Our Founder

Turn referrals into admissions fast.

Less friction for your team. More care for your patients.
 Your hired gun. Your offensive coordinator.

Who we’re for:

  • Branch census 200+

  • Multi-location operators

  • Sweet spot: $50–$200M revenue

  • Premium—clients often see 10× ROI within 12 months¹

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Austin Degenhardt

Founder & Principal Consultant

10+ years building sales systems, referral pipelines, and SaaS tools that drive admissions and growth.

Founder Story

In home health, a missed intake call isn’t a lost “lead”—it’s a patient waiting for care.
 At Healthlink, we stopped celebrating referral counts and started measuring starts of care. We mapped intake, added SLAs and simple scripts, and gave the team clear dashboards. Non-admits fell. Admissions rose. Partners noticed. That moment—seeing how disciplined intake changes patient outcomes—is why I started HHAPros: to help agencies convert more referrals into timely care, without burning out their teams.

Fit Check

Is HHAPros a fit for you?
  • You operate one or more branches with census 200+

  • You want admissions up, not just “more referrals”

  • You’re ready to run intake as part of Sales (SLAs, scripts, dashboards)

  • You can move fast on process + light tech

  • Best fit: multi-location operators in the $50–$200M range

Not a fit (for now): sub-200 census, pre-launch/home-based teams, or orgs not ready to measure starts of care.

Less friction. More focus.

How We Work

We use a simple, repeatable operating system that blends strategy, training, and light tech.

Understand the Core

1. Assess

Deep-dive on mission, culture, referral data, market position.

Build the Plan

2. Design

Co-develop playbooks and a prioritized roadmap: intake refinement, operational improvements, partner alignment.

Drive the Change

3. Implement

Execute, train teams, improve messaging, and roll out scripts, systems, and workflows.

Lock It In

4. Coach

Track KPIs, create feedback loops, and tune the plan to sustain growth.

Proof Vignette

Three-branch hospice.
High non-admit rate. No intake SLAs.
 We mapped the workflow, trained intake as a sales function, and added light tech for visibility.
 Result: +22% conversion in 90 days → +$3M annualized revenue.
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“We didn’t hire more people—we got clearer and faster. Our partners trust us more.”
Administrator
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Impact at scale
In multi-location networks, even a +10% admission lift can drive multi-million-dollar gains so we focus on admissions velocity, not vanity referral counts.
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Why We Exist

Agencies don’t lack referrals they leak them. Intake gets bogged down, tools don’t talk, and teams can’t see what moves the needle. We fix the pipeline so patients get on service faster and your census grows.
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The problems we see
  • Too many non-admits damage referral-source relationships.

  • Intake isn’t trained like sales referrals get lost in a human-centered process.

  • No clear visibility into referral-to-admission conversion.

The outcomes we deliver
  • 10%+ more admissions without adding headcount.

  • Standardized intake & referral-to-admission processes.

  • Data clarity that drives long-term growth.

What I Learned in Home Health

Admissions > referrals

We measure starts of care.

Teamwork needs systems

Good people can’t out-run broken processes.

Work hard, design smarter

Efficiency beats heroics and prevents burnout.

It’s a human business

Good tech should enable better conversations and faster help.

Intake is part of Sales

Train it, script it, and give it SLAs like a revenue team.

Better intake → better relationships

Strong intake builds partner trust and a better patient experience.

The Squad

Founder-led, specialist-supported.

Austin Degenhardt

Founder, Sales & Intake Strategy

Marlo Sarmini

Finance

Alexa Makreas

Marketing

Bhavya Rao

Web Implementation

Geoff Wolf

Technical Lead

The Journey

Brand

Role

Lesson

Year

Paul Hardt Footwear

Founder. Designed, manufactured, launched a premium footwear line.

Talent + process + discipline win championships.

2015–2019

Phenium — Food Safety Tech

Founding Sales Lead. Built GTM, implemented CRM, closed a $400K expansion with Facebook.

Process + proof = scalable growth.

2019–2020

Healthlink Home Health & Hospice

Sales Lead. Opened a new territory, doubled business in 2 years; collaborations with UCSF, Stanford, John Muir.

Speed, clarity, and follow-up drive admissions.

2020–2023

Referralynx INC

Founder. Designed SaaS referral-pipeline tools; 22% lift in conversions worth $3M annually.

Intake is sales—tech should support discipline and repeatability.

2023–2025

HHAPros

Consulting + tech-enabled services.

Agencies win when playbooks, discipline, and systems meet a coach who’s been in the field.

2025–Present

Proof at a Glance

+22% referral-conversion → +$3M annual revenue.
2× growth in 2 years by opening a new branch & aligning intake/sales.
−40% time-to-admission through process design.
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Frequently asked questions

Growth, referrals, resultsexplained fast

Clear answers to common questions about our consulting, process, and how we help agencies grow.

Are we the right size?

We partner with agencies 200+ census per branch. We see the biggest, fastest gains with multi-location operators, especially those in the $50–$200M range.

How do you price?

We’re a premium, outcomes-driven engagement—clients often see 10× ROI within 12 months¹; we price to the impact we create.

Do we need new software?

Usually not. We start with your existing EMR/CRM and add light tech only where it eliminates manual work.

How quickly do we see results?

Most teams see momentum within 30–90 days as SLAs, scripts, and visibility go live.

Ready to accelerate referrals and admissions?

James was here