LHC #124 - Home Care Thanksgiving Blessings 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Time to Give ThanksA Thanksgiving Blessing to Our Clients, Friends, and AdvocatesNovember 21, 2007~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this issue...-- A Time to Give Thanks-- GPS for PPS: Technology Helps You Find Your Way in Home Health Care-- Growing Your Hospital Based Home Health Agency-- About the Author-- Permission to ReproduceWelcome,
...to Stephen Tweed's Leading Home Care Report. This special report is for CEOs and senior executives of America's leading home health care companies. This report is published every other Wednesday by Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company for our clients, friends, and advocates who want to grow their home health businesses.
A Time to Give Thanks~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~To our Clients, Friends and Advocates,
At this Thanksgiving time, we want to thank you who have been so important to us this year. We truly appreciate your business.
This has been another incredible year for Leading Home Care. Our business continues to grow and we owe it all to you, our loyal customers.
We are thankful for . . .
- Your enthusiastic support of our electronic newsletters, Stephen Tweed's Leading Home Care Report, Private Duty Today, and Sales Manager Interactive.
- Your support and participation in our audio learning Teleseminar Series.
- Your purchase of our books, audio CDs, and eBooks.
- Your regular requests to speak at your conferences and conventions.
- Your use of our consulting and coaching services.
- Your positive, unsolicited testimonials of the results you have achieved from applying the ideas and insights you received from us.
Home Care in America is an amazing business, and we're so thankful to be a small part of it. We are so appreciative that we have an opportunity to share our talents and resources to help home care companies grow their businesses and get ready for the future. We truly believe that the work you're doing is so very important for your patients, your clients, your caregivers and your communities.
Please accept our personal thanks for all the blessings you have brought to us. We wish you all the best in 2007.
Very Best Regards,
Your Leading Home Care Team
Stephen Tweed
Elizabeth Jeffries
Jason Tweed
Diane West
Julie Raque
Kyley Hoffman
Michael Giudicissi
Judy McGuire
Diane Buckles
GPS for PPS: Technology Helps You Find Your Way in Home Health Care~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The box was waiting on the front porch when I got home. Like a kid with a new toy, I rushed to open my new GPS Navigation system - the Garmin Nuvi. What an amazing little box. No matter where I go in the continental United States, Nuvi accesses global positioning satellites to find my location and guide me to my destination.
Nuvi also contains a list of airports, hotels, rental car agencies, stores and restaurants. I was driving back to the Baltimore Airport last week and needed to get gas in my rental car. I punched in fuel, and Nuvi guided me to a gas station near the rental car return that I would not have found without it.
As you get ready to embark on the journey toward the new PPS in Medicare Home Health, you'll want to make sure your home health positioning system is in place and working. That is, all of the information technology that you've invested in to help you guide your business.
The Fourth Pillar - Technology
We've been talking about the six pillars of the Home Health Agency of the Future. The fourth pillar is technology. To become an AOTF - Agency Of The Future, you need to invest in technology, and the people to make the technology work.
Home Health Care is a labor intensive business, with a huge majority of your operating expenses going to people costs - salaries, wages, taxes, insurance, and other benefits. However, the percentage of your total expenditures spent on people is going down, and the percentage spent on technology is going up.
That means two things:
- You need to help your people be more productive.
- You need to make your technology more productive.
To help your people be more productive, equip them with the latest tools, technology, and training so that they can feel confident they are doing their jobs well.
To make your technology more productive, invest wisely. Provide the necessary technical support and train your people to use the full potential of the software and hardware you buy. The biggest problem I see in home health care is not providing the training and support that will allow your field staff to get the full benefit of their point of care computing.
Several months ago I was working with a very large home health company in the southeast. They were having trouble growing their business at the rate they desired, and it was because of staff turnover. Examining the results of exit interviews, we learned that nurses were leaving because their computer system was not working well, was too complicated, and they were burned out from fighting the technology.
The company invested in new software, new training, and a renewed excitement. The result was improved productivity, reduced turnover, and increased growth.
Home health care technology, whether it is point of care computing, cell phones with PDAs, or personal GPS systems, can save you money and make you money. The home health agencies who lead in wisely investing and implementing technology will be the leading AOTFs - Agencies Of The Future.
Growing Your Hospital Based Home Health Agency~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Those of you who lead hospital based home health agencies have a unique challenge. On one hand, all of your competitors think you have it easy because you get all of the referrals from your hospital, and you block them out.
On the other hand, the data shows that your hospital is not referring as many people to home health as they could, and way too many of those referrals are going to your competitors.
If you are an administrator or director of a hospital based home health agency, you'll want to know about the new service line that Leading Home Care has created specifically to serve your needs. We are delighted to announce that Judy McGuire has joined us as our hospital home health specialist. Judy brings a unique background of leadership in home health and hospital systems.
Judy has developed and introduced a Seven Step Model to Grow Your Hospital Home Health Agency. Here is a sneak preview of the seven steps:
- Analyze Your Current Reality.
- Assess Your People Strengths.
- Educate and Empower Your Staff.
- Engage Your Hospital CEO.
- Involve Your PAC.
- Promote Your Agency in the Community.
- Measure and Reward Performance.
If you would like to know more about how Judy McGuire and Leading Home Care can help you grow your hospital based home health agency or hospice, click on the link below. Or call Julie Raque at 502-339-0653 and she'll set up an appointment for you to talk with Judy.
Click for more information on Growing Your Hospital Home Health Agency
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~