Steve “The Hurricane” (00:00):
What’s up everybody? It’s Steve the Hurricane, and for today’s episode of a Drink with the Hurricane, we are going to continue to talk about the best referral sources to get business, specifically home health agencies. So raise your glass and let’s toast to your success. Cheers.
(00:24):
This is a drink with the Hurricane, the Talk show discussing all things growing your home care business. This video is sponsored by Home Care Evolution where we help home care agencies adapt to changing circumstances, transform their business so that they can thrive for years to come. So sticking with the best referral sources as per the most recent Home Care Pulse data benchmark study that came out earlier this year, home health agencies are among the top 10 best referral sources, and for those of you who are clients of mine, I want you to make a note. I talk specifically about home health agencies in Fast Start, lesson one, lesson three, and advanced training lesson five. So fast start one three, advanced training, lesson five. This has to do with what I call power partners. A power partner is a business person entity that offers a product or service that’s synergistic with mine.
(01:30):
As a matter of fact, being a private duty agency, part of what I call the three-legged bar stool of home-based providers is working with a home health company and the hospice. We’ll talk about hospice in another episode, but the home health company makes sense for us to partner up with them because where are they taking care of their patients in the home setting the same place we are. What does the home health agency do? Well, when a person goes through the hospital and they come home from the hospital, they’re going to need additional support. The Medicare benefit will pay for a visiting nurse to come out, a visiting therapist. They may even pay for a caregiver to come out for a couple of hours a day, a couple days a week to help that person get back on their feet 60, 90 days after a discharge from a hospital.
(02:21):
Here’s where the private duty comes in. For a large portion of folks who come home from the hospital, who come home from rehab centers, about one in five of those folks end up going back to the hospital within 30 days. This is what we all know as a readmission. The home health companies are doing the best that they can to lower readmission rates. As a matter of fact, home Care Pulse, the most recent data showed that the average home health agency that participated in the survey has a 10% readmission rate. What does that mean? That means for every hundred patients that come onto their services from a hospital or a skilled nursing home as a discharge, 10 of those people go back to the home within 30 days. That is identified as the person who that home health agency should automatically refer you so that the second time they come home, they do not end up being readmitted because we know that the home health by itself was not enough to keep this person home.
(03:32):
Another great referral that they can make for us, which is why we like home health agencies and you want to work with them, is understanding the fact that the Medicare home health agencies, they don’t start the patient on services right away. They actually have a 48 hour window from the day after discharge. Meaning if my mother comes home from the hospital today, they actually have tomorrow and the next day to schedule it so that on the third day will be the first day she gets care. Most people get readmitted within the first three days of a discharge by partnering with the home health agencies. When they identify somebody that has multiple chronic conditions, or we’ll say five or more ailments, like they have congestive heart failure, that’s why they went to the hospital, but they also have C O P D, shortness of breath. They get dizzy when they stand too quickly.
(04:31):
They have high blood pressure and let’s say they have macular degeneration, five ailments. That’s somebody that if the nurse doesn’t see them or they don’t have help within that first 48 hour window, they’re probably going to end up going back to the hospital. So what they should do is contact you as soon as they know that patient’s signing up based on the amount of ailments you go into the hospital, you screen that patient, you sign ’em up, you bring ’em home, and you stay with them through the first 48 hours and really beyond the 48 hours to help that person stay home and not be a readmission. That’s the type of agency, that’s the type of referral rather that we’re looking for from our home health agencies. Now, when it comes to working with the home health agencies and how to get in with them, the easiest way to do it is to collaborate on events.
(05:21):
You should be working with them. You’re both going after the same referrals versus they’re trying to get business from hospitals. You are trying to get business from hospitals. They have contracts at assisted livings. They have contracts at nursing homes. You are trying to get into the same places that they are. So by collaborating team effort, this is all Power Partners. You can help them, they can help you, they can refer you, and you can also refer them. When your patient goes to the hospital and she comes home and she gets the benefit, it’s in her best interest and yours to work. The home health company that you’re already familiar with for what is known as Continuity of Care. This is how you work with your home health companies and there’s so much more in this. So here’s what you need to do. You need to go to my website, homecare revolution.com.
(06:14):
You need to click on the link that talks about the next bootcamp. You need to sign up and register for it right now because the game has changed with how we do our referrals. The game has changed with how we’re going to be able to scale our business. The economy is not in a great place right now. Referral numbers are down all across the board. So if you want to be able to grow your business, hit your goals, the best thing you can do is invest in yourself by coming to the Hurricane Marketing Home Care Evolution Bootcamp, where I’m going to give you everything you need to blow away the competition.