Leading Home Care Report #119 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Home Health Care 2020Seven Perceptions of Quality - Again!September 12, 2007~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this issue...-- Seven Perceptions of Quality in the Agency Of The Future-- Certify Your Home Care Sales Professionals-- Leading Home Care is coming to YOUR Neighborhood-- Latest Postings on our Blog: Home Health Care Leadership Minute-- About the Author-- Permission to ReproduceI'm sorry, but I dropped the ball, and I really feel bad.
The good news is, I didn't drop ALL the balls.
In July, I attended our National Speakers Association convention in San Diego. I had a wonderful conversation with my friend, Rob Peck, who is a speaker, author, and professional juggler. He told me about using juggling to help people learn about what happens when you get too many balls in the air.
When you're juggling and you add one too many balls, you don't drop just one ball. You usually drop them all. As I listened to Rob, I realized that this has been a crazy summer and I had a lot of balls in the air. I was in danger of dropping them all.
Well, I did drop one ball... the last issue of this newsletter. I wrote about "Seven Perceptions of Quality," but I only included four. I'm sorry. I dropped the ball. Will you forgive me?
Seven Perceptions of Quality in the Agency Of The Future~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~To review this article from the last issue, here are the first four perceptions of Quality.
1. Patient Perception
Most patients and their families don't have the ability to assess the quality of clinical care. Their perceptions of quality are based on what they experience. Our research shows that most patients evaluate quality of care in terms of dependability of caregivers, continuity of caregivers, effectiveness of communication, and how they feel about the social interaction with caregivers and your agency. That means that you better be measuring patient satisfaction and understanding the factors that are more important to patients. You need to get close to your patients to find out what they really feel about your quality.
2. Physician Perception
When we survey physicians about the factors that determine which home health agency they will refer to, the number one factor is "clinical competence of staff." When we ask them to define clinical competence, it means, "The nurse takes care of my patients and doesn't bug me." In other words, the nurse is able to follow the doctor's orders without unnecessary interruptions. Again, the physician's assessment of clinical competence has more to do with communication and interaction with the field nurses than it does with measurable patient outcomes.
3. Referral Source Perception
Key referral sources, such as hospital discharge planners and nursing home social workers, have their own perceptions of quality. Again, it often goes back to "clinical competence of staff," but in this case it has more to do with reputation, education levels, certifications, and feedback from patients and families.
4. Payor Perception
Your fourth customer is the payor. Whether it's your Medicare fiscal intermediary, your state Medicaid program, or your favorite :-) insurance company, the people who pay the bills have a perception of the quality of your agency.
Again, it may not have anything to do with the actual clinical quality of care, but more to do with how you handle documentation and communication. The ability of a nurse to do consistent OASIS assessments and write complete and accurate visit notes may be more important than the actual outcomes of the patients.
And now... juggling seven balls...
Here are the other three:
5. Clinician Perception
Your nurses, therapists, and social workers need to feel like they are providing high quality care for their patients. They need to feel that they have the resources to give exceptional quality care, and that you as the CEO or Executive Team member are doing all you can to remove any barriers to giving quality care.
6. Home Care Team Perception
All of the other members of your home care team need to feel that they are able to provide high quality in the work they do. That's true whether it's a home health aide, a billing clerk, or a quality assurance manager. Everyone on your team wants to do quality work and achieve quality outcomes.
7. Management Perception
Your management team needs to feel and believe that your agency gives the best quality of any agency in your marketplace. First, they need to see it as a critical element of your corporate culture. Second, they need to believe that their employees have the tools, resources, and talents to deliver high quality. And finally, the numbers need to reflect high quality whether it's your Home Health Compare scores, your patient satisfaction scores, or your employee satisfaction scores.
As you can see, this thing called "Quality" is a complex issue. You and your leadership team need to spend some strategic planning time really looking at quality and what it means to your agency. You need to assess the real level of quality you provide, and get past the self-delusion that your agency gives better quality care than everyone else... if it's not true.
What's really true? What is your level of quality compared to your competitors? How do you know? Can you prove it to yourself and to your customers?
The AOTF - Agency Of The Future - will have a leadership team that clearly defines quality based on these seven perceptions. Then that leadership team will set standards and communicate expectations to take your company to the top 20% in quality.
At the same time, you recognize that you're not perfect. From time to time someone will drop the ball. When that happens, pick it up. Acknowledge your mistake. Ask forgiveness. Learn from your mistake. And move on.
I'm sorry. I dropped the ball last month. Will you forgive me?
Certify Your Home Care Sales Professionals~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I am really JAZZED about the Certified Home Care Sales Professional workshop that we are presenting September 24, 25 & 26 in San Antonio.
Dr. Tray Dunaway, Michael G., and I have been working diligently with the team from Decision Health and... Home Health Line to put the finishing touches on this powerful workshop. There is nothing else like it in the home health care industry.
If you're looking for a way to help your home health care sales representatives develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to grow your business, then you need to look at this workshop. Your sales team members will get great advice on how to sell to doctors... from a doctor. They'll get hands-on sales coaching... from a proven home care sales professional. And they'll get the latest information on what works and what doesn't in selling home care services.
We're delighted with the registration so far, and there are still spaces left. If you want your sales reps to have a truly unique experience that will catapult their success into the future, check out this program.
Don't Delay, Register Today!
Leading Home Care is coming to YOUR Neighborhood~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Stephen Tweed and Michael Giudicissi are constantly on the road working with home care companies that want to grow and with home care leaders who want to get ready for the future. When we're in your neighborhood, we'd be happy to meet with you to discuss how we can help you become a Home Health AOTF.
Here's where we'll be in the near future.
Stephen Tweed:
- September 12 - Chicago - Corporate Speech - Leadership
- September 13 & 14 - Lynchburg, VA - Strategic Planning
- September 24-26 - San Antonio, TX - 2007 Sales Professionals Workshop
- September 29 - Las Vegas - Corporate Speech - Private Duty Home Care
- October 7-10 - Denver - NAHC Conference
- October 18 - Basking Ridge, NJ - Private Duty Planning & Coaching
- November 16 - Phoenix - Leadership Conference
Michael Giudicissi:
- September 24-26 - San Antonio, TX - 2007 Sales Professionals Workshop
- October 3 - Camp Hill, PA - PA Home Care Assn.
- October 7-10 - Denver - NAHC
- October 18 - Chicago - Sales Boot Camp - Illinois Home Care Council
To explore the opportunity to bring Stephen or Michael into your agency, call Diane West at 502-339-0653.
Latest Postings on our Blog: Home Health Care Leadership Minute~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here are the latest postings on our BLOG, Home Health Care Leadership Minute:
- NPDA defines three levels of caregivers for Private Duty Home Care
- Heroes in the Home
- PA Governor Signs Law Allowing Nurse Practitioners to Order Home Health Services
- Ohio Governor Signs Order Granting Collective Bargaining Rights to Independent Home Care Workers
- Mayo Clinic Offers Home Care Advice
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~