In today’s episode of A Drink with The Hurricane, Steve discusses a few strategies on how to get referrals from hospitals.
Now when it comes to hospitals, the first thing that you have to understand, hospitals are the most difficult referral source to get into. It’s a high chance of getting kicked out, you have a high chance of failure rate, it’s gonna take a long time to develop a hospital.
To put things in perspective. To get into a hospital, it takes a good six months to a year for somebody who’s inexperienced. Even people with connections and contacts, it still takes like three to six months to get into a hospital.
So, you have to realize, that if you’re gonna do this, it’s gonna take that much time to get into a hospital.
However, is your operation ready for hospital discharges? Because hospitals, they don’t give you a lot of notice. It’s the doctor makes rounds, 10, 11 o’clock in the morning, tell the social worker 12 noon, and then at 1:00, 2:00, that’s when the patient knows they’re gonna be going home that day, and they’re gonna be sent home at three, 4:00.
So, if somebody’s gonna need your services, they’re gonna contact you around one, 2PM, and they’re gonna need start at 4PM, 5PM. So unless you can handle, a high volume of those type of patients, I wouldn’t even start hospital marketing, because you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Now if you are able to handle that kind of volume, and when I say high volume, I mean five, ten referrals a week, just like that, if you’re able to handle that, then definitely move forward in the hospital. What I’m gonna talk about at the Boot Camp coming up this summer in Colorado, is how to create a multi-pronged approach towards getting these hospital referrals.
Because imagine if you were to storm a medieval castle, if you try to go in through the front door, you have a battering ram, but they’re going to pour oil on you, they’re going to shoot arrows at you, they’re going to light you on fire. Literally, try to kill you for getting into this castle, and you have a high success rate of failing. Right?
So, if you want to get into that castle, you’re gonna have to have several different ways. Put ladders up the side, go in through the back door and come in through several entrances to get in and out of that castle, and still you might fail, but you have a higher success rate of one of those ways working.
Well, the same thing happens at hospitals. ’cause a hospital really is, like a castle. It is a fortress to get into. You probably will get kicked out of a hospital if you go in through the front door. So, you have to use every single opportunity that you have to get into the hospital.
Here are some examples that I’m gonna go over in great detail at the bootcamp. The first thing that you can do, is using the hospital yourself. No, I’m not saying hurt yourself, but let’s be real. We all live in the area, most of us have families, and every year somebody ends up in the hospital. I know when I myself, you see right here.
Years ago when I owned the home care business I broke my wrist, I have two plates and 13 screws in my wrist. I went to a physician, an orthopedic who is affiliated with the hospital in my area, saw him about my wrist, he tells me you need surgery, we could do the surgery tomorrow, and I said okay great.
Before you cut me open, here’s my business card, I want a lunch and learn, I want this, I want that, and I leveraged my broken wrist which was fate chance, as an opportunity to book a meeting from a meeting. I set up follow up after I get the surgery and I recover and everything else, which the Doctor was dying laughing when I did this, and it was hysterical, but non the less, yeah, he gave me what I was looking for. So there’s one way right there.
Another way is “Power Partners.” If you have power partners, who are already in the hospital, leverage that relationship. Shadow one another, collaborate, and then go in and attack. Your specialty programs. Another thing I’m gonna be talking about at this particular bootcamp, how to create them when you go into the hospitals with a specific program, and then target just this one slither of all the patients that they take care of, that can help you get the business you’re after, and get your foot in the door at the hospital.
The hospital has events. Go to the events. Work with the hospital to plan and coordinate the event and then leverage it accordingly.
Finally, when you have patients that enter the hospital, you should be visiting them, and coordinating the care anyway. Care coordination is a vital part of any home care business that most home care companies are not doing.
At the Colorado bootcamp, I’m gonna train you how to do all of that care coordination, but you should be visiting your clients every time they’re in the hospital, introducing yourself to those social workers, and coordinating the care.
Whether it’s coming home, going to a nursing home, assisted living, or whatever it is. That’s a vital part of being a good home care provider, and that’s an excellent way to get into the hospital.
If you’ve never been to a Boot Camp, sign up right now. The early bird special ends May 3rd! Get to Colorado, where I’m gonna give you everything you need to BLOW AWAY THE COMPETITION!
https://www.homecaremarketing.net/hurricanebootcamp/