Is it worth making marketing calls to the hospital on a Saturday or Sunday?

I am in Cleveland Clinic with my Mom, who is having a bone marrow transplant.

She has been an inpatient for 25 days.

During this time, I have had the luxury of observing the hospital every day of the week.

Here are my observations:

Monday – Friday, regular business hours; the hospital is like a bee hive with security at every door, red coats (information) at their stations, and all staff on deck.

Saturday and Sunday – it’s like a ghost town. Skeleton crews, 1 Case Manager who is organizing discharges for 2-3 floors, and the floor nurses are helping discharge “easy” patients. (Patients with family who is “supportive” and “don’t” require “a lot” of coordination of services to go home)

I asked Mom’s nurse how often she refers to home health or in-home care. The answer, “Hmmm, that’s the Case Manager. They do that.”

Often reps will ask should be visiting the hospital CM on the weekend. And I have always said, “Try it! You don’t know until you try.”

Being in the hospital daily for the last 3 weeks, I can say for sure – you should try it.

Here are the benefits:

• Access – limited security – no red coats

  • Hurried staff – on the surface, this looks like a “bad thing,” but this can work in your favor – if you can “help now,” you might just get a referral on the spot.

  • Weekend staff – they may have staff that just works on the weekend that can work in your favor. They might not have a “preferred provider,” or worse, they don’t even know your line of service exists!

  • We all have stories of asking for the ER Case Manager or Social Worker and having them say – I didn’t know anything about you! Will you take weekend referrals? (YES!!!!)

  • Or Visit the Case Manager’s office, which is SWAMPED and gives you three referrals on the spot.

  • Or Visiting your patient on the floor – we do this ALL the time on the weekdays – Do you do it on the weekend? THIS is the BEST tactic! We then have “permission” to be on that floor to educate the nurses on that floor and the discharge planner/ Case Manager/ Social worker – ALL of them!

As you look for opportunities, don’t forget the weekends – you never know!

Our own Cheryl Pelketis got her “first” hospital referrals on the weekend by following up with a patient bedside on a Saturday.

This led to a weekend Case Manager asking her to be “her” go-to for weekend discharge. A couple of years later, that weekend Case Manager became a full-time weekday Case Manager and “took” Cheryl’s agency to the “top of the list” for business day d/c.

Never underestimate your power on the weekends! ⤵

We are there to help the overwhelmed and overworked CM! Your agency deserves to be there!

Time to Educate!

Serve More Seniors!

Together We Grow!

Melanie Stover OT, MBA, MS/ISM

Co-Owner of Home Care Sales

PS: Need more assistance with sales guidance? We can offer tools to help all the way up to managing your sales team for you. Go here and set up a call with Mike to discover more: https://calendly.com/mike-home-care-sales