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.

Home health agencies: Your CMS star rating is a great marketing tool

Competition is fierce in the home health care industry, and savvy consumers have more information than ever to help them decide which provider will be the best for their family. Are you doing all you can to help ensure patients and their physicians have easy access to your key outcomes scores to help nudge them along the way? Conveying this information is easier than ever now that CMS has two different star ratings to allow an at-a-glance look at what may some of the most credible data about your company.

Although the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating and the Home Health Patient Experience of Care Star Rating (HHCAHPS Survey star rating) are easily accessible on Medicare’s Home Health Compare webpage, patients and physicians rarely dig into the data to make their home health provider decisions.

Here are some ways you can call attention to your agency using your star ratings:

  • Use your outcomes scores and star ratings to show referral sources just how much more effective you are than your competitors at caring for people living with certain conditions. TAG has created a line of Outcomes Brochures for Physicians that list the services you offer for a specific condition and your patient outcome scores compared to state and/or national averages in graph form. Our Outcomes Brochures for Seniors are a perfect companion piece to the brochure for physicians. These brochures educate seniors on their disease and the many benefits of enlisting your agency to help them manage it.

  • Put your star rating on all your collateral and communications materials so the recipients know at a glance that you have been rated highly. It should always be included in your Marketing Brochures.

  • When your agency does earn excellent ratings and scores, don’t forget to recognize the people who make it all possible: your staff. Send out a congratulatory note in your newsletter thanking them for their hard work.

  • A good star rating is worth sharing. If you haven’t already sent a press release to tout your 4-star or 5-star rating, get ready to brag a little about your recognition with the next release of scores. Send a press release out to your community’s media outlets and mail an announcement to your community partners. Doing well is a big deal; make sure they know it.

Patient safety is a standout opportunity this March

National Patient Safety Awareness Week is March 11-17. It’s an easy opportunity for home health care and hospice providers to tout their services while promoting patient safety. You not only will promote yourself as a credible resource for patient care, you will be improving the overall health of your community.

Here are some great tips to help you get started.

  • Visit the United for Patient Safety website to learn more about the observance and ways you can kick-start your company’s efforts.
  • Don’t forget to download their free campaign materials, including posters, table tends, and more.
  • Home health and home care providers, highlight your fall prevention efforts and promote your fall prevention assessments and services.
  • Arm yourself with statistics from the National Council Aging on seniors and falling and then contact your local TV news media. Let them know that even though one-quarter of all older Americans will fall each year, they are not an inevitable part of aging. Tell them about your fall prevention efforts and offer to discuss fall prevention and the elderly on their morning or afternoon news programs.
  • Visit independent living facilities in your area and host a class on senior safety. Focus on medication safety, fall prevention and family caregiver safety. Be sure to hand out flyers and that highlight your agency’s services to those in attendance. Branded night lights are another great handout that will help increase their home safety while subtly reinforcing your brand message.
  • When you visit with physician referral sources during the observance week, be sure to take along your fall prevention patient education guide to illustrate how seriously you take your patient care partnerships.

Cardiovascular referral sources should move to the forefront this February

Hearts are everywhere this time of year, including on all your collateral focusing on heart month. While you may be prepared for Valentine’s Day, National Wear Red Day, and even Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, you’re may be leaving out an important heart-related health observance that can help you market your office this February.

Feb. 11-17, 2018 is Cardiovascular Professionals Week. It’s a time to stop and shine a spotlight on the professionals who work tirelessly to keep hearts thumping and patients healthy. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Caring hearts healing hearts.”

Make a commitment to celebrating the cardiovascular professionals in your community this February. Here are some tips to help you get started.

  • The job of cardiovascular professionals literally is to try to fix broken hearts every day. Create buttons with an image of a heart with an adhesive bandage announcing Cardiovascular Professionals Week. Distribute these to all the cardiovascular professionals you encounter, including physicians, nurses, rehabilitation specialists and more.
  • Valentine’s Day is falls right in the middle of this important observance. Deliver clever Valentine’s Day cards with a healthcare theme to all your cardiovascular referral sources. Be memorable by using a cardiac themed message – maybe try something like “We’d never BYPASS a chance to tell you how much matter.” Don’t forget to include a small heart-shaped lollypop or other sweet treat.
  • Write a post for your company blog about cardiovascular professionals and all the good they do for your community across the expansive discipline. Make sure to share the link via your social media profiles.
  •  Visit the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals’ web page for this observance. Find additional ideas there, including a planning guide.
  • Get branded stress balls in the shape of a real human heart and distribute them to your physician referral sources for a low-cost promotional product they’ll hold onto for years. Call TAG Partners at 866-232-6477 for available options.
  • While you’re in the room with these referral sources, make sure you show off your relevant Home Health Compare scores in a format that assures them you’re the best choice to care for their cardiovascular patients in need of home health care.

Dementia care matters. Show your commitment this February.

Americans are enjoying longer a life expectancy than ever before. One unfortunate fact that accompanies a longer lifespan is the increased likelihood that a person will develop Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s today. This could grow to as high as 16 million by 2050.

Home health care and hospice providers are in a unique position to strengthen their Alzheimer's and other dementia care services and become community leaders in education and awareness.

Feb. 14-Feb. 21 is Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Staff Education Week. Use this health observance as a springboard for a year of enhanced attention for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

  • Start with a visit to the official observance page of the National Council of Certified Dementia Providers. While you’re there, you can download a free Staff Training In-services and Tool Kit to help kick-start your efforts. The kit includes a Power Point presentation, interactive exercises, and more.
  • While it won’t be appropriate for all providers to develop a dementia care specialty, all providers can benefit from improving their knowledge of current best practices when it comes to dementia care. Make sure all of your in-home care providers receive a digital copy of the Alzheimer’s Association’s guide “Dementia Care Practice Recommendations for Professionals Working in a Home Setting.”
  • Contact your physician referral sources and underscore your commitment to treating patients with dementia. Take along a copy of the patient education guide you use with to help educate patients and their family members as you integrate them into their care.
  • Don’t limit your educational efforts to professionals this month. Provide additional support to those who are providing care for a loved one with dementia. Create a flyer about the care fundamentals for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias --  be sure to include the resources available within your organization.
  • Increase your visibility at community events this February and distribute brochures or flyers that highlight the services you provide for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.