{"id":4219,"date":"2017-02-26T19:26:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T00:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/"},"modified":"2017-02-26T19:31:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T00:31:00","slug":"honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is Honor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The advent of Uber started the trend of online marketplaces disrupting traditional industries anywhere from transportation (Uber) to hotels (AirBnb).\u00a0 Honor is one of the latest online platform technologies looking to disrupt specifically in the healthcare market of in-home and elderly care.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Honor provide users with an online platform to connect professional caregivers to patients and their loved ones. Started by ex-Googler \u2013 Seth Sternberg, the company founded in 2015 has already raised over $62M in series funding and boasts partnerships with organizations like Alzheimer\u2019s Association for caregiver training. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elderly Care Market<\/strong><\/p>\n

The number of people hitting 65+ Medicare age is currently over $46 million and projected to more than double to $98 million by 2050. [2]<\/a><\/p>\n

With the baby boomer population reaching elderly age,\u00a0 the projected demand for home health agencies and in-home care is also set to increase. Most in-home care is run by brick and mortar agencies but a number of technology platforms have entered to disrupt the market \u2013 Honor among one of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Competitive Differentiation on Value Creation and Capture<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how does Honor differentiate itself as a platform technology from the rise of similar elderly care platform companies as well as incumbent home health brick and mortar agencies?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Value Creation: On-Demand vs. Recurring Elderly Services <\/em><\/p>\n

One of the differentiating factors with Honor is they provide both on-demand and recurring services. [3]<\/a>\u00a0 The on-demand model works best for services that can be commoditized – e.g. transportation, delivery. While the majority of Honor\u2019s services cater towards on-demand services, the company also has a personal 1:1 session follow-up after every booking. Honor also provides recurring elderly services such as medical services and bathing.\u00a0 Honor\u2019s step to cater towards on-demand has a deep advantage over brick and mortar agencies that aren\u2019t able to provide the type of fast, convenient service. Honor is taking the strategy to create value in both types.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Scalability: Automation vs. Personalization<\/em><\/p>\n

On the on-demand side, Honor automate all aspects of their business including an automated match between the caregiver and patient and set platform prices. Honor\u2019s focus on automation enables it to scale more easily than competitors including incumbent brick and mortar agencies.\u00a0 It also provides a higher level of efficiency and convenience than other companies. On the other hand, Carelinx has no automated matches and no set prices \u2013 everything is set by the caregivers. While this autonomy for caregivers might be an advantage, I think long term sustainability and scalability will require a more automated platform [4]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Network Quality: Employees vs. Contractors<\/em><\/p>\n

As a mechanism to improve the network of caregivers, Honor actually employs it\u2019s caregivers that work directly with the customers, giving them more control over the quality of the marketplace compared to companies like Carelinx and Care.com that only service as a marketplace for third-party caregivers. The latter is subject to higher multihoming effects since caregivers can apply to either program and aren\u2019t employed. Honor has an advantage to creating greater indirect network effects with higher quality, trained caregivers that build a differentiating brand with Honor.\u00a0 The founder boasts over 85% retention rates among their employers. \u00a0Thus, Honor\u2019s high retention rates and employment of it\u2019s caregivers serves to lower multihoming effects compared to the more open third party market place of competitors like Carelinx and Care.com.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How will Honor stay ahead? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Whoever is able to develop stronger indirect network effects between caregivers and patients while being a sustainable scalable model is likely to win in the marketplace.\u00a0 To do so, companies like Honor will need to understand the greatest value for patients and the patient\u2019s loved one \u00a0– whether it be through on-demand or more recurring type services. I also don\u2019t believe brick and mortar agencies will go away and as complementary players to Honor\u2019s business it will be important for them to continue to think about how best to work with or provide services that can only be down in a brick and mortar setting. While automation is key to scalability the balance between creating an automated but also customized and personalized service of quality caregivers with also be important.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honor wants to disrupt the elderly care market by providing quality, efficient and convenience elderly care services to the home. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1199,"featured_media":4220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[538,1257,1259,1256,1255,1260,535,1258,1212,384],"class_list":["post-4219","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-care-com","category-carelinx","category-elderly-care","category-home-health","category-honor","category-in-home-care","category-indirect-network-effect","category-medicare","category-multihoming","category-uber"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/growing-businesses-in-the-age-of-platforms\/","yoast_head":"\nHonor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Honor wants to disrupt the elderly care market by providing quality, efficient and convenience elderly care services to the home.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-27T00:31:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/honor.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"502\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/\",\"name\":\"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/honor.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-27T00:26:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-27T00:31:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/honor.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/honor.png\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":502},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"Honor wants to disrupt the elderly care market by providing quality, efficient and convenience elderly care services to the home.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","article_modified_time":"2017-02-27T00:31:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":502,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/honor.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/","name":"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/honor.png","datePublished":"2017-02-27T00:26:34+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-27T00:31:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/honor.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/honor.png","width":1440,"height":502},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/honor-the-next-uber-for-elderly-care\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Honor: the next \u201cUber for elderly care\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/4219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/4219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}