~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An 18 Point Assessment for the Agency Of The Future A strategic model to evaluate your home health agency February 20, 2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this issue... -- Six Pillars and Three Functional Levels of the Agency Of The Future -- New PPS Teleseminar Series is a Huge Success! - There's still time to register. -- Seven Steps for Growing Your Hospital Based Home Health Agency -- New BLOG Postings on the Home Health Care Leadership Minute -- The Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM Workshop -- About the Author -- Permission to Reproduce Welcome, . . . to Stephen Tweed's Leading Home Care Report, the premier online newsletter for CEOs and executives of America's leading home health agencies. Here's a new way to look at your agency as you Get Ready for the Future! This 18 point assessment process will give you a tool to analyze your current reality in preparation for Strategic Planning.

Six Pillars and Three Functional Levels of the Agency Of The Future ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's late Tuesday evening as I write to you from Nashville, Tennessee. Elizabeth, Tray Dunaway and I just finished the first day of a four day conference for the largest publicly traded healthcare company in the world. As I listened to Dr. Dunaway and Elizabeth speak, I was clarifying my thinking about how home health agencies need to look in the mirror. You need to step back at least once a year and analyze your current reality. And you need a model or a format for doing that. I've been writing to you for several months now about the home health AOTF - Agency Of The Future. I've been studying, thinking, researching, and pondering the six pillars of the AOTF. Then my son, Jason, and I had some conversations about the three functional levels of a home health agency. The Six Pillars of the Agency Of the Future Quality Service People Technology Growth Finances The Three Functional Levels of the AOTF Strategic Managerial Operational Put the six pillars and the three levels together, and you have a three by six matrix with 18 blocks. In each of these blocks, we can identify specific areas of our business where we need to evaluate, plan, execute and measure. For example, in the service pillar, you will want to evaluate your overall service philosophy and strategy. Where does service enter into your ability to create competitive advantage in your marketplace? At the managerial level, you may want to evaluate the areas of quality improvement your agency is working on, and update your quality improvement plans. At the operational level, you will have specific action plans to improve quality in areas such as reducing patient re-hospitalization. For each of the 18 blocks, you will analyze your current reality in three ways; intuitively, anecdotally, and quantitatively. This process of analysis will give you a clear picture of your agency as it exists today. Then you'll be ready to do your Strategic Planning to get ready for the future. Stay tuned to future issues of Leading Home Care Report as we continue to expand on this model. Or, attend one of the many state home care association meetings this spring and summer where I will be presenting a new keynote speech, "Home Health Care 2020: Six Pillars of the Agency Of The Future." For more details on upcoming association conferences where I'll be speaking, visit our industry calendar on the Leading Home Care web site. Home Health Care Industry Calendar

New PPS Teleseminar Series is a Huge Success! - There's still time to register. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On January 17th, Judy McGuire and I kicked off a new three-part audio teleseminar series on Sales & Marketing Strategies for PPS Performance. We were delighted by the number of companies who dialed in to the call, and the number of participants at each location. Even more so, we were delighted with the in-depth questions that came our way during the Q & A session. During our next teleseminar on February 28, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. eastern time, Michael Giudicissi will describe how to measure the results of your sales activity in Sales Per Hour. And Judy will demonstrate how to link case mix weight and revenue per episode to your sales and marketing results. It's not too late to register. Even though you may have missed the first two sessions, you can still register for the series. Dial in LIVE to session three. We'll send you a complimentary set of audio CDs from all three programs. You won't miss a thing. Match up a growing Sales Per Hour Ratio from your sales reps with an increasing case mix index and more Revenue Per Episode, and this teleseminar series will pay for itself in the first two weeks. It's Not Too Late! Register Today!

Seven Steps for Growing Your Hospital Based Home Health Agency ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are the Director of a hospital based home health agency, you face some unique challenges. Your colleagues who run free standing home health agencies think you have it easy. Since you're part of the hospital, they think you get all of the referrals without having to compete for them. Yet we know that it's not as easy as it may seem. You must balance running a profitable agency with helping the hospital manage charity care and discharge difficult cases while covering your share of the hospital's overhead. You must coordinate your programs and services with other departments in the hospital and with the medical staff. And you must justify your costs with people who don't really understand home health care. We'd like to help you grow your hospital based home health agency by giving you seven strategic steps you can use. This is a process that was proven by Judy McGuire as she managed and grew the largest hospital home health agency in the state of Hawaii. Join Judy McGuire and me for a three-part audio teleseminar series specifically for directors and managers of hospital based home health agencies. Beginning on March 3, 2008, we'll share with you the specific details of these seven proven strategies, while tailoring the information to the unique challenges and opportunities facing your agency. Engage: Seven Steps to Grow Your Hospital Home Health Agency Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time - Seven Strategic Steps to Grow Your Hospital Based Home Health Agency Thursday, April 3, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time - Assess Your People Strengths, Empower Your Team, and Engage Your Hospital Thursday, April 24, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time - Involve Your Professional Advisors, Promote Your Agency in the Community, and Measure Your Success For the very reasonable fee of $499.00 you'll receive: Three 90-minute live audio conferences including Q & A Individual learning guide for each participant Facilitator's guide to lead an on-site discussion of the material Continuing Education contact hours for nurses and other professionals Three audio CD recordings of the live teleseminar for later review For additional information on this teleseminar, or other services for hospital based home health agencies, click below. Don't Delay! Register Today!

New BLOG Postings on the Home Health Care Leadership Minute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are the most recent postings on our BLOG at the Home Health Care Leadership Minute: Clarifying "Home Care" terminology PA Home Care Association Seeks Increase in State Budget Fire Destroys Home Care Office - Are You Ready for Disaster? Connecticut home health and hospice associations merge PPS - An insider perspective on the data Go put your strengths to work Profitable niches in Private Duty Home Care Click here to Visit our BLOG

The Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM Workshop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today, I was with Dr. Tray Dunaway speaking at a client conference on how to grow a hospital based home health agency. As Dr. Dunaway talked about how to build relationships with other healthcare providers, it reminded me of our upcoming Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM workshops coming up in June and September. Our first CHCSPTM workshop, held last September in San Antonio was a tremendous success. We had over 100 sales professionals participate, and already a dozen of them have completed the requirements for this industry certification. If you have sales professionals in your agency who will benefit from in-depth, hands on training with Dr. Dunaway, Michael Giudicissi and myself, then you'll want to sign them up today for this powerful learning experience. June 11-13, Omni Hotel, Charlotte, NC September 17-19, The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX Sign Up 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. Meet the entire Leading Home Care Team

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 2008 Stephen C. Tweed. To receive a FREE subscription to this newsletter, log on to www.leadinghomecare.com."

Contact Leading Home Care ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ email: stephen@leadinghomecare.com phone: 1-866-209-5101 web: http://www.leadinghomecare.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~