HHT #160 - On a Clear Day . . . You Can See Tomorrow

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On A Clear Day . . . You Can See Tomorrow

The Forces and Trends Shaping the Future of Home Health Care

May 13, 2009

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In this issue...

-- On A Clear Day . . .

-- . . . You Can See Tomorrow!

-- What Can Home Health and Hospice Leaders do?

-- VNAs in San Antonio

-- Academy for Private Duty Home Care in Orlando

-- Private Duty Business Builders Strategy Retreat

-- About the Author

-- Permission to Reproduce

Welcome,

Welcome to this issue of Home Health Care Today, the leading electronic newsletter for home health care and hospice executives who want to grow their business and get ready for the future. Every other Wednesday, we bring you strategies and insights that will help you take your agency to new heights.

For ideas to grow your Private Duty Home Care business, subscribe to Private Duty Today, the bi-weekly newsletter for non-medical home care CEOs. Your complimentary subscription is available at www.privatedutytoday.com.


On A Clear Day . . .

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Rocky MtnsThis past Saturday, Elizabeth and I stopped along Interstate 70 on top of the Vail Pass and looked out over the mountains of Colorado. It was a spectacularly clear day, and it seemed as if you could see forever.

I spoke to the Home Care Association of Colorado on Friday, doing my opening keynote:

"Home Care 2020: The Six Pillars of the Agency Of The Future."

Then I did a breakout on "Opportunities in Private Duty Home Care."

Saturday morning, we got up early and drove from Vail down to Glenwood Springs where we visited the town and the hot springs. Then we drove over to Aspen. The mountains are beautiful, even if it is the "mud season" in Colorado. The sun was bright, a nearly cloudless sky, and the air was clear. There's something about being high in the mountains that helps clear your mind and clear your thinking.

Coming home on Sunday morning, I did some wonderful thinking and planning about the future of our business at Leading Home Care. Then on Monday morning I came into the office early and got out my flip chart and sketched out some new models for our business that will help our clients grow their business and get ready for the future.

  • Are you taking some time now and then to get away, enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, and clear your thinking?
  • Are you taking some time to sketch out new business models, or innovative enhancements to your current business model?
  • Are you taking into account the forces and trends that are shaping our industry?
  • Are you continuously assessing your competitive advantage in the marketplace?

Home Health Care 2020


. . . You Can See Tomorrow!

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As a CEO or executive of your home health agency, you have two important jobs; grow your business and get ready for the future. One of the ways you do that is to pay attention to the forces and trends shaping our industry.

Forces are those outside pressures that cause change, and trends are the patterns of change caused by the forces.

I've been watching closely the interactive forces that are swirling in our nation's capitol as the administration of President Obama takes aim at the healthcare system in America. People have been asking me what I think will happen based on my view of the forces and trends.

Although the short answer is, "Who knows? Anything could happen." I think there are some other answers that we can anticipate. By paying attention to the information coming out of Washington, we can get a snapshot of the changes coming our way.

  • A major government program to pay for care for the currently uninsured
  • More emphasis on healthcare information technology
  • More involvement by the government in "comparative effectiveness research" to determine what treatments are effective
  • A major commitment by major healthcare groups to slow the growth in healthcare costs
  • Labor Unions taking a much more active role in influencing legislation and regulation
  • Dwindling Medicare and Medicaid "trust funds" will cause legislators to look at means testing for beneficiaries
  • Increased taxes for high income individuals to pay for healthcare reform

How will these trends impact Home Health Care?

With fewer uninsured persons in our society, we could see a more balanced stream of revenue to home health. Now, we try to make money on services to better payers to offset loses from services to poor payers. A better balance between payers would benefit home health agencies.

Increased dollars for home health care information technology would help us to automate our businesses more effectively. There is evidence that access to patient information more readily can help us manage care more effectively and more efficiently.

"Comparative Effectiveness Research" by government agencies will be a real source of frustration for clinicians, as government bureaucrats begin to tell physicians and nurses what they can and cannot do for patients based on cost effectiveness. Clinicians are already frustrated by insurance companies telling them what to do or not to do for their patients.

Increased labor union involvement in home health care will add to the employee costs of agencies while revenues also go down.

Means testing for Medicare beneficiaries could make your billing process much more complex as you determine who's eligible and who's not.

These are not predictions for the future, but anticipated changes that could happen if the reform efforts being discussed come to pass. As leaders, our job is not to predict the future, but to anticipate the changes that could happen and get our agencies ready.


What Can Home Health and Hospice Leaders do?

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What can you as a leader in your home health agency do to get ready for the future? Here are a couple of strategic suggestions:

  • Become actively involved in your state and national home care association so you have the latest information on changes taking place
  • Bring your executive team together on a regular basis to discuss how you will respond to the changes
  • Provide information and education to your employees on the potential impact of changes
  • Fine tune your recruiting and retention practices to make sure you are finding and keeping the best people
  • Ramp up your sales and marketing efforts so you have a steady flow of new patients and referral sources
  • Review and refine your internal processes to make them as effective and as efficient as possible
  • Look for opportunities to invest in information technology to automate your processes
  • Fine tune your financial systems so that you can maintain profitability during the good times
  • Put some money away for a rainy day. The AOTF is making money today to reinvest in people and processes for the future.

As we go forward for the balance of 2009 and on into 2010, we are doing several things at Leading Home Care to help you get ready for the future. We are:

  • Conducting new research into home health and hospice trends that may affect you
  • Refining our Executive Strategy Retreat process to help you develop strategic responses to change
  • Adding new dimensions to our strategic planning process to make it more effective
  • Designing a new Home Health and Hospice Business Builders process
  • Rolling out our Executive Development and Leadership Training services in new ways

For more information on forces and trends that are shaping the future of home health and hospice in America, stay tuned to Home Health Care Today, and to our BLOG, Home Health Care Leadership Minute.


VNAs in San Antonio

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I'll be in San Antonio, Texas again later this week to speak at the Visiting Nurse Associations of American annual conference. I'll be presenting "Home Health 2020: The Six Pillars of the AOTF - Agency Of The Future."

My first national home health association keynote speech was to the VNAA annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale in 1989. I've been back with them many times over the years, but it's been a while. I'll look forward to reconnecting with old friends and making new friends among the executives of America's not-for-profit home health and hospice agencies.

If you will be at VNAA in San Antonio, please feel free to come up and say hello after my speech on Friday.

VNAA Annual Meeting


Academy for Private Duty Home Care in Orlando

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Join me in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 for the Academy for Private Duty Home Care, sponsored by the Home Care Association of Florida. The Academy will be conducted as an all-day track within the association's annual conference.

Get more information and insights into the three pillars of private duty home care; Promotion, People, and Profits. Get the latest strategies and insights to help you grow your business. Click on the link below to download the conference brochure. Then visit the HCAF web site to register.

Download HCAF conference brochure


Private Duty Business Builders Strategy Retreat

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Many of you who are executives in Medicare Certified Home Health agencies also have a private duty home care business. If you're like most home health agencies, you struggle with making your private duty business profitable.

If you and your private duty director would like to come together with other successful private duty companies for a one-day executive strategy retreat, here's an exciting opportunity.

Join me in Columbia, Maryland - right near BWI airport - for a one-day focused strategy session designed to help you develop a business growth plan for your company. We'll look at the 27 elements of a successful private duty business, and give you an opportunity to focus on those elements that are most important to you.

We'll share with you the best practices and proven techniques to grow your private pay business. We'll show you how to recruit and select the caregivers you need to take on more clients and we will give you specific tips to increase the profitability of your business.

Join the folks from the Maryland National Capital Home Care Association on June 3, 2009 for the Private Duty Business Builders Strategy Retreat. See you there!

Register today!


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 health care & hospice companies and associations. He is the author or co-author of seven books, five 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 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 Home Health Care Today. Copyright 2009 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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