Leading Home Care Report #120 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NAHC Convention Special ReportThe Latest News and Views from the 26th Annual National Association for Home Care & Hospice ConventionOctober 8, 2007~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this issue...-- NAHC Kicks Off Annual Meeting in Denver-- Congressman Jim McGovern Opens NAHC Convention-- Technology and Private Duty Dominate Trade Show-- This Special Report Brought to You by Home Care CRM-- The Customer Service Companion-- About the Author-- Permission to ReproduceWelcome,
to this special edition of Stephen Tweed's Leading Home Care Report coming to you live from the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.
For the next three days, we'll be reporting to you from the meeting rooms and exhibit halls of the NAHC convention. We'll do our best to bring you the latest and most relevant ideas and information for the largest convention and expo in the home health and hospice industry.
If you are attending the convention, and want to report on your observations here, hit reply to this email and send me your article.
NAHC Kicks Off Annual Meeting in Denver~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This year, I have a new format to keep you informed of what's going on at NAHC. Instead of giving you a full report in this newsletter, I'm just going to give you the highlights. Then I'll give you a link to my BLOG at Home Health Care Leadership Minute at www.leadinghomecare.com/blog.NAHC President Val Halamandaris and Chairman Elaine Stephens welcomed the crowd to the opening general session.
Bob Fazzi gave us a preview of the results of the National Telehealth Study conducted by Fazzi Associates in cooperation with NAHC and Philips Corporation. We'll bring you more details in future BLOG postings.
The NAHC staff did their usual good job of giving us the highlights of what's going on in the industry. Some of the hot topics included:
- Proposed legislative cuts to home health reimbursement
- A new approach to the SCHIP bill
- Hospice in the crosshairs of Congress
- New User Fees for agencies requiring a re-survey by CMS
- New research projects being conducted by NAHC
- Home Health Agency re-enrollment required in Houston and LA
- Home Health Outlier Investigation in Miami/Dade
- Implications of the Long Island Home Care v. Coke Supreme Court Decision
- CMS' approach to "Case Mix Creep"
Visit the Home Health Care Leadership Minute for more details.
Congressman Jim McGovern Opens NAHC Convention~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The opening keynote speaker for the 26th Annual NAHC Convention was James P. McGovern, (D-MA). Congressman McGovern has been a strong advocate for home care & hospice. He'll be introducing a bill in the House to protect home care from being injured by deep cuts to reimbursement.
Technology and Private Duty Dominate Trade Show~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The first evening of the NAHC convention, I do a quick walk through of the trade show to see what's new in our industry.Last evening, I notice two things:
1. The IT companies must be doing really well. Their booths are bigger and brighter than ever. And there are more of them.
2. I noticed more booths providing services to Private Duty Home Care.
What did you see or hear at the show? Send me your observations and comments. Hit reply to this email and tell me what you think.
This Special Report Brought to You by Home Care CRM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We're delighted to have as our sponsor for this special report Home Care CRM, by Contactivation. Home Care CRM is an industry specific Customer Relationship Management program designed to help you and your sales team manage the sales process and bring in more referrals that turn into admissions.We've been talking about Home Care CRM for several years as the most effective software for your home care sales team. This year, we began using the Contactivation Sales Logix platform at Leading Home Care for our own CRM system.
We've been delighted by the flexibility of the system. And Karl Dumas and his team at Home Care CRM have been great to work with.
If you are looking for a Customer Relationship Management system to manage your sales contacts and prospects, plan your sales approach, and track sales activity, you'll want to explore Home Care CRM.
The Customer Service Companion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One of the most fun and effective books on customer service is The Customer Service Companion by C. Leslie Charles. This terrific little book not only reminds us what to do and how to do it, but it also highlights the personal payoffs for giving great service.
My friend Michael LeBoeuf, author of How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life, says, " The Customer Service Companion is a handbook of beautifully written reminders that will help anyone in your business stay focused on the most important asset of your business - the customer.
When this book first came out, I bought several cases of them and gave them to my clients as Thanksgiving Gifts. The feedback was spectacular. Everyone loved the book and it was a great way to say thanks for their business.
Now, you too can have a copy of this powerful little book. Just click on the link and order your copy today.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~