- Business: Holistic Homecare Services
- Location: Owing Mills, MD
- Interesting Fact about Patricia and Andrew Brown: They are from Jamaica and love going home. They grew up and met there.
- Interesting Fact about Holistic Homecare Services: They are a diverse team. It’s a multicultural pot.
When Patricia Brown stepped in to care for a woman who needed at-home help, she had no idea it would eventually become her family’s business. As a social worker, she’d spent years helping vulnerable people. As she grew Holistic Homecare Services, she needed better systems to track employees’ time and help even more people.
The experience changed her life. It showed her there was a need for this type of service: compassionate care for vulnerable populations
Finding a Need, Creating a Business
When Patricia’s mom called her years ago about a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia who needed care, she couldn’t say no. The woman had been evicted from her care facility because her needs were too complex. After the call, she and her family stepped in, serving as the woman’s guardian and caretaker for seven years.
“It took a whole village to help care for her, and I truly appreciate them all,” Patricia says. “She was a part of the family at the end of the day.”
The experience changed her life. It showed her there was a need for this type of service: compassionate care for vulnerable populations. It sparked the idea for a business that would eventually become Holistic Homecare Services.
“I thought maybe I could do this as well and take it to another level and have my own agency,” Patricia says.
She launched in Maryland in 2022 with one patient, a woman she knew from church. Patricia and her staff helped with her daily living, personal hygiene, doctors’ appointments and more. The business expanded quickly. Now, her team provides in-home and non-medical care to people of all ages, from infants to the elderly.
“Word of mouth started to catch fire,” Patricia says. “That’s how we started to grow.”
An Old-School Approach
Today, Holistic Homecare Services has approximately 25 staff members, from home health aides to LPNs to med techs and more, and serves an average of 10 patients per day.
At first, Patricia managed her team the old-fashioned way: with a trusty pen and paper. But as the business grew, it became clear that she needed a system that saved her time so she could focus on what matters most, caring for patients like they’re family.
“I was like, ‘OK, I’m old school, we’re going to do the pen-and-paper thing now, we’re small right now, I don’t need ezClocker, ’” Patricia says.
“I realized as time progressed and we started to evolve and grow, I needed ezClocker to manage all this.”
Growing Pains and Paper Problems
Like many small business owners, Patricia was hands-on in every aspect of the business from the beginning. She tracked every shift, every hour, and every assignment by hand for each employee. It worked for a while, but as her staff count climbed past 15, it became too much for her to manage on her own.
“To do scheduling, administrative work, billing, just all the nuances that come with running your own business, I needed a more streamlined and efficient platform to use,” Patricia says
When a staff member asked her if she had a time-tracking system, it was like a lightbulb went off, Patricia says. Suddenly, she realized she didn’t have to be the time tracker, scheduler, and administrator all by herself.
She researched different apps in the App Store, looking for something straightforward and affordable. She knew she needed something that would work for her and her team, providing accountability and efficiency across the board.
When she found ezClocker and learned about the features, she didn’t even need to complete a trial. She knew it was the perfect fit. “I was just in from the beginning,” Patricia says.
An Instant Win
Choosing ezClocker was easy. Getting the rest of the team on board and up to speed was even easier. Instantly, everything ran smoothly.
“I just add someone in, tell them to accept the email with the invite and set it up,” Patricia says. “Ninety-nine percent of people get it the first time.”
“It makes the work lighter, knowing you don’t have to be tracking with pen and paper where information can be misplaced,” Andrew says. “It’s there electronically on our side and on their side; they have their hours and things like that.”
Soon, Patricia was implementing ezClocker throughout the business. She uses it to track time, modify shifts when needed, and review notes. She can easily update an employee’s start time and end time when necessary, providing an extra layer of accountability for every aspect of the business.
“It’s a lifesaver,” Patricia says. “I’m just constantly managing and juggling, tracking and billing. I like having it as a resource.”
Building a Family Legacy
Holistic Healthcare Services is a true family business, and ezClocker helps them treat every patient like a member of their extended family. Their team offers skilled nursing care, like medication management, and non-skilled care like meal planning and laundry services, as well as other services like dementia support.
“Our goal is to support families and their loved ones, by keeping their dignity, safety, and well-being and improving their quality of life while staying in the comforts of their home,” Patricia says. “The goal is to stay in their community so they can thrive and be with their families the best that they can.”
Families can request to work with the same caregivers, and Patricia matches them accordingly. ezClocker’s time-tracking and scheduling tools help make it possible, without endless sheets of paper and countless pens.
As a result, Patricia has more time to focus on building the business’s legacy. Her husband, Dr. Andrew Brown, works alongside her. Their children are also involved. Her son helps with administrative work, and all of their children plan to become nurses.
“This is for you guys,” Patricia tells her children. “You don’t have to work for anyone. This is building a foundation and legacy for them for later…We have to learn how to give back and help others.”
