Leading Home Care Report #114 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Grow Your Business... Get Ready for the FutureA Proven Model to Create a More Favorable Future for YOU and Your CompanyJune 20, 2007~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this issue...-- Grow Your Business-- Get Ready for the Future-- Certify Your Home Care Sales Professionals-- Help for Hospital Based Home Health Agencies-- Latest Postings on our Blog: Home Health Care Leadership Minute-- About the Author-- Permission to ReproduceWould you agree...,
. . . that two important roles of the home care CEO are to find new and innovative ways to grow the business, and to get ready for the future? Your job is all about creating a more favorable future for your company, for your patients and customers, for your team members, and for yourself.
In this issue of Leading Home Care Report, I want to talk with you about creating a more favorable future for your company by growing your business and by getting ready for what's coming down the road.
Grow Your Business~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~As you read this newsletter, I'll be delivering the opening keynote address for the Associated Home Health Industries of Florida annual conference in Orlando. I always enjoy coming to this conference because Gene Tischer and Lee Vecchioli and their team do such a wonderful job leading their state association and planning a powerful learning experience for their members.As we kick off this conference, we'll be discussing the four cornerstones of success in home care; Assessment, Direction, Competitive Advantage, and Measurement. Let's take a quick look at these four cornerstones.
1. Assessment
An important part of your job as a home care executive is to step back on a regular basis and assess the current reality of your company. There are three levels of assessment you can use. Intuitive assessment considers how you and your team members feel about what is going on in your company. Anecdotal assessment considers what you see and hear happening in your company that helps you define the current state. And qualitative assessment looks at the data. What do the numbers tell you about what's happening in your company?
2. Direction
Where is your company going in the future? What is your purpose for being in the future? What is your ideal state for the future? What are the core beliefs and values that will drive your actions and your decisions? What will be your strategy for growth.
The answers to these questions help you define your "desired future," and that gives focus and direction to your home care team.
3. Competitive Advantage
What is it that makes your home care company different from your competitors? Why should a key referral source send patients to you rather than your competitors? What are the advantages, for that referral source, in doing business with you? If you can't answer these questions clearly and concisely, and if your sales team and clinical liaisons can't answer these questions, it will be difficult to grow your business at the rate you would like to grow.
Over the years, we've continued to study and research the sources of competitive advantage in home care, and understand why physicians and referral sources make the decisions they make regarding patient referrals. What do you know about how your customers make referrals?
4. Measurement
I know... you're tired of hearing me say it. " What gets measured gets managed." And I'm going to keep saying it until everyone in home care hears me. I still talk with too many home care CEOs who don't have in place effective scorecards they can use to give feedback to their teams on how well they are doing in their critical measures of success.
If you'd like to have a copy of the handout from my presentation at AHHIF, just hit reply and send back an email. I'll be happy to send a copy by return email.
Or better yet, let's get together in person. Contact the Executive Director of your state home care association and suggest that they bring in Stephen Tweed to speak at your next annual convention or leadership conference.
Get Ready for the Future~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A big part of growing your business is being prepared for the changes that are taking place in the home care industry. As a CEO or senior executive, part of your role in creating a more favorable future is to monitor the forces and trends that are shaping our industry. Then, you need to anticipate what these trends will mean to your home health agency, and make the adjustments needed to prepare for these changes.There are five major forces causing change in America. Each of these five forces is having an impact on the future of home care. Let's take a quick look at some trends, or patterns of change, that are happening as a result of these forces.
1. Economic Pressure
The big economic pressure is the pressure to slow the growth in the cost of health care. You're seeing it in the form of revisions to the PPS system for Medicare reimbursement. Everyone in the industry is scrambling right now to understand what the changes will be, and how they will affect your revenue stream.
2. Demographic Change
The biggest demographic issue on the table today is immigration reform. Americans are dividing up and taking sides on ways to deal with the leaking U.S. borders and how we will deal with the millions of illegal immigrants who are in or coming into our country. This will have a huge impact on healthcare in general and home care in particular. How will you deal with a growing immigrant population in your community? Also, pay attention to how the politicians handle this situation, and how the American public reacts. The American people are really angry about how the politicians in Washington are mishandling the immigration situation. It seems to me that the politicians totally underestimate this anger, and we may see some sweeping changes come election time. For more on this, see #5 below.
3. Consumer Choice
Consumers are better informed and more in charge of their healthcare decisions than ever before. And the good news is that consumers prefer home care to care in other institutional settings. Yet consumers are also more demanding and have higher expectations than ever before. Patient satisfaction will continue to be more important in the future as you seek to grow your business.
4. Technology
The development and application of new technologies in home care is amazing. As leaders, we need to understand and embrace these technologies as tools to grow the business and get ready for the future. I'm convinced that the home care companies that are most automated in the future will win in the marketplace. There will not be enough workers to meet the growing need, so we will need to find ways to use technology as job extenders to perform tasks now done by human beings. And we have to figure out how to do that without losing the personal touch so important to home care.
5. Political Change
Pay attention to the coming election cycle. Was 2006 a sign that the political pendulum is beginning to swing the other way, or was it just a bump in the road because of an unpopular war in Iraq? The outcome of future congressional and presidential elections will have a huge impact on the future of home care, and we need to study and understand the implications.
Certify Your Home Care Sales Professionals~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One of the biggest challenges facing rapidly growing home care companies is the ability to recruit, select, hire and train effective sales representatives. The need is great, and the supply of experienced home care sales pros is limited.
Get ready for a fresh approach to home care sales training that will take the guesswork out of predicting the success of your sales team. A program specifically for home care agencies that want to develop Certified Home Care Sales Professionals
Stephen Tweed and Michael Giudicissi at Leading Home Care have teamed with Dr. Tray Dunaway to create an in-depth, focused sales training program and certification designed to give your sales people the knowledge, skills, and focus they need to reach even the most difficult referral source.
Then we teamed up with Decision Health, the publishers of... Home Health Line, and Success In Home Care... to create an exceptional workshop environment in which to provide this training. Join us in San Antonio, Texas on September 24, 25, and 26 for the 2007 Home Care Sales Professional workshop.
Don't Delay, Register Today!
Help for Hospital Based Home Health Agencies~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Home health agencies that are affiliated with hospitals and health systems face a unique set of challenges. The free standing agencies always complain about how easy you have it. "They get all of the referrals out of their hospital."
You know that's not true. Being part of a hospital or health system has its advantages, but it does not automatically mean you get the referrals. And, you face some obstacles that make it more difficult to get the staff and the resources you need to grow your business.
Now there's help in sight.
Leading Home Care announces the launch of a brand new service just for hospital based home health agencies. We're delighted to announce that Judith McGuire, a 30 year veteran of both hospital based and free standing home health agencies, has joined us as our Hospital Home Health Specialist.
Judy will be working exclusively with hospital and health system based agencies to grow your business, increase profitability, improve quality, enhance integration with the hospital, and help you measure and manage your critical measures of success. For more information, look at these new web pages. Then call us toll free at 1-888-668-9333 to set up a complimentary consultation with Judy.
CLICK HERE for more information on growing your hospital based agency.
Latest Postings on our Blog: Home Health Care Leadership Minute~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here are the latest postings on our BLOG, the Home Health Care Leadership Minute:
- 60% of Home Health Agencies are participating in the 2007 home health quality improvement national campaign.
- Is a little healthcare coverage better than none?
- Home Care contributes to Res-Care Profits
- Many Doctors get gifts or money from healthcare companies
About the Author~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Stephen Tweed, CSP, is Chairman and CEO of Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company. For nearly 25 years he has been a recognized leader in strategy and leadership development for home care companies and associations. He is the author or co-author of five books, four of which were written specifically for the home care industry. He has served on the boards of directors of three not-for-profit home care agencies, and has served as interim President & CEO of a $25 million home care company.
Stephen is a past-President of the National Speakers Association, a 3500 member international society of experts who speak professionally. He is also the father of a 37 year-old son who is physically disabled and uses the services of home care on a daily basis.
Permission to Reproduce~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Permission is granted to healthcare publications, associations and companies to reproduce this article in your publication, or to distribute copies to your leaders, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Stephen Tweed's Leading Home Care Report. Copyright 2006 Stephen C. Tweed. To receive a FREE subscription to this newsletter, log on to www.leadinghomecare.com."
Contact Leading Home Care~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~email: stephen@leadinghomecare.comphone: 1-888-668-9333~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~