~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Strategic Quality in the Agency Of The Future Why Quality Matters in Creating Competitive Advantage March 5, 2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this issue... -- Strategic Quality - Why it's important in creating Competitive Advantage in Your Marketplace -- It's Conference Time in Home Health Care -- Certification Programs for Your Sales Professionals -- Leading Home Care Awards First CHCSPTM Designation -- Hospital Based Home Health Agencies Face Unique Challenges -- New BLOG Postings on the Home Health Care Leadership Minute -- 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. Today we're looking at sector 1-S of the AOTF model - Strategic Quality. I want to give you some new insights on how you can really use quality to create competitive advantage in your marketplace.

Strategic Quality - Why it's important in creating Competitive Advantage in Your Marketplace ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Imagine what it would be like if you could really demonstrate significantly better quality in your agency than your competitors. How would your agency really be different from all of the others in your marketplace if you could truly deliver superior quality? For the past 25 years, I've been speaking to home health executives at association conferences and corporate meetings about competitive strategy. I've addressed tens of thousands of home care leaders and I frequently ask this question: "How many of you believe your agency delivers better quality care than your competitors?" About 80% of the folks in the room raise their hands. They really believe it. They just can't prove it. Then along came CMS and their "Home Health Compare" reports on the web site www.medicare.gov. Suddenly the ballgame changes as there is real data to support or deny the claim. Then I observed two significant things happening. First, some agencies and many physicians denied the reliability of the data. Second, some agencies began to use the data to promote their agency when their scores were higher than the national average. As we have facilitated executive strategy retreats and conducted sales training and marketing planning, we have tested the value of using the Home Health Compare scores to prove superior quality. Most people agree that having high scores does not automatically translate into competitive advantage in the marketplace. So, How Do You Use Quality to Create Competitive Advantage? That's the question that many home health leaders are asking. Here's the answer: You create a clear plan at the Strategic Level of the Quality Pillar in our model of the Agency Of The Future. It's not only about quality patient care. It's a total quality philosophy in which every individual in your agency is committed to providing superior quality outcomes in their job... whatever it may be. Imagine what your agency would look like if every nurse, every physical therapist, every home health aide, every intake coordinator, every clinical manager, every HR professional, every biller, and every accountant was committed to total quality. Image what your agency would look like if you could clearly define and measure the quality of each person's job. What would the outcome be? You remember the quality moment in manufacturing in the '80s and '90s. Everyone was talking about TQM, TQI, Six Sigma. That concept moved to healthcare in the early '90s and we did a lot of work around Total Quality Management in Home Care. Everyone was talking about it. Only a few were really doing something about it. What if you were one of the few in 2008 who really took action and developed a clear Quality Strategy? Then you took that strategy down to the management level and developed implementation plans in each area of your company. And you took it to the operational level and had every individual in your agency focusing on giving exceptional quality in everything they do. It's a huge task. But what might the outcomes be? What if you could really demonstrate that every single individual in your agency is committed to delivering exceptional quality in everything they do? How would that show up for your patients and their families, for your referring physicians, for your other referral sources, and for your payers? We'll continue to explore our Six Pillars for the Agency Of The Future at the Strategic Level. There are other options for creating strategic competitive advantage. You'll want to consider each of them and then make a decision about which strategies fit the strengths of your agency and your leadership team.

It's Conference Time in Home Health Care ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spring is conference time in home health care, and we'll be traveling around the country speaking at many state and national home health care conferences. Here's a list of places I'll be over the next few months. If I'm going to be in your area, or if you're going to be attending one of these conferences, please let me know. I'd like to meet you and talk about what you're doing to grow your agency. I'll be speaking at these conferences: March 27, 2008 - National Private Duty Association - San Diego, CA April 1, 2008 - Tennessee Association for Home Care - Franklin, TN April 11, 2008 - Client Board Retreat - Omaha, NE April 14 & 15, 2008 - Certified Private Duty Sales Professional Workshop - Charlotte, NC April 22, 2008 - Southwest Regional Home Care Conference - Dallas, TX April 25, 2008 - Regional Private Duty Client conference - Atlantic City, NJ April 29, 2008 - Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care - Indianapolis, IN May 8, 2008 - CAHSAH - Palm Springs, CA June 3, 2008 - Iowa Alliance for Home Care - Coralville, IA June 4, 2008 - Academy for Private Duty Home Care - Columbia, MD

Certification Programs for Your Sales Professionals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the big challenges facing home health care executives who want to grow their businesses is finding and training sales representatives. Our research shows that the number two most effective and most frequently used technique for bringing in referrals that turn into admissions is "Direct Selling" having feet on the street calling on physicians and other referral sources. We also know from our research that most home care sales representatives are not effective, and in fact do not bring in enough admissions to cover their carrying costs. To solve that problem, Leading Home Care has teamed up with Decision Health, publishers of Home Health Line and Private Duty Insider, to offer two sales certification workshops. The Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM This certification is designed specifically for sales professionals representing Certified Home Health Agencies, calling on hospitals, physicians, and other skilled care facilities. This workshop is designed specifically for those selling home health care. We have also had participants from hospice, medical supply companies, home medical equipment, and home infusion pharmacies. The Certified Private Duty Sales ProfessionalTM This certification is designed specifically for sales professionals representing private duty, non-medical home care companies. Although the selling principles are the same, the focus is different. This workshop is designed specifically for those selling private duty. Take a look at the web sites for each program. Then decide which one is best for your sales representatives. We've found that the graduates of these programs are able to demonstrate measurable increases in admissions during the first eight weeks after the course that more than pays for the cost of the program. The Certified Private Duty Sales ProfessionalTM April 14 & 15, 2008 - San Antonio, TX The Certified Home Care Sales ProfessionalTM June 11, 12, 13, 2008 - Charlotte, NC September 17, 18, 19, 2008 - San Antonio, TX

Leading Home Care Awards First CHCSPTM Designation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the Decision Health Home Health Power Referrals conference in Las Vegas, we were delighted to award the very first CHCSPTM designation to Renata Cichowicz, Director of Business Development with Ingalls Home Health Care in Hickory Hills, Illinois. Renata has an amazing story. She came to the United States in 1993 from Poland with her husband and two children. She learned the English language, earned a Bachelors degree, and began working in home care sales, all while she helped her family make the transition to life in America. By applying the principles she learned in the Sales Professional Workshop, Renata was able to improve her admissions by 57%, her conversion ratio by 29% and her sales per hour ratio by a whopping 120% in the first 8 weeks. Renata is a wonderful example of a person who is dedicated to the profession of home care sales, and who has demonstrated the ability to apply what she has learned to get measurable results. Pictured above is Renata Cichowicz receiving the very first CHCSP certificate from Stephen Tweed, CEO of Leading Home Care, and Jonathan Stern, Publisher of Home Health Line. Learn more about the CHCSP designation

Hospital Based Home Health Agencies Face Unique Challenges ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 withhelping 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 13, 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: VNS NY Implements mobile VPN Canadian Healthcare System Struggles Clarifying "Home Care" terminology PA Home Care Association Seeks Increase in State Budget Click here to visit our BLOG

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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~