Provider 'moves forward' into home mods

FAIRVIEW, N.J. - Provider Robert Horowitz is going old school to promote his new home modifications business.

“I'm doing what I did when I started 17 years ago: getting in my car in a sport coat and knocking on doors—one social worker and rehab center at a time,” said Horowitz, owner of Fairview, N.J.-based Home Living Modifications of New Jersey, which he launched in May.

The company's website, www.homelivingmodifications.com, is live, and Horowitz is currently in the process of turning a 4,000-square-foot building into a showroom customers can visit in person or virtually. Horowitz also owns R&B Healthcare Services, a full line HME company that focuses on Medicare and other insurers, and Lola Medical, which focuses on cash.

Horowitz has spent months learning everything he can about home modifications, he said. That included earning the Certified Environmental Access Consultant (CEAC) certification from Accessible Home Improvement of America, a division of The VGM Group.

“I took a very hands-on approach, visiting every manufacturer in the field to learn to do this all myself,” said Horowitz. “I know how to install everything from wheelchair lifts to stair lifts.”

Horowitz's goal is to provide any service needed for a person to age in place or make a home accessible, he said. To that end, he has partnered with an architect.

“I wanted it to be: If you can think of it, you can do it,” said Horowitz.

Horowitz's newest venture is another effort to stay afloat in the ever-changing HME industry, he said.

“I didn't win one bid and I'm going to lose a substantial part of my business, but I can't worry about that,” he said. “I have to move forward.”