Sunny Days In-Home Care
A 4× Inc 5000 agency's journey from five-person scheduling rotation to AI-powered operations
Challenge
The Hidden Cost of Traditional Scheduling
Like most Medicaid-focused agencies, Sunny Days operated with a rotating team of five on-call schedulers covering nights (5 PM to 8 AM) and weekends. The math seemed straightforward: $20 per hour × 127 hours per week = approximately $5,600 weekly in labor costs alone.
But the true cost went much deeper than the line item.
John Bennett, CEO, explains: "The financial burden was obvious, but what really hurt was the human cost. Our field managers were exhausted. They'd handle crises all night, then show up to manage their teams the next day. The quality of their work—and their lives—was suffering."
The variability made it worse. Some nights brought 30+ calls; others, complete silence. Yet they needed full coverage regardless, leading to expensive downtime and frustrated staff questioning why they were awake at 3 AM for no calls.
With Medicaid reimbursement rates in Pennsylvania among the lowest in the region—every adjacent state pays more—Sunny Days had no margin for inefficiency. They needed their people focused on care delivery and growth, not clock-out confirmations at 2 AM.
"Our field managers were exhausted. They'd handle crises all night, then show up to manage their teams the next day. The quality of their work—and their lives—was suffering."
Solution
Human + AI: The Best of Both Worlds
When Sunny Days agreed to pilot Zingage, the team made one thing clear: this wasn't about replacing humans with robots. It was about giving compassionate human agents AI superpowers—the ability to handle complex situations without burning out.
"What impressed us was that Zingage wasn't selling pure automation," John explains. "They understood that home care requires human judgment and empathy. Their agents are real people who happen to have incredible AI tools at their fingertips."
Implementation Focus
The 15-day implementation centered on encoding Sunny Days' 47-page on-call manual into an AI system that could surface the right information at the right moment—allowing human agents to focus on the conversation rather than frantically searching through documentation.
Key setup activities included:
Training Zingage agents on Sunny Days' specific protocols and communication style
Integrating with WellSky EMR and existing phone systems
Programming AI to surface relevant protocols and client information in real-time
Creating smart tags for special cases (family-run caregivers, non-verbal clients)
Establishing seamless handoffs between AI-powered agents and agency management
"We're a little bit of a control freak about SOPs," John admits. "Zingage really took the time to learn everything we do and figure out how to make it work. It's been like trimming a bonsai tree—we've actually been able to look at our processes and find where we weren't consistent."
Results
Beyond Cost Savings: The Ripple Effect
While the 82% cost reduction grabbed headlines internally, the operational improvements proved equally valuable.
Industry
Home Care (Medicaid HCBS)
Location
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio
Primary Payer
Medicaid
Use case
Sunny Days
Integration
WellSky EMR
"My managers are finally getting real sleep. They show up refreshed, patient, and ready to lead. That's transformed our entire operation."
John Bennett
CEO, Sunny Days In-Home Care
Key Learnings
Start with your existing process
The AI succeeded by perfectly mirroring Sunny Days' protocols before attempting optimization.
Details matter
Programming specific tags like "family-run caregiver" prevented tone-deaf interactions.
After-hours is the perfect pilot
Lower risk, immediate impact, and clear ROI made buy-in easier.
What's Next
Sunny Days is expanding carefully, adding coverage hours and exploring how this human + AI model could transform other areas like recruitment and client intake. With plans to grow across Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and into Ohio, the Zingage partnership positions them to scale without proportionally scaling back-office headcount.
"We really want to grow by 30% but only increase our overhead costs by 10%. The only way we're going to get to that threshold is if we're more efficient—and Zingage is how we get there."
— John Bennett
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