Written on August 24th, 2010 by tasha
Nothing is free, unfortunately. And much as I am impressed with the options for video-conferencing, there are important elements to keep in mind.
Deborah Randall of Deborah Randall Consulting, gave a superb overview of things you will need to consider in her excellent session at the Boston NHPCO conference on delivering care across the continuum. Here are some of her observations, along with some commentary of my own:
Tags: telehealth
Posted in Elder Care, Family Caregivers, Technology
Written on August 17th, 2010 by tasha
For me, the most exciting session at the Boston NHPCO care continuum conference was on telehealth. (That’s saying a lot, because the conference included presentations on some truly innovative programs. You could see the creative sparks flying between presenters and members of the audience. I go to several conferences a year and have to say these were really fun sessions!)
What struck me in particular about the telehealth session was the discussion of video conferencing. New regulations and cheaper technologies make this medium worthy of a second look, even in the high touch sectors of hospice and geriatric care management.
Certainly as we strive to increase access (especially in rural areas) and discover greener ways to deliver care (less travel time) responsible leaders will need to consider how to leverage technology to meet these goals. (P.S. I am also getting the very strong feeling that productivity goes up with telemedicine because staff do not need to spend so much time in transit. Staff cost per patient goes down, making this also a worthy option to consider financially.) Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: NHPCO, telehealth
Posted in Collaboration, Elder Care, Research Results, Technology
Written on August 4th, 2010 by tasha
Smooth transitions of care require a solid understanding of medication needs and changes. Often the management of new regimens falls to family members. How to be sure they understand what the new medications are, when to take what, and any special instructions?
In this blog post I’m excited to share a free service available to families at MyMedSchedule.com. (I receive no financial compensation for my description, by the way. I’m just impressed by what they offer.)
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Tags: Care continuum
Posted in Collaboration, Elder Care, Technology
Written on July 20th, 2010 by tasha
It costs less to sell more services to an established customer than it does to acquire a new customer. This maxim of commerce is even more appropriate in times of shrinking budgets. We all have to work smarter. Today’s blog post is particularly inspired by Stan Massey, VP of Strategic Planning at Transcend Hospice Marketing, who did a great presentation on the topic of longer lengths of stay as a way to increase revenue.
If you want to increase revenue by 10-20%, you can do it by increasing the number of clients you see. This is good. But acquiring a new referral often involves “taking” that referral from a competitor. Not an easy task. (See our last blog post on Blue Ocean Strategies.)
Signing a client on to service 10%-20% earlier than you usually do, however, can add up to revenue gains even greater than 10-20%. Many of your expenses are likely frontloaded or on a per-client basis (e.g., marketing expenses, the initial assessment). These expenses are fixed, meaning they do not increase if you serve the client longer. This translates into more profit with a longer length of service since the fixed expenses have already been covered. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: content marketing, Transcend Hospice Marketing
Posted in GCM Marketing, Home Health Marketing, Hospice Marketing, Private Duty Marketing
Written on July 7th, 2010 by tasha
How to make your competition irrelevant. Sounds too good to be true, no? But Blue Ocean Strategy is a concept developed by two leading French business school professors after studying 150 years worth of strategic business moves of successful companies. Rich Chesney, of Healthcare Market Resources just gave a thought provoking webinar on this subject as session 2 of a marketing series sponsored by Hospice Resources Online.
Blue Ocean Strategy is not a panacea, but it is a technique worth knowing about.
Any business will find it a useful tool for brainstorming innovative ways to expand its revenue base.
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Posted in Collaboration, GCM Marketing, Home Health Marketing, Hospice Marketing, Private Duty Marketing
