Posts Tagged ‘private duty’
Live from the American Telemedicine Association Conference – A Participant’s Take
The American Telemedicine Association will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. With the advances in broadband and usage of communication and internet technology since the ATA’s founding in 1993, I was curious as to why adoption of telehealth/telecare/telemedicine has not been universal. This morning, at the ATA conference in San Jose, some industry experts gave their take on that conundrum.
Basically the thought leaders agreed that telehealth is a market in transition, and that we are moving from connecting places to connecting people. Adoption, the experts say, is the biggest hurdle, since telehealth and telecare need to be embedded into the system, and not laid on top of it, or used next to it.
The goal is “anytime, anywhere healthcare” and the “patients” become consumers in an integrated, embedded model where wellness is the focus, and not sickness. Does that not sound wonderful?
The trends? This will not surprise folks who work in private duty/private pay, but the trend is for chronic disease management, and bringing it all home.
The biggest challenge? Institutional healthcare and the current fragmented system.
In the U.S., we are developing islands of expensive information, where in most of the rest of the world the focus is on cradle-to-grave care. We are stuck, in the U.S., on cost and measuring outcomes when we should be focused on results and innovation. Reimbursement is, of course, at the heart of why telehealth is not more widely used in the U.S. At the current time, it is estimated that there is a gap between current capacity and utilization that is 50 times wide. Meaning we have 50 times the capacity and are not utilizing it.
So, what do we need to do? Education and collaboration were suggested. Also, a realization that the drivers for health outcomes are many times related to genes, the environment and lifestyle. Focusing on the individual at the heart of making a change is one thing that may drive more usage of telehealth and telemedicine and telecare.
american telemedicine association conference, private duty, technology, telecare, telehealth, telemedicine
Deadline Extended – 2012 Private Duty Benchmarking Survey
If you have not participated in the 2012 Private Duty Benchmarking Survey yet, Home Care Pulse has extended the deadline for completing the survey to March 5th at 11:59 p.m.
Here’s how your agency will benefit by participating:
Self Evaluation – The survey is designed as a self evaluation tool. Simply by answering the questions, you will be gaining a competitive advantage over your competitors who do not participate. Also, rest assured, your answers are completely anonymous and confidential.
Participant Incentives – This year’s incentives for participants are greater than any other year. To learn more about these incentives, including the Personalized Benchmarking Report, watch the video at www.privatedutybenchmarking.com. This report in particular, will be among your greatest assets for your business to date.
Competitive Advantage - Those who take the survey and then purchase a discounted copy of the 2012 Private Duty Benchmarking Study, especially the personalized version, will have a significant competitive advantage over their competition.
To learn how to participate, go to www.privatedutybenchmarking.com and take the 3 steps outlined on the site. Thank you in advance!
When ordering the Personalized Benchmarking Study, be sure to use corecubed’s promo code at checkout for a total 40% discount off the pre-order price. Promo code is: CORE2012
2012 Private Duty Benchmarking Study
The 2012 Private Duty Benchmarking Study is now open on www.privatedutybenchmarking.com.
This study is the largest, most trusted study in private duty home care and we highly encourage all agencies to be a part of it. And, this year, the survey is less than half the length of previous years, making it faster and easier than ever to be a part of the study.
Plus, Home Care Pulse will be offering a complimentary Agency Performance Report for your business when you participate, based on the information you provide in the survey. Best of all, you are eligible for a 40% participation discount, when you pre-order the 2012 Edition and use this unique promotion code: CORE2012. This discount will be available only to participants, through March 31st.
The Agency Performance Report will feature the full 2012 Edition, plus your own agency data compared side-by-side with the latest industry benchmarks. This is a confidential report, provided by Home Care Pulse and designed just for you.
Exciting additions to the 2012 Study include:
- Fast and easy study survey (about 15 minutes when you complete the Prep Worksheet)
- Instant access to your complimentary Agency Performance Report based on your data
- 25% off when you pre-order the complete 2012 Edition ($75 value)
- A wealth of articles from major industry players
- In-depth comparisons to leading agencies in the industry
- Comprehensive data from several hundred agencies
We invite you to be a part of it today! Learn more at www.privatedutybenchmarking.com or join the Private Duty Benchmarking Group on LinkedIn.
Thank you for your participation.
Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit: Wednesday – Day 3
Birds-of-a-Feather Roundtables
Day three of the 2012 Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit began with attendees learning from their peers at our Birds-of-a-Feather Roundtables. Facilitated by experts on various topics, attendees sat around tables to get input and to discuss ways to grow and improve what they are doing related to the topic. The questions were flying and watching agency owners share their best practices was a great collaborative exercise. Many continued their discussions post-session and planned to exchange contact information post-conference.
Topics at the roundtables included:
- Alternative service offerings
- Modeling private home care services based on a concierge model
- Social media as a marketing tool
- Google & Grandma: SEO tips
- Health care reform
- Grass roots lobbying efforts for home care issues
- Ethics and the new age of private duty home care
- Disaster preparedness
- Long-term care insurance ins and outs
- CRM and workflow processes
- Wage and hour issues
Software Speed Dating
For those interested in learning about scheduling and management software, attendees joined the first-ever software speed dating session. Four different vendors presented for 15 minutes each. They highlighted what differentiated their software as well as highlighted the items that current customers find the most beneficial. Vendors that participated were eSolutions, Generations, Shoshana Technologies, Rosemark and Heath Trust Software.
Closing General Session
Private duty home care agencies are facing business-changing issues from current legislation. From health care reform and all that trickles down from those initiatives, Bill Dombi, Vice President of Law for NAHC, closed the conference with a thorough download from Washington DC Bill opened with the fact that our biggest concern should be how we are going to meet the great and growing demand for care. He added that, because it is an election year, he predicts we will not see the health care reform act repealed in 2012. However, it will be a central part of the 2012 campaigns for presidential election.
In 2012, several issues are on the forefront, including the fate of healthcare reform law at the US Supreme Court. Everyone is really looking toward the US Supreme Court to see what they are going to decide with these cases. What will be affected out of these decisions will be:
- individual mandate which addresses the minimum coverage provision
- Anti-Junction Act which deals with applicability
What might be considered the most impactful issue on the table for private duty is the Companionship Exemption. Bill went through many of the updates about where legislation stands as well as what we can expect in the near future. For a recap of these updates, please watch the Legislative Update videos at www.youtube.com/PDHCA.
NAHC has an action plan which includes conducting an economic impact study as well as a media campaign. Bill mentioned that agencies can go the NAHC website to send messages to Congress.
Post-Conference Intensive: Focus on Sales
Led by Barbara Akst, BA, MA, CEO of Training Unlimited of Virginia, this time served as an interactive work session. Attendees came prepared with their sales plans to focus on goals and objectives to establish action items to carry out upon returning to the office. A key take-away from the session for the attendees was to understand and determine the difference between knowing goals vs. objectives. Another great learning from the session was the acronym “SMART” Goals. SMART stands for specific, measureable, achievable, results focused, time bound. Barbara encouraged attendees to think about what is it that they want in a sales professional in terms of characteristics, what their role will be and what their performance expectations are.
Watch what happened at the Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit on the PDHCA YouTube Channel!
Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit: Day 2 – Tuesday
Private Duty Leadership Summit’s General Session Keynotes
When Dr. Lance Secretan was introduced and he walked up to the front of the room and continued right past the podium where most speakers would take their station, we knew we were in for something different. Walking the floor with the audience, he engaged from the very beginning. He led with, “We are going to talk about inspiration.”
He discussed leadership as an old concept with a missing piece, which is inspiration. How can you inspire others if you, yourself are not inspired? To dive into that concept, he talked about motivation and how we often as a society confuse motivation with inspiration. We have built companies, incentives, etc. on motivation, which is a fear-based concept. Dr. Secretan encourages us to throw this idea out and shift thinking toward inspiration. To be inspiring to others and to yourself, you must change the words you use. Inspiring words are those with compassion, care and love. “Love leads to inspiration.”
Dr. Secretan asked, “How do you run a healthcare business when the game around you changes all the time?” Take a good look at your leadership team. He stated that because we are human beings, all leadership teams are dysfunctional to some extent. The first thing we need to do is align and correct these teams. To do so, ask three questions and have everyone in the leadership team share these responses with each other.
- Why am I here? This is your destiny.
- What is my calling? This is your calling.
- How will I be? This is your character.
This is called the “Why Be Do.”
Another major component of Dr. Secretan’s insight had to do with the concept of Permission Space. What will people allow you to do? What is accepted by your customer base? You will be given permission to be great if you do these things. As an agency, figure out what those things are, plot them on a map and follow it.
“Inspiration drives performance.”-Dr. Lance Secretan.
“Authenticity is the alignment of the mind, the mouth, the heart and the feet.” -Dr. Lance Secretan
Paul Kusserow, Humana
Paul opened with a powerful statement. He believes home care, despite the uncertain healthcare landscape, is an extraordinary business to be in—and will change the way we age.
He discussed how Humana took the principles of Dr. Secretan and changed the dynamic of the company. Fundamentally, Humana wanted to establish a continuum of care for their customers. They wanted to start the dialogue about wellbeing with customers before they were ill. They believed this was in their permission space.
To this end, Humana began to research their customer base to see what their customers’ impressions of wellbeing were.
Through this process, Humana realized that they wanted to be “all things senior.” They see a great deal of opportunity for home care companies in telehealth and helping families become a part of the care process. Agencies should think about how to expand their influence. He concluded with, “Humana wants to inspire people to be the best they can be and partner with them to do that.”
Make sure to see Val J. Halamandaris’ recap of his thoughts on the keynote speakers at http://youtu.be/NbsU5jzQNDU.
Education Sessions
PDHCA was honored to host a series of education sessions in the afternoon with dynamic content for attendees. For clips of the sessions, visit PDHCA’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/PDHCA.
Session topics included:
- Get more web visibility, traffic and leads
- New rules of home care growth in the post-recession age
- Negotiating the sale of a home care agency
- Legal issues concerning websites, blogs and social media
- Attracting and retaining the A+ caregiver
- Making sense out of private duty’s role in transitional care
- Focused networking as an art form that drives sales
- Obtaining insurance benefits for your clients’ care
- Quality & customer service: two sides of the same coin
Continue to follow PDHCA Conference updates at #PDHCASummit on Twitter and watch important video of conference speakers on the PDHCA YouTube Channel!
PDHCASummit, private duty, Private Duty Homecare Association
