http://www.hchms.com/site/index/ en mike@hchms.com Copyright 2008 2008-11-15T22:24:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/certification-periods-why-burden-the-patient/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/certification-periods-why-burden-the-patient/#When:22:24:00Z We hear it all the time: “Now here’s what will happen. Medicare has 90-day certification and recertification periods and so we’ll be reviewing your dad in our team meeting and the physician will sign the certification as long as he meets criteria.” Huh? Why do we feel we have to go through this with patients and families at admission? Stop describing our internal process and instead focus on any impact on them. If you think about it, it would be like you going for a surgical consult and the surgeon describes the way his assistant submits your case to your insurer. Who cares?? What you should say. If they ask, tell them that they can be on hospice care for as long as their physician and Medicare say it’s okay. Otherwise, there’s no need to go into this garbled explanation when families are already exhausted and on information overload! Remember that the only truly “iffy” cases are those involving diagnoses where longer-term stabilization may occur. So for those cases, tell the family that, “Sometimes patients stabilize to the point that they don’t need hospice for a period of time. “In a lot of ways, that’s the good news. But we can always come back to help if the doctor feels your dad can once again benefit from hospice care.” Enough said!  Hospice 2008-11-15T22:24:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/november-is-national-home-care-and-national-hospice-month/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/november-is-national-home-care-and-national-hospice-month/#When:00:34:00Z Celebrate and promote home healthcare all month long. November is also the month to focus on three goals: 1) Close business from existing referral sources.  Review all accounts and plan at least one contact during the month that will ask for a referral. 2) Build relationships at the holidays.  This is the best time of year to build warm, fuzzy relationships—so make the most of the opportunity. 3) Plan for the coming year.  In two months it will be time to start the New Year and you must start planning now. Monthly Reminders: Make sure that all of your promotional plans for November and December holidays are in place and ready to go.  If you will be distributing calendars to your accounts—start now and beat the competition. Holidays and Important Dates: Veteran’s Day Thanksgiving Other Important (and some not so important) Observations: National Diabetes Month Diabetic Eye Disease Month National AIDS Awareness Month Child Safety and Protection Month Family Violence Prevention Month Home Care Month National Hospice Month Homeless Awareness Month Lung Cancer Awareness Month National Alzheimer’s disease Month American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month National Adoption Awareness Month National Family Care Givers Month Stamp Collecting Month Aviation History Month Peanut Butter Lovers Month Epilepsy Awareness Month Family Stories Month I am so Thankful Month International Orphan Disease Month National Georgia Pecan Month National Healthy Skin Month National Life writing Month National Marrow Awareness Month Vegan Month Diwali Ramadan Excerpted from 101 Home Care Promotional Strategies That Deliver Legendary Results without Busting Your Budget! by Michael Ferris 2008-11-07T00:34:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/the-end-of-intake-customer-service-rules/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/the-end-of-intake-customer-service-rules/#When:18:50:00Z What does “intake” mean to the average person? “Induction in the armed services” is a standard response! It’s a dated, institutional term, so get rid of it! (Even “admissions” connotes the wrong thing to most consumers because they think it means they’ll have to receive hospice care in a hospital.) Call it what it is (or should be)! Instead of these industry terms that have no relevance or appeal to potential patients and families, why not call it your “Customer Service Center?” After all, it provides many of the services of one: Solutions for callers seeking help with end-of-life care. Scheduling of appointments and visits for program registration and assessment. Processing of orders and requests from professional referrers and facilities. Resources for other end-of-life, personal care, and palliative care services. Send the message of service. Using the term “customer” and not “patient” shows you take customer service to heart. While many hospices provide training on customer service and incorporate it into their mission statements, they don’t really put their money where their mouth is by calling their intake operation a “Customer Service Center.” Call them “customer service reps.” If you’re going to change the culture, stop calling them intake coordinators! And think about recruiting reps with call center experience outside healthcare. After all, when was the last time you spoke with a warm, helpful person at a doctor’s office?  Hospice 2008-10-31T18:50:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/log-every-visit/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/log-every-visit/#When:19:16:00Z We hear it from “liaisons” all the time: “Well, I just stopped by to say hello and see if the family had any more questions. I was in the hospital anyway, so I thought I’d check with them. It really wasn’t a visit, so I didn’t write it down.” It really was a visit: Every face-to-face contact with a patient or family is a visit, period. You need to increase admissions, and if the program rep or nurse is going back multiple times to get (or not get) the consent signed, then you need to know that. Multiple visits represent a performance problem that needs to be addressed. And what was the outcome? So if your staff is making multiple visits, are they then documenting the outcome? If there’s no documentation, you can’t help them. And if they’re not reporting multiple visits because they know it’s a performance problem, what are they doing all day? Make sure that every visit has a coded result and check the reason codes if nothing happened!  Hospice 2008-10-24T19:16:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/staff-visit-frequency-not-on-the-referral-call/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/staff-visit-frequency-not-on-the-referral-call/#When:18:15:00Z In their well-intended desire to tell callers about the wonderful hospice benefit, referral coordinators often automatically say that the nurse will visit 2 - 3 times a week and the aide usually is 3 - 5 times. While in some cases this may be true, it’s inappropriate for us to say this to a caller when we haven’t even assessed the situation. It can also set a troublesome expectation that this is the standard. Then, at the visit, if the assessment nurse says that nursing visits will be once a week, the family may feel that they’re not getting the full benefit. If callers ask: Tell them that the nurse will put together a team schedule based upon the needs of the patient and family. If they really push about nurse visit frequency, tell them that at a minimum it’s once every 2 weeks, and usually once a week. Volunteers and aides: It’s also inappropriate to give away volunteers or aides over the phone. While they certainly are a key benefit, tell callers that “the nurse will talk to you about the support services that we have should your family need assistance with personal care or other help.” Hospice 2008-10-17T18:15:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/caller-and-referral-source-dont-assume-theyre-the-same/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/caller-and-referral-source-dont-assume-theyre-the-same/#When:18:20:00Z Question: You get a call from a daughter whose father is in the hospital. She inquires about your service and you schedule a visit. After you hang up, you fill in the referral form. Who do you list as the referral source? Most hospices code the referral source as “family or friend” because a family member made the call. But how did they hear about you? The only case in which the family/friend is the referral source is: If a family or friend told the caller about your program, or If the caller had a previous experience with your hospice. Or you might assume that the hospital is the referral source because that’s where the patient is. But wouldn’t the hospital call you directly? Unless someone at the hospital actually had a conversation with the family “off the record,” it’s doubtful that they are the referral source in this case. So what’s the big deal? If you’re trying to assess what marketing strategies have the greatest impact, then you’d better be asking the caller how they happened to call you today!  Hospice 2008-10-10T18:20:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/the-10-second-nutshell/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/the-10-second-nutshell/#When:21:35:00Z It’s so easy for call center and admissions staff to fall into a “wehaveitis” mode when asked by callers or families what hospice care is. Focus on their situation: When they ask about your program, don’t assume that that’s your cue to start your “spiel.” Instead, tell them you’ll be happy to give them information, but first ask what their situation is and why they called you today. Tip: When you hear the term “spiel,” stop it right then! For all the “we hate anything that says sales” feedback from your team, the use of this term is as sleazy and offensive as it gets! Use the nutshell statement: Here’s a simple statement that uses family-friendly, real world terms to describe what your program does: Hospice is a patient and family support service that: Keeps the patient comfortable, Teaches the family to provide care, and Offers emotional support Tip: Script it out for your team so they don’t revert to their laundry list of services!  Hospice 2008-10-03T21:35:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/tips-for-home-care-web-sites/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/tips-for-home-care-web-sites/#When:19:49:00Z Your agency’s Web site should be consistent with your commitment to sales, marketing and customer service. A Web site will reinforce your agency’s image, provide a means of getting information, provide a favorable comparison to your competition and make it easy for your customers to communicate with you electronically. Following are some tips for making your agency’s Web site stand out from the competition’s: Make it Consistent with Your Marketing Image. . .the Web site should look, feel and be consistent with all of your collateral marketing materials. Clear Statement of Agency’s Competitive Advantages and Services. . .There should be a clear statement of the agency’s niche market(s) on the landing page and home page.  This statement should immediately tell the visitor to your site what your competitive advantages are and why they should choose your agency.  Brief and clear should be the mandate for this element. Include Service Area Map. . .and make it easy to read and understand.  This feature may be one of the most important items to include on your site.  If you have multiple locations, it should have an easy way to contact the correct location or a central intake/information line.  The service area map can be very important to case managers looking to place a patient/client and is also important for out-of-town family researching care options for a family member. Easy to Contact Your Agency. . .If your goal is to have the visitor call or e-mail you, then make it easy to find your phone number and street address.  Also, make it easy to send you an e-mail request from every page in your site.  Clarity and ease of operation will make all of the difference in your response rate and the success of the site.  Include Real People Contacts. . .at every juncture make your contacts real to the visitor.  Have the CEO (or owner) welcome the visitor, have the Clinical Director welcome the Medicare or Skilled care inquiries, etc.  One of the elements people don’t like about the Internet is the faceless nature of many sites.  We are selling people and the services they provide—make it apparent that you have the best and most customer service-focused home care professionals anywhere. The Bottom Line: Build a Super Web site!  Make it easy to use and allow visitors to the site to sign up for information and give you permission to contact them about Home Care Services. Home Health Care, Sales 2008-09-26T19:49:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/qualifying/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/qualifying/#When:20:00:00Z One the most important attributes of the successful home care sales person is the ability to qualify prospects and customers.  There should be in each agency a list of questions that you will want to know about every referral source.  This list should be compiled by the entire team at the agency as the attributes of the ideal referral source will hinge on these items.  The reason your most successful “A” accounts are your best accounts is because your agency best serves their needs. You must uncover the referral sources needs and special interests by properly qualifying them. Some questions to add to your list: Do you refer to home care? Do you have Medicare patients? What time of the day or week is it most convenient to catch Dr. Bob? Will you be sending the home care referrals or would I need to speak to someone else? What type of special needs do your private pay referrals need? How do you determine which home care agency you will use for each referral? What is the best way to communicate with your group? How would you like us to get the orders to you for signature? When is the best time to call to discuss specific issues with one of your patients? Do any of your patients go home needing some private pay assistance? Why haven’t you sent us a patient in over a year?  Was it something that we did to alienate you? What would it take to provide you with the level of trust necessary to entrust one of your patients to my agency for care? When can we count on getting some referrals? If you could change home care for the better, what would you change? Can you tell me about difficulties that you have had in the past with other agencies? Will you ever send us a patient referral?  If so, what will it take to make it happen? This list is by no means complete, but it should give you some direction with your qualifying.  If you know what the customer wants, then you are halfway home. Home Health Care, Hospice, Sales 2008-09-19T20:00:00-05:00 http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/caregiver-training/ http://www.hchms.com/index.php/site/caregiver-training/#When:19:49:00Z Family caregivers are potential clients who are often overlooked by home health care agencies.  These caregivers are already providing care to their own family members, and as a result are generally overlooked as prospects.  The reality is that it is only a matter of time before they will either need additional help or will be in need of respite.  What better way to build relationships with this community than to provide training for caregivers and caregiver support groups. A recent study by the National Alliance for Caregiving in conjunction with the AARP asserts that while more than half of caregivers give assistance with ADLs, only 18% have received any formal training.  There are many times more caregivers than private duty patients in the community at large.  They can all benefit from training on how to better care for their family members.  This will create tremendous amounts of goodwill with this group of future potential clients.  Support groups are another excellent way to build strong relationships with this potentially important group of future clients.  Respite services can be pathway to future business.  Offering respite care can be a great way to introduce you to family caregivers and opens the door to increased business.  Anything your agency can do to build a strong bridge to the caregiver community will position the company to increase its market share in the future. Excerpted from 101 Home Care Promotional Strategies That Deliver Legendary Results without Busting Your Budget by Michael Ferris Home Health Care 2008-09-12T19:49:00-05:00