LHC #143 - Home Care Goes Back to School

 

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Home Care Goes Back to School

What are You Doing to Increase Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes?

September 3, 2008

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In this issue...

-- It's Back to School Time in Home Health Care

-- The Academy for Home Care Leadership Offers Education for Home Health Managers

-- Strategic Staffing: Finding and Keeping the Employees You Need in Home Care

-- 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 care agencies. (For strategies and insights on how to grow your Private Duty non-medical home care business, we invite you to subscribe to Private Duty Today, our newsletter for non-medical home care.)


It's Back to School Time in Home Health Care

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Fall is in the air, and the yellow school buses are on the highway. I was talking with my twin grandchildren, Jason and Ainsley. You know them, I think. They are my son, Jason's kids and I know you know Jason from his writings.

Jason and Ainsley are six, and they are just going into the first grade at Joseph Priestly Elementary School in Northumberland, PA.

Whenever we talk on the phone I ask them about school. I want to encourage their learning, and I want to be interested in them. So asking questions about school is a great way to get a conversation started.

The twins are excited about school. They love to learn. And they love to come home and tell their Papa about what they have done that day.

The same thing is true about the members of your home care team. They, too, are excited about learning and they really want to learn how to do a better job. It's up to you to provide those learning opportunities so that your team members can increase their knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Now that Labor Day has passed, and it really is "back to school" time, this is a great time to be thinking about setting up education and training programs for your home care team. Here are some "back to school" ideas for your home health agency:

  1. Set up a leadership retreat for your senior team and bring in an outside speaker to educate them about new trends in the industry.
  2. Set up a leadership development institute and provide regular education for your middle managers and supervisors.
  3. Create a clinical quality education program to teach supervisors and clinicians about the new PPS, or how to more effectively use Oasis.
  4. Provide training on coding and billing for your finance department.
  5. Provide training on recruiting and interviewing for your HR department and your managers.
  6. Set up a sales training program for your sales and marketing team.
  7. Provide customer service training for anyone who comes in contact with customers.

I'm working with a large home health agency in Omaha on their Leadership Training Institute. I get regular feedback from the senior leaders about the positive feedback they get from their middle managers after attending a training session. And I get positive feedback from our private duty clients who provide in-service education for their non-medical caregivers.

Later this month we'll be in San Antonio for our Certified Home Care Sales Professional program. We get very positive feedback from the sales people who come to this program. They really appreciate the education they receive and appreciate their company for sending them.

Our research on employee retention shows that "Career Opportunity" is one of the factors that makes home health care a great place to work. Employees value the opportunity to grow personally and professionally. Company sponsored education is a key part of this equation.

When fall is in the air, it's time to go back to school. What are you doing to help your home health care team members go back to school? What are you doing to help them learn to do their jobs better?


The Academy for Home Care Leadership Offers Education for Home Health Managers

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Want to develop the leadership capabilities of your middle managers and supervisors?

Are you planning an annual leadership retreat and looking for a great speaker?

Have you been facing challenges with retention of nurses and therapists and don't know what to do about it?

We can help at Leading Home Care. We can help you design and implement a high-impact, interactive learning program for your managers that will give them the knowledge and skills they need to do a better job of retaining your nurses and therapists.

Whether you are looking for an ongoing leadership development institute, or a one-shot annual leadership retreat, we can help you create a memorable learning experience for your home care team leaders.

Call us today at 502-339-0653 and ask for Julie Raque. Julie will help you set up a personal telephone conversation with Stephen Tweed to discuss your specific needs for leadership development and nurse recruiting and retention.


Strategic Staffing: Finding and Keeping the Employees You Need in Home Care

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National Home Care and Hospice MonthOur work with home health care agencies across the country suggests that the ability to attract and retain capable people can be a major source of competitive advantage in your marketplace. We are convinced that your ability to grow your business and get ready for the future will be based on your ability to recruit people and market your business. The key to your success will be to keep your recruiting and your marketing in balance.

As a leader in home care, you recognize the importance that staffing plays in the growth of your agency. Your ability to serve more clients will be determined by your ability to attract and retain capable clinicians.

Before you can provide service to your first client, you must have recruited someone to actually do the work. If you want to have a growing, profitable business with many delighted clients, you'll need to begin by finding and keeping staff members.

Instantly Access this eBook

Order the Strategic Staffing eBook and you'll receive an email within seconds with your personal download link. You may download your complete 116-page eBook anytime within the next 24 hours. Order now and you can begin learning about Strategic Staffing within minutes. This manual is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Need help or have questions about this Strategic Staffing eBook or any other product? Call our experts at 1-888-668-9333.

Order Your Strategic Staffing eBook right now. Download it immediately!


About the Author

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Stephen Tweed, CSP, is Chairman and CEO of Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company. For over 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 homecare 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 38 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

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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

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phone: 1-866-209-5101

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