Fulcrum Equity Partners, an Atlanta-based growth equity firm, has recently announced a follow-on investment for Nashville-based HomeFirst Home Healthcare with support from existing investors Harpeth Ventures. This follow-on round supported the recent acquisition of CV Home Health based in Centreville, Alabama, effective June 1, 2022. This investment comes closely after the initial $11 million investment in January 2022.

HomeFirst has seen consistent growth since its initial investment, with acquisitions in two new markets: North Carolina and Georgia. Building on its existing footprint in Tennessee by expanding where they currently serve, HomeFirst plans to acquire agencies in neighboring certificate-of-need (CON) states. They also plan to extend the spectrum of care and potentially add hospice and other ancillary services.

Although some home health providers favor Medicare or other commercial fee-for-service insurance payers, HomeFirst, in addition, plans to drive efficiency through proprietary software to work with the Medicare Advantage rates which operate on a per-visit payment basis.

According to CEO Jim Happ, “Our software system drives organizational efficiency. This means we can work to reduce our operating costs to generate a profit margin on a “per visit” basis. This system allows us to adapt to the rates while also actively pursuing new acquisition opportunities to grow our home health business. We plan to continue our mission of becoming one of the Southeast’s most trusted home healthcare providers.”

Fulcrum Partner Tom Greer has seen the healthcare industry evolve at an accelerated pace and is excited about the growth of healthcare service businesses via acquisition. “Fulcrum’s years of healthcare services investing experience enables us to partner well with companies like HomeFirst. We help them grow by increasing economies of scale and purchasing power and expanding into new or adjacent markets and new services lines while also improving outcomes,” says Greer. “We are excited to see HomeFirst’s acceleration and looking forward to our continued partnership with their strong leadership team.”