July digest: Prepare for August with personalized collateral

Celebrate your community’s seniors this August by taking part in Senior Citizens Day (Aug. 21, 2014). This fast-growing group has long been behind social changes, and they’re not going to stop any time soon. Make an extra effort to recognize your community’s vital older adults and show them the benefits of home care.

  • Show prospects (and their physicians) just how successful you are at improving certain conditions with outcomes brochures for patients and physicians. The patient brochures educate on home care and the services you provide. The physician brochures outline specific programs and compare your agency’s outcomes scores to state or national averages. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-physicians.php and www.tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-senior.php.
  • Drop by your local senior centers and host a fun activity. Be sure to distribute puzzle books personalized with your agency’s logo and contact information to all those in attendance. Find them at https://tagwebstore.com/puzzlebook.php.
  • Empower patients and prospects to take a greater role in their own health care with health log books personalized to your agency. Distribute them to existing patients and offer them to referral sources to distribute to their patients. Your name and referral information will go everywhere the patient goes. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-logbooks.php.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more people die from lung cancer than from any other cancer. Honor the struggle of those fighting this deadly disease on World Lung Cancer Day (Aug. 1, 2014).

  • Meet with your oncologist referral sources and demonstrate your commitment to caring for those with lung cancer. Patient Education Guides focused on lung cancer and cancer with chemotherapy/radiation are great resources for patients, and they show physicians that you have expertise and a plan in place to help their patients. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php.
  • Participate in a health fair and distribute flyers about cancer and how your agency can help. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
  • Hospice agencies can call on referral sources and remind them about the benefits of early conversations about hospice and early referral to hospice. Leave behind a Hospice FAQ Poster to help them start the conversation with their patients. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/hospice-faq-poster.php.

The year is halfway over and it’s time to start thinking about 2015. Home care and hospice-specific calendars educate about common conditions and keep your agency in front of referral sources, clients and potential clients all year long. Getting your calendars early means you’ll have them ready for distribution as fall creeps closer – at the rate this year is flying by, that’ll be before you know it. In an offer available this July only, get 25 bonus calendars free with every 100 you order of the same type and style (includes wall calendars, weekly planners, pocket planners, and notebook planners).

  • Plan your outreach efforts for the second half of the year, including events and opportunities to distribute traditional wall calendars. Time-tested and durable, calendars will remind referral sources, patients and others about your services, and will make them aware of healthcare observances and any other dates that are important to your agency. These calendars are at their lowest price ever. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/homecare-calendars.php.
  • Equip your staff with durable and indispensable weekly planners. The spiral-bound planners include plenty of space to keep track of appointments and notes, and also include health care observances. Referral sources will love these, too. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/weekly-planners.php. Other great options include notebook planners (www.tagwebstore.com/notebook-planners.php) and pocket planners (www.tagwebstore.com/pocket-planners.php).
  • Hand out magnetic calendars personalized to your agency at health fairs, senior centers and all your educational events. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/magnetic-calendar.php.

Get focused. Get training. Get more referrals.

The end of the year is in sight and it’s time to start thinking about refocusing your efforts to get even more of your local market share. A great way to do that is by attending a home care and hospice-specific sales and marketing training event to get energized and learn the latest tips and tricks from experts in home care and business growth.

  • There is still time to register for PMX, a three-day specialized sales and marketing experience devoted entirely to home health, hospice and private duty. PMX: PlayMaker CRM Expo & User Conference is the industry’s top destination for gaining the innovative tools and strategies needed to improve marketing efficiency; strengthen branding; increase referrals, census and revenue; and dominate your market. You do not have to be a PlayMaker CRM customer to attend or to get the full benefit of PMX.

PMX is Sept. 18-20 in Nashville, Tenn. Visit www.pmxusercon.com to learn more. We have secured a special discount for readers of this blog. Enter promo code BOGO when you register to buy one seat and get the second seat FREE.

Take a deep breath and get ready because October is all about lung awareness. Not only is October Healthy Lung Month, but Lung Health Day is Oct. 30 and National Respiratory Care Week Is Oct. 20-26. The number of Americans affected by lung disease is staggering. With about 158,000 deaths every year (more than prostate, pancreas, breast and colon cancer combined), lung cancer is the nation’s deadliest cancer. About 206,000 people are diagnosed with the condition each year. Additionally, about 10 million adults are diagnosed with chronic bronchitis each year, and about 4.7 million others have ever been diagnosed with emphysema – the diseases that make up Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). About 25 million people live with asthma. Take a stand for lung health and encourage your community to spread the word about lung disease.

  • Use your agency’s COPD outcome scores to demonstrate to physicians your success at providing quality outcomes for certain conditions. Outcomes brochures for the physician detail the specific services you offer and display your outcome scores as compared to state or national averages. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-physicians.php. Companion brochures for patients are available at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-outcomes-senior.php.
  • Hospice agencies can visit with physicians and discharge planners to discuss when referral is appropriate for patients with lung disease/COPD. The hospice specialty care flyer, which includes easy-to-follow end-stage indicators, is a wonderful tool to clearly convey this message. Find it at www.tagwebstore.com/hospice-specialty-care-flyers.php.
  • Partner with physicians to improve hospice care for patients with COPD. The COPD hospice disease case study provides a specific patient scenario in which hospice referral would be recommended. Find it at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-case-study.php.
  • Empower your COPD patients and improve your positive outcomes by providing them with COPD zone flyers that tell them when their symptoms indicate a call to their home health nurse is needed, and when it’s time to call 911. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php. Reminder stickers and magnets also are available at www.tagwebstore.com/zoneflyer-english-products.php.
  • Show physicians you’re serious about giving patients an active role in managing their condition by using patient education guides, which are packed with guidance, tips, goals and logs. Be sure to take the guides along when you call on physicians to discuss potential referrals and the care you provide. Find guides for asthma and COPD at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php.

Get your pink ribbons ready. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The American Cancer Society estimates that 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer and about 34,640 new cases of non-invasive carcinoma in situ will be diagnosed in the United States in 2013. About 39,620 women will die from breast cancer in 2013. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, surpassed only by lung cancer. With nearly 3 million breast cancer survivors in this country alone, it’s a disease that touches nearly everyone in some way. So put on that pink T-shirt and prepare to spread the word about breast cancer awareness, treatment and how home care and hospice can help.

International Infection Prevention Week is Oct. 20-26. Having good hand hygiene and awareness of simple protections to prevent contracting a cold or flu are simple but hugely important steps we all need to keep from getting sick. Highlight these simple strategies this week and play your part in reducing your community’s rates of potentially deadly infections.