and search ads can capture them, especially when the landing page explains Medicare eligibility. But most episodes start with a referral, so paid search usually supports, rather than replaces, referral-source marketing.
A note on this guide: it explains marketing practice, not legal advice. Rules on privacy, advertising and insurance change and vary by state, so confirm anything compliance-related with your own counsel.
Running a home health agency?
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