Leveraging Medicaid Waiver Opportunities
Posted by Mike Ferris on Thursday, May 24, 2007 and posted in UncategorizedOne of the most important ways to benefit from the Medicaid waiver patient population is to make sure to capture the Medicare home health or hospice business at your agency. I have seen too many times where the two divisions are operated separately and are not using one another when their patients need other services. The relationship must be one of team work and the desire to work together. This team building takes time and commitment from management to make it happen.
Internal referrals are lost many times because it is easier to let them go elsewhere. Make sure you have analyzed your systems and processes to make sure that it is very easy to make an internal referral. If it is not, you will lose referrals that should be captured internally. For many, attention to this area will result in a big return on investment. Keep in mind that you must earn the business from these customers, just like any others. Treat them as customers and you will see predictable results show up.
Finally, the ability to market and sell your agency as a full service, one stop shop should also generate more business. Make sure that the referral source knows that they can use your agency for any type of home care including Medicaid. This can be a significant competitive advantage in many markets. Ask for all of their business. Studies have shown that the retention rate and loyalty of customers goes up with each additional service line referred to.