November 2014: Ho! Ho! No! The holidays are here! Are you ready?

If you haven’t started thinking about Christmas and Hanukkah yet, now is the time. Thanksgiving will be here in a blink and you don’t want to get caught unprepared for your business’ holiday needs. So get in a festive mood and make sure you’re ready to not only celebrate, but share the season with your referral sources, health care partners, clients and staff.

  • Holiday Cards are a time-tested way to get into the spirit of the season, capture the attention of your referral sources and health care partners, and send a subtle reminder of the value of home care. Cards are personalized to your agency and are appropriate for all faiths. The newest available line of cards partners with a nonprofit agency that helps developmentally disabled adults learn job skills. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/holiday-cards.php.
  • Stand out from the holiday noise by sending a card that can be used all year long. Holiday calendar cards are personalized to your agency and include a one-page 2015 calendar. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/holiday-calendar-cards.php.
  • Spread holiday cheer with a high-value, low-cost giveaway for clients, referral sources, senior centers, and employees. Personalized CDs with beautiful instrumental versions of many holiday classics will enliven any environment and make sure your agency stays top of mind year after year. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/holiday-cd.php.
  • It’s not too late to order personalized home care calendars and get them in the hands of referral sources, community stakeholders, volunteers and patients. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/homecare-calendars.php.

Keeping patients, prospects, referral sources and community members informed is one of the greatest ways we can further our marketing efforts all year long. One of the best ways to do this is by distributing a monthly agency newsletter. It can be difficult for agencies to find the time or resources to compose strong newsletters month after month, but it doesn’t have to be.

  • Visit https://www.homecarenewsletters.com/ and check out its collection of dozens of ready-made newsletters available for home health, private duty and hospice. These newsletters are written in a friendly format and cover a wide range of topics relevant to physicians, patients and family members. Send them every month (digitally or via traditional mail) and keep your agency top of mind with these topical, informative marketing materials.

This International AIDS Awareness Month, make a commitment to increase community awareness of AIDS and HIV and the ways your agency can help. Be sure to also take part in World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

  • Provide HIV specialists with agency-personalized pain and symptom logs for them to distribute to their patients (and your prospects). The logs provide an easy way for patients to track their pain and other symptoms and communicate this information to their physician. Find them at https://tagwebstore.com/painsymptomlog.php.
  • Hospice agencies should be sure to leave behind personalized hospice specialty care flyers about HIV for use by physician office personnel. Find them at https://tagwebstore.com/hospice-specialty-care-flyers.php.
  • Call on HIV specialists in your community and discuss the benefits of hospice care for end-stage AIDS patients. Leave behind a personalized Guidelines for Hospice Admission flip chart, a physician tool that describes the common end-stage indicators for common illnesses, including HIV disease. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/flipchart-hospice.php.
  • Call on local clinics specializing in AIDS and HIV. Offer to host a free chronic disease management course that their clients will find helpful. Find the class (which can be taught by a non-clinician) at https://www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.

The amazing work done by volunteers is irreplaceable in our communities, as well as in many of our own agencies. Dec. 5, 2015 is International Volunteer Day. Make an effort to recognize those volunteers who help you do all that you do.

  • Hand out personalized giveaway cards complete with a small treat for your volunteers. Make sure to sign it yourself and have many of your agency’s leaders sign as well. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/giveaway.php.
  • Puzzle books are a fun and easy way to keep your agency’s name at the fingertips of almost anyone. Offer puzzle books to your volunteers. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/puzzlebook.php.
  • There are many fun and inexpensive ways you can treat volunteers with something special. Visit http://theadamgrp.espwebsite.com/ to check out tons of options, including personalized lanyards, water bottles, T-shirts, lip balms, and pens.
  • Your volunteers are among the best people to help spread the word about the good work your agency does. Make sure every volunteer has a stash of agency marketing brochures in their car so they can be ready to hand one out anytime someone expresses an interest in home care or hospice. Find them at https://www.tagwebstore.com/marketing-brochures.php.

March 2014: Get ready to shine a spotlight on volunteers

Volunteers provide essential services to hospice and home care companies across the nation. We couldn’t do it without them – and I’m sure all of us try to make it a point to let them know that we appreciate them. A great opportunity to do that is coming up next month. National Volunteer Week is April 6-April 13. It’s also a great time to recognize the efforts of staff members who take the time to volunteer elsewhere in the community.

  • Start off the week by distributing appreciative cards personalized with your agency’s logo. Include a small token to help make their day, such as a piece of candy to correspond to the card’s message. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/giveaway.php.
  • Host a volunteer appreciation luncheon. Recognize your top volunteers with gifts of appreciation personalized with your agency’s logo. Get them at http://theadamgrp.espwebsite.com/.
  • Make sure all your volunteers know how much you value their health. Hand out bottles of personalized, pocket-size bottles Mist-a-Germ hand sanitizing spray.Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/mistagerm.php.

This April is National Minority Health Month. It’s time to step up your efforts to reach out to your community’s aging minority populations. In addition to different minority groups having an increased risk of developing certain diseases, other factors also contribute to minority health disparities, including language barriers and income levels.  

National Public Health Week is April 4-April 13. It’s a great time to promote your agency while also working to improve the overall health of your community.

  • Participate in community health fairs this month. Be sure to have stacks of disease-specific flyers on hand to distribute to attendees. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
  • Make sure the physicians in your service area know the rules when it comes to referring to home care by giving them a handy pocket guide to Medicare. Help them learn what’s appropriate and improve your community’s overall health in the process. Get it at www.tagwebstore.com/pocket-guide-to-medicare.php.
  • Give patients and potential patients a powerful tool to help track and improve their personal health. Health log books and patient scorecard logs personalized to your agency not only empower them to take better care of themselves, but they help physicians get the information they need, and also serve as a constant reminder of your agency and its services. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/healthlog.php and www.tagwebstore.com/patient-scorecard-logs.php.