Home Care & Hospice: The Caregiving Heroes

November is quickly approaching, which means National Home Care and Hospice Month is almost here.

It is a time to honor the caregiving heroes who make an incredible difference in the lives of the patients and families they serve. Home care and hospice agencies can spend the month spreading the word about the great work done by their agency’s professionals. Be sure to share the love with your staff too!

Want some tips to help you get started? We have a few tips and tricks.

  • Present a Physician of the Year award to the doctor who has been most supportive of hospice or home care in your medical community. Be sure to send a news release to your local media outlets announcing the award. 

  • Promote National Home Care and Hospice Month with fun and educational marketing materials. From retractable banners to magnets, we have a wide variety of promo items for you to put around your agency or hand out to others.

  • Organize a community event to give back to others. An event, such as a food drive for needy patients, is a nice way to support your community.

  • Create a social media post about home care or hospice and how it helps the lives of patients. Stories from your clients or the families of clients who can speak about the work you do can really elevate your story. 

TAG is grateful for all of the work the hospice and home health industries do for others! We are humbled to support the people who work in this field.

October 2014: It’s time to get serious about home care

We have big news, blog readers! We want you to be the first to know about the great way we’re making home care marketing easier than ever. All of the printed products in our webstore (www.tagwebstore.com) are 30% OFF through the end of November*. Let’s talk about ways you can use them to boost your referrals, profits and community reputation.

But first, let’s discuss the one giveaway your agency can’t afford to skip this season: personalized hand sanitizer. 

  • Flu season is underway, and everyone has preventing illness on their minds – especially as viruses such as Ebola and enterovirus D-68 continue to make daily headlines. Give peace of mind to patients, prospects, referral sources and staff while also helping reinforce their mental connection with your agency by distributing Mist-a-Germ pocket spray at all your community engagements. Find it at https://www.tagwebstore.com/mistagerm.php. In a promotional offer valid through Oct. 31, Mist-a-Germ is available at a 10% discount with no set-up charges.

If you haven’t ordered personalized home care or hospice calendars yet, it’s time to stop waiting. Agency calendars are a durable, useful tool that your referral sources, prospects and patients will refer to all year long. This is one of the most cost effective and versatile tools you can have in your marketing toolbox – don’t gloss over this once-a-year opportunity to make sure your name, services and logo are font and center with everyone in your service area. It’s something they will WANT to see every day.

When our staff isn’t in the home with a client, someone else usually is. It’s someone who does hour after of work with no expectation of pay or recognition. And it’s someone we are all grateful for: the family caregiver. November is National Family Caregivers Month. It’s a wonderful time to show family caregivers that what they’re doing matters far more than they know.

  • Visit caregiver support groups in your area and supply refreshments for a meeting in November. Ask to address the group and tell them about the benefits of home care, making sure to distribute your agency’s marketing brochures. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/marketing-brochures.php. (Don’t forget, all tri-fold brochures are buy 1 get 1 free through October. Minimum order or 250 per topic required. See all eligible brochures at https://www.tagwebstore.com/brochures.php.)
  • Distribute FAQ brochures to all the libraries and coffee shops in your area. Be sure to leave them at community counters wherever possible. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/faq-brochures.php.
  • Make the lives of your patients and their family caregivers easier by giving them a clear guide that shows them when their symptoms require a call to emergency services, to their home health nurse, or require no action at all. Zone flyers make this simple and are personalized to your agency. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php.
  • Set up a booth at community events this month and distribute agency materials, including disease information brochures personalized to your agency. These brochures educate on specific conditions and tell how home health, private duty or hospice care can help. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.

It’s here! National Home Care and Hospice Month is finally here! Well, almost. There are still a few weeks left before the celebrations start, but October is the time to kick your planning into high gear. November’s National Home Care and Hospice Month is a great month to not only celebrate the important work you do, but to draw positive community attention to your agency.

  • Use special National Home Care Month or National Hospice Month greeting cards, magnets and bookmarks to recognize the efforts of your employees, volunteers and referral partners – all the physicians, discharge planners, case managers, social workers and others who play a huge role in making your work possible. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/homecaremonth/index.php.
  • As you educate the community about what home care or hospice care is all about, use informative flip charts to ensure referral sources know when it is appropriate to refer a patient to your services. Guidelines for Home Health Admission for ICD-9 or ICD-10 are personalized to your agency and list the diagnosis codes for more than 200 common conditions. Find them at: https://www.tagwebstore.com/hhflipchart/ and https://www.tagwebstore.com/hhflipchart10/.  Guidelines for Hospice Flip Charts detail the admission guidelines for many common hospice diagnoses. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/flipchart-hospice.php.
  • Demonstrate to referral sources that you are not only qualified, but have a proven record of assisting patients with a variety of conditions. Patient Outcomes Brochures for Physicians outline the services you offer per disease. They also provide real data about your quality outcomes and how they compare to your competitors. Find them at https://tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-physicians.php. Find accompanying brochures for patients at https://tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-senior.php.
  • Distribute FAQ brochures about Home Care, Hospice or Private Duty care at health fairs and community events in November as you educate about your services. Brochures include answers to commonly asked questions about coverage, payment, services, eligibility and more. Find them at https://tagwebstore.com/faq-brochures.php.

Plan for October: Get ready for National Home Care and Hospice Month!

It’s here! National Home Care and Hospice Month is finally here! Well, almost. There are still a few weeks left before the celebrations start, but October is the time to kick your planning into high gear. November’s National Home Care and Hospice Month is a great month to not only celebrate the important work you do, but to draw positive community attention to your agency.

  • Use special National Home Care Month or National Hospice Month greeting cards, magnets and bookmarks to recognize the efforts of your employees, volunteers and referral partners – all the physicians, discharge planners, case managers, social workers and others who play a huge role in making your work possible. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/homecaremonth/index.php.
  • As you educate the community about what home care or hospice care is all about, use informative flip charts to ensure referral sources know when it is appropriate to refer a patient to your services. Guidelines for Home Health Admission are personalized to your agency and list the diagnosis codes for more than 200 common conditions. Find them at: www.tagwebstore.com/hhflipchart/. Guidelines for Hospice Flip Charts detail the admission guidelines for many common hospice diagnoses. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/flipchart-hospice.php.
  • Demonstrate to referral sources that you are not only qualified, but have a proven record of assisting patients with a variety of conditions. Patient Outcomes Brochures for Physicians outline the services you offer per disease. They also provide real data about your quality outcomes and how they compare to your competitors. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-physicians.php. Find accompanying brochures for patients at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-senior.php.
  • Distribute FAQ brochures about Home Care, Hospice or Private Duty care at health fairs and community events in November as you educate about your services. Brochures include answers to commonly asked questions about coverage, payment, services, eligibility and more. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/faq-brochures.php.

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. As our nation’s senior population grows, more Americans will be living with the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, about 5.4 million Americans already are living with the disease, making it the most common form of dementia.

  • Present a free class on staying mentally sharp at your area senior centers. The Exercise Your Brain class from the Health Matters Education Series offers an easy-to-follow presentation about ways to keep mentally fit to stave off problems in memory and thinking. Find it at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.
  • After the class, leave behind puzzle books personalized to your agency to not only keep these potential clients mentally engaged, but to create broader awareness of your agency and educate about the benefits of home health, hospice or private duty care. Find them at hwww.tagwebstore.com/puzzlebook.php.
  • Visit with local neurologists, geriatric psychiatrists and geriatricians to tell them about your Alzheimer’s program. Demonstrate your agency’s serious focus on working with Alzheimer’s patients by showing off your Alzheimer’s disease patient education guide. Find it at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php. Leave behind stacks of your Alzheimer’s disease information brochures in their waiting rooms. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.

Diabetes is a condition that affects about 25.8 million children and adults in the United States, or about 8.3 percent of the population. Among older adults, the percentage skyrockets to nearly 27 percent. Position yourself as a local health care leader and make a commitment this American Diabetes Month to join the fight against diabetes and promote healthier living for people of all ages.

  • Call on local endocrinologists and discuss your agency’s services for people with diabetes. Leave behind personalized glucose monitoring logs for the physician to distribute to patients. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/glucoselog.php. The logs provide a place to easily record blood glucose and important screenings and will go with patients wherever they go.
  • Diabetes can affect the blood vessels in the eyes, making optometrists and ophthalmologists an important health care provider for these patients. Leave stacks of agency brochures about diabetes in the offices of your local eye doctors. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.
  • Include diabetes-focused Zone Flyers in your regular care program for clients with diabetes. The flyers help people assess the severity of their symptoms and determine whether a call to their home health nurse or to 911 is warranted. Be sure to show your referral sources this important tool and explain how it helps reduce re-hospitalizations and makes patients more involved in their own care. Find it at www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php.