Happy birthday to you! Medicare turns 50 years old this July 30. Take part in the celebration of the national social insurance program for older adults. About 55.3 million Americans were covered by Medicare in 2013, and the figure is expected to rise as Baby Boomers continue reaching retirement age.
Offer your patients a tool that will go everywhere they do. Give them a protective sleeve for their Medicare card that already includes a card with your agency’s name and contact information. It will keep their Medicare card safe and make it easy to refer to you when it’s time for home care. Find it at www.tagwebstore.com/medicare-sleeve.php/.
Host a class at your local library to help acquaint people in your community with Medicare. Be sure to also tell them about Medicare’s covered home care or hospice benefits and how your agency can help. Find a ready-made class at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.
Make sure your physician referral sources have an easy way to know what Medicare-covered services are available to their patients and Medicare’s conditions for payment. The physician pocket guide to Medicare tells them at a glance the services your agency provides and includes your telephone number for easy referral. Find it at www.tagwebstore.com/pocket-guide-to-medicare.php.
There’s no mistaking that summer is here. It may be a quiet time when it comes to healthcare observances, but there still are plenty of ways you can keep your marketing efforts current.
We celebrate the independence of our nation on July 4, but it’s also a great time to celebrate the independence seniors in your community are maintaining with the help of family, friends and agencies like yours. Here are some things you can do to reach out to this vibrant community.
Visit local senior centers and distribute Senior Fun Packs, which include playing cards and bingo cards personalized with your agency’s logo and contact information. This outreach out to those who are maintaining social activities such as senior center participation will pay off with enhanced awareness of your agency. Find the Senior Fun Packs at www.tagwebstore.com/seniorfunpack.php.
Experts agree that one of the best ways to maintain mental acuity (and prolong independence) is by completing puzzles. Connect with seniors and raise awareness of your agency with puzzle books personalized with your logo and contact information. Display them in referral source waiting rooms. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/puzzlebook.php.
Plan a Fourth of July-themed event to celebrate the independence of your community’s seniors that also will help prolong their independence and increase your referrals. In addition to a light luncheon featuring ice cream, hot dogs and other summer treats, provide informative booths and educate attendees about an important Medicare benefit they may not realize they have: The Annual Wellness Visit, which includes a review of medical history and risk factors, and a personalized prevention plan. Have a clinician on-hand to perform the annual exams. Find a kit to help you plan and execute the event here: www.tagwebstore.com/annual-wellness-visit-kit.php.
Sandwich Generation Month takes place this July. Join thousands of organizations and communities around the country in recognizing and raising awareness about the Sandwich Generation – the generation of adults who are caring for their children as well as their aging parents. Learn more about it at the sponsor organization’s website www.sandwichgenerationmonth.com/.
Take part in community health fairs this month and stress the importance of supporting these caregivers. Have plenty of agency marketing brochures on hand. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/marketing-brochures.php and www.tagwebstore.com/faq-brochures.php.
Sign up to speak about the sandwich generation at the community meetings of various local elected officials and local community groups. Educate them about how your agency can help those with a variety of conditions and ease the burden on their caregivers. Find disease-specific flyers at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
Visit with your referral sources and stress the assistance your agency can provide family caregivers when a loved one has a serious illness or injury. Show them that one of the tools in your caregiving arsenal is zone flyers, which help improve positive outcomes. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php.