LHC #122 - Leadershp in the AOTF 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Leadership in the Agency Of The FutureDeveloping the Next Generation of Home Health Care LeadersOctober 24, 2007~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this issue...-- Seven Principles of Exceptional Leadership in the AOTF - Agency Of The Future-- CMS Announces Pay for Performance Demonstration Project-- The Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM-- Strategic Planning for the AOTF-- This Issue of Leading Home Care Report is brought to you by Decision Health, and the 2008 Private Duty National Conference-- About the Author-- Permission to ReproduceWelcome,
to this edition of Leading Home Care Report, and our look at the home health Agency Of The Future. The last three issues focused on Quality, Service, and People. Today we continue our series on the People Pillar.
In this issue, I'll be talking about your leadership and how it affects your people and their performance. I'm writing to you from Williamsburg, Virginia where I've been for the past four days enjoying a respite from home care and an adventure back into the history of our nation.
There's nowhere better to look at the principles of leadership than to go to Williamsburg and study the Founding Fathers of the greatest nation on God's green earth.
Seven Principles of Exceptional Leadership in the AOTF - Agency Of The Future~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yesterday, I was sitting in the Capitol building in Williamsburg, Virginia listening to the comments of the Founding Fathers of America; Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Patrick Henry. As I listened to the history of our country coming alive, I realized how important leadership was then, and how important leadership is now. I paused for a moment to think about the importance of leadership in the Home Health Agency Of The Future.As I listened to their stories, I developed a new appreciation for the sacrifices these men made for their country. I realized how their wisdom and vision shaped the country we live in today, and the many blessings that we enjoy.
As leaders in home health care, we have an obligation to focus on some of these simple principles of leadership, and to leave a legacy for the future generations of home care leaders. Let's take a moment to look at seven principles that you can develop in your leadership team to become a Home Health Care Agency Of The Future.
1. Seeing the Bigger Picture
Our research in home care leadership shows clearly that the single most important competency of highly effective home care leaders is the ability to see the bigger picture of our industry. It is critical that future leaders in home care have a clear picture of the economic, demographic, social, technological, and political forces that are shaping our industry. Of particular importance is for every manager and supervisor in your agency to understand the economics of home care, and how their decisions affect the future of your agency. What are you doing to help your managers and supervisors see the bigger picture of home care?
2. Recruiting and Selecting Great People
It is becoming increasingly clear that recruiting and selection are key competencies in defining your future. With the shortages of clinicians and managers, the Agency Of The Future will be the one that can attract the most competent people, and that can put them in positions where they can use their strengths every day. I see too many agencies that are hiring nurses and supervisors today that they would not have even interviewed five years ago. What are you doing to improve your recruiting and selection?
3. Communicating Expectations and Directions
Employees in home care tell us constantly that what they want from their manager is clear communication about what is expected, and how they are doing in meeting those expectations. Communicating clear expectations and directions is a critical leadership skill for the future. What are you doing to help your managers become better communicators?
4. Coaching and Counseling
I hear home health care managers all the time, talking about how much of their time they spend dealing with people problems. There are two types of people problems you will face; problem performance and problem behavior. Coaching is the process of helping your home care team members develop the skills and abilities to perform well. Counseling is the process of helping your team members solve performance and behavior problems. What are you doing to help your leaders develop their coaching and counseling skills?
5. Making Decisions
Are you faced with "upward delegation?" Do your middle managers constantly come to you for decisions that they should be making themselves? In the Agency Of The Future, you won't be able to make all of the decisions. You'll need managers who understand the bigger picture, and who grasp the vision and values of the agency. Then, they need to have the knowledge, skills, and authority to make decisions. What are you doing to help them grow their decision making skills, and the confidence to make decisions on their own?
6. Inspiring Others to Follow You
According to my resident leadership guru, Elizabeth Jeffries, to influence means, "to breathe life into." Inspiring others to follow you is about having a clear vision for the future, and then breathing life into that vision so members of your team are eager to follow you. Inspirational leaders are "Servant Leaders" who put service before self. What are you doing to grow inspirational leaders in your agency?
7. Measuring and Managing Team Performance
How are your managers at measuring the performance of their team, and creating an environment that motivates them to improve performance? You've heard me say, "What Gets Measured Gets Managed." The leaders of the Agency Of The Future will have a Strategic Scorecard to aid them in measuring and managing team performance. What are you doing to help them keep score?
CMS Announces Pay for Performance Demonstration Project~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Are you ready for Pay for Performance?Neither is anyone else. Despite all of the rhetoric and hype about Pay for Performance in our industry, no one really knows exactly what it will look like because the process has not been defined.
But we're getting closer. CMS issued a press release on October 11, 2007 announcing the Pay For Performance demonstration project that will begin on January 1, 2008. Under the demonstration, home health agencies (HHAs) will be eligible to receive incentive payments if their quality improvement efforts result in the highest performance levels or significant improvements in patient outcomes.
The availability of incentive payments will depend on whether or not the demonstration results in improvements in the quality of care and the actual savings to the Medicare program overall - not just for home health services provided to the patients served under the demonstration.
In the demonstration project, performance improvement will be measured in seven areas:
- Incidence of Acute Care Hospitalization
- Incidence of Any Emergent Care
- Improvement in Bathing
- Improvement in Ambulation/Locomotion
- Improvement in Transferring
- Improvement in Status of Surgical Wounds
- Improvement in Management of Oral Medications
HHAs that agree to participate will be randomly assigned to either a study group or a control group. Those agencies assigned to the study group will have their patients' outcomes monitored over time. Those agencies with the best patient outcomes among participants in their states, or with the highest degree of improvement relative to the previous year, will be eligible for incentive payments.
CMS has selected the following states to provide a nationally representative sample of both HHAs and Medicare beneficiaries who utilize home health services:
- Northeast region: Connecticut, Massachusetts
- Southern region: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee
- Midwestern region: Illinois
- Western region: California
CMS will be soliciting agencies to participate in the demonstration project from those seven states. If you would like to participate, see the link below.
The Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Professionals in every industry have certifications to recognize their education, experience, and professionalism. Now, sales professionals in home care have their own certification.The Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM is a designation created by Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company to recognize the achievements of those home care sales representatives who are serious about the profession.
The program was introduced in September during a three day sales professionals workshop in San Antonio, Texas presented by Leading Home Care and hosted by Decision Health, publishers of Home Health Line and Success in Home Care Magazine. Faculty members for the three day workshop were Dr. M. Tray Dunaway, Michael Giudicissi, and Stephen Tweed.
One hundred and eight home care sales and marketing professionals completed the workshop and are in the process of completing the other requirements for the certification. They are:
- Two years of continuous experience in home care sales
- Fifteen hours of training in home care sales
- Passing a written examination
- Demonstrating improved performance in home care sales
This first CHCSPTM workshop was so successful that Leading Home Care and Decision Health are planning two more programs in 2008. One will be in March in the eastern part of the country, and the other will be in September back in San Antonio. Keep watching Leading Home Care Report for more details.
Strategic Planning for the AOTF~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One of the critical characteristics of the Home Health Agency Of The Future is the presence of an ongoing, consistent, strategic planning process.Remember the words of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there."
And remember the words of management guru, Dr. Peter Drucker, "The best way to see the future is to create it. "
If you'd like to have a clear vision for becoming an Agency Of The Future, and a road map to get there, Leading Home Care can help.
This Issue of Leading Home Care Report is brought to you by Decision Health, and the 2008 Private Duty National Conference~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Join Stephen Tweed in Las Vegas on November 12, 13, and 14 for the 10th Annual Private Duty National Conference. This is the private duty industry's premier event for owners and administrators of non-medical home care companies.
Since the first conference in Florida in 1997, this conference has been THE place to go for the latest ideas and information to grow your private duty business.
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: 1-866-209-5101~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~