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Which referral sources do I focus on to get the most referrals?

Question:

Which referral sources do I focus on to get the most referrals?

 

This is a GREAT question. The way you are going to get more referrals is to focus on those who are WILLING and ABLE to refer to you! Are they WORTHLY of your time?

Read that again. Is THIS account WORTHY of your time?

 

Most representatives are often subservient to their referral sources. We challenge that paradigm at Home Care Sales.

The owners and representatives we coach and work with KNOW their VALUE! They have significant knowledge in the senior care space through experience and our programs. They ARE the post-acute care experts.

This means they are not “begging” for referrals. They are TRUE care partners with their referral sources and, therefore, MUST prioritize who they spend their time with so that they can make the MOST IMPACT in their communities! When you have the knowledge and the experience, YOU become a resource to your referral sources, helping them get care to the seniors who deserve it! Your care!

Back to the question – which referral sources do I focus on?

1. The highly qualified accounts first!

 

Remember Step 1 of the High-Performance Sales Process? (If not read up on it in our FREE E-book, click here OR discover the whole sales process here in our High-Performance Sales Academy)

These are “A” accounts – that are currently referring to you and have the potential to refer MORE!

These are the accounts that you HAVE to defend and protect!

 

2. Prospects who have qualified and refer between sometimes and your “A” accounts – We call them “B” accounts.

 

When I am coaching, I tell the reps that if they gave you “1,” they have two or more! They just don’t know how to use you. They don’t know the breadth and depth of what you can do for their patients or residents.

These are PERFECT accounts to use the RoadMap to Referrals system. (Do you have the FREE marketing planner yet? If not, get your copy here! It’sIt’s the EXACT calendar we use with our coaching clients) The Roadmap to Referrals ™ system foundation is the Diagnosis Based Selling ™ method.

This method expands the referral sources mindset into which diagnoses you could care for and how you would care for them. Most clinicians – myself included were not taught about home care, home health, or hospice in college, and if your mentor didn’t use these post-acute care services, then you didn’t learn about it in your clinical practice either! You know this to be true.

How often has a client or patient’s family said, “OMG, I WISH we would have known about you SOONER!” The power of selling by Diagnosis is that you reach into the current caseload of your referral sources and pluck out the EXACT high-value referral type that YOU want for your agency.

3. What about those “onesies,” twosies” referral sources? …Or Referral sources that you KNOW have patients or residents to refer but “Just don’t get it.”

 

In the past, we would have had to be ruthless with our time, and these folks just would have been at the bottom of our list, and we would not have been able to call on them much. But COVID taught us a VERY valuable lesson!

YOU CAN MARKET REMOTELY! Woo Hooo!

 

All those accounts you could not justify getting in your car and going across town – NOW you don’t have to! You can simply use remote marketing tactics – phone and digital have changed Home Care Marketing FOREVER!

During COVID, we honed our copyrighting and messaging skills so that the same weekly message we deliver in person in the roadmap to referrals, we have created email, voicemail, and pdfs of our unique selling point for that week!

We can reach so many more referral sources with our message!

This is the BEST time to market Home Health, Hospice, and In-Home Care!

 

We can change lives together!

Make a bigger impact and income by serving more seniors!

Here are three ways we can work together when you are ready:

1. Download our free app! HomeCareSales app

This app has free and paid courses in it – explore!

2. RoadMap to Referrals ™ – this is your map for the exact words to say and get those referrals!

Want to see it in action – click here to get on Mike’s calendar for a tour

3.Coaching for Owners/ Managers or Representatives!

With over 25 yrs out in the field, Melanie and Cheryl have the experience for executive coaching for you or your reps to take it to the next level!

Keep serving Seniors!

Together We Grow!
Melanie

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What can we learn from a hot beach in Mexico?

This summer, we had our family vacation in Cabo San Lucas. The boys LOVED it!

Of course, what is there not to love about a family vacation?

However, when I asked them what their favorite part they both replied the beach! My boys love the beach and swimming, so it was not surprising they said that but what followed?

 

“Mom, I love how we can be on the beach, and all the people come, and we can buy stuff.”

 

The boys love to buy “things” on the beach from the vendors, henna tattoos, wooden carvings of turtles, sunglasses, t-shirts lots of wares for sale. And A LOT of the same thing. Which got me thinking about differentiation.

 

How the beach vendors differentiated themselves fell into three categories:

    • By Price
    • By “customer service.”
    • By relationship and humor

 

Price: The 1st one is obvious by price. We are all consumers, and we know how to ask for a price and compare and get the best price. On the surface, all the t-shirts look the same, so you may simply look for the best price.

 

 

Which happens a lot in private pay in-home care – potential clients “shop” on price because that is all they know how to do. As the in-home care provider, you must elevate the conversation and share with the caller the differences on “why you” (we have a great exercise on this in the High-Performance Sales Academy). Even t-shirts can be different. We have all purchased a $5 t-shirt from the beach, and one wash later, it fits a barbie doll.

 

Was it even worth $5? – most likely not! A higher quality t-shirt might have cost more, but we could use it more. Similarly to in-home care – not all home cares are created equal.

DON’T let it be just about price!

 

Customer Service: While the product was the “same,” the customer service was different per salesperson on the beach.

 

Example: A child’s toy – a top – it was wooden and simple, but the guy we ultimately bought the top from offered to “customize” it by writing the boy’s names with a wood burner and the date, so we will never forget where we got them from.

 

 

This was a great example of taking something that is a commodity and “upgrading” it with customer service!

 

Many referral sources see Home Health, Hospice, and In-Home Care as a “commodity” all the “same,” but often, you can upgrade your position by “out customer servicing” the competition.

We see this at the intake position, making it “easy” for the referral source to refer. Or at the rep position speaking with the family, welcoming them onto service, and sharing “what to expect” as they transition home. The rep can make the whole process smoother and a better experience for the referral source and the patient.

 

Relationship and humor: By the 5th day on the beach, we had pretty much seen all the wares, and the salespeople had come to recognize the boys. One of the funniest lines of the week was a salesman walking by with a case of bracelets who said to us, “Hi Ladies, you haven’t bought any of my stuff you don’t need yet. Almost free for you today!”

 

It made us laugh, and my friend Melissa called him back. He was different, used humor to make a connection, and it worked! She bought a bracelet!

This is also why we say in the RoadMap to Referrals program to incorporate some fun! Yes, you are a professional, and this is serious business. But we could all use a little fun, and it deepens your relationships with your referral sources!

There are always “lessons” around us every day!

 

Be a student! Home Care Sales and Marketing can be challenging! But it doesn’t have to be. We are here for you! We got your back!

If you are interested in discovering how to leave the overwhelm and uncertainty behind, email Mike@homecaresales.com and he can tour you around the programs that can help you grow!

Together we GROW!

Click here to book a free discovery call with Mike! 

Keep serving Seniors

Together We Grow!
Melanie

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How much risk are you willing to take with your money?

Recently an owner was considering us to onboard, coach, and manage his rep.

He told us:

“I am terrible at hiring and managing my marketer. I have had 3 and 1 turned out to be not making a sales call, just sitting home and collecting a check.

The other was double dipping, working with another agency, and getting two paychecks.

The last one drove his car to the hospital and then walked to the gym, where he worked out for 2 hrs every day. I learned about it because one of my nurses worked out at the same gym and asked why he got to work out on company time.

I am OVER marketers. I am done with them, but I know I need them to increase my census, so I am calling you! You do it! I am not willing to risk my money ANYMORE!”

Gladly!

↑ How we feel when someone asks if we want to coach and manage their reps. ↑

 

We will gladly help you orient and onboard your marketers.

In addition, we will coach and train them weekly and hold them accountable.
We will become part of your leadership team!

We hear this story over and over from owners. Their marketers have failed them. But it’s not their fault they need a framework to orient and onboard a marketer.

Most owners were not taught sales management in school or in their professional careers. Our sales coaching program’s structure sets expectations, so everyone is on the same page, compresses time, and gets the rep to production quicker.

Managing marketers is a little like herding cats. And we LOVE herding cats!

Marketers must be independent and a self starter but often lack structure, planning, and time management skills, so they focus on “activity,” not “productivity.”

The HCS coaching and management program gives them the framework to have confidence in the planning to infuse their personality into the relationship development process.

Our framework consists of:

 

  • Orientation to Home Health, Hospice, or In-home care
    • Payment systems
    • Target Accounts
    • Eligibility criteria

 

  • Onboarding – the first 90 days to launch a rep to success
    • Weekly training and knowledge activities
    • Top 10 reasons to choose you
    • CRM included – documentation of best practices – how to set it and automate your sales success
    • How to answer “What do you do?” in a way everyone can understand and know when to reach out to you with a referral

 

  • Training and coaching – weekly checkpoints for training and coaching help the rep break through barriers and keep on target.
    • 52 wks of sales messages that get you high-value referrals RoadMap to Referrals in cluded
    • Live one on one coaching with a veteran marketer and manager
    • Small groups of peer coaching and community – other marketers in different states sharing “what’s working now.”

How does your framework compare to ours?

 

If you are frustrated with managing your marketer – we are here for you.

We LOVE herding cats!

We speak cat because we are cats!

Click here to book a free discovery call with Mike! 

Keep serving Seniors

Together We Grow!
Melanie

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How is what you do like Patrick Mahomes?

Recently, I presented at the Home Health Administrators summit in Las Vegas. It was an extraordinary summit, and I am always grateful for the opportunity to be of service and share our experiences.

 

I heard a lot of statements like this: 

 

“We did ok through COVID, and now the COMPETITION is heating up!”

“The competitive marketers are coming out in DROVES.” 

“We enjoyed the relative ease of communication and relationship during COVID with our best referral sources, but NOW the other agencies marketers are back at our referrals sources and stealing market share.” 

 

I, too, have experienced this in one of our client’s agencies. The rep’s statement to me during the coaching call this week was

“The wolves are out, and they are following me.” 

 

WOW – a lot can change in just a few weeks as communities open up. As agencies hire staff, the marketing team is called on to increase the referrals and fill up the funnel!

This is where Home Care Sales shines. We know exactly what to do.

Below is a quick framework as you approach this quarter 2 (good thing you did your quarterly business review and know your plan for Q2 – if you didn’t, we have got you covered in our Sales Management and Coaching program – reach out to Mike@homecaresales.com to learn more.)

 

    • Review your data (Q1 YOY and over Q4)
    • Rank your referral sources
    • A great defense is a great offense – now is the time to go to your Top 25 referral sources and do your Improvement Process questions.
    • See any GAPs? List them and meet with your manager to see how we can bridge them.
    • Create a 3 step action plan for your Top 25 accounts

 

You can do this! Bulletproof your best accounts, and as my friend, Cheryl says, “lock them in a vault!”

If you are struggling – you don’t have to – we are here for you!

 

Need more ideas and tactics that work in the field?

 

Coaching could be precisely what you are looking for!

 

The best in the world –Patrick Mahomes– gets coaching every week to be at the top of his game. You can’t expect to show up on Sunday and play your best game if you are not practicing, studying, and scrimmaging. So you, too, have the opportunity to be at the top of your game!

 

Click here to book a free discovery call with Mike! 

 

Keep serving Seniors

Together We Grow!
Melanie

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You only have a short window for your marketers to use your data – DON’T MISS THE WINDOW

Does your marketing team know your data?

The other day I was working with a client, and I was surprised the reps didn’t know their outcome data.

Nor did they know the outcome scores of their three biggest competitors.

How can you best position yourself against your competitors if you don’t know how you stack up?

When you don’t know your data – you are back to the “old marketing” tactics – the ones we don’t love – trinkets, pens, donuts, lunches. Because here’s the deal – someone will always have “better” giveaways.

…But WHO wants a Case Manager to refer your loved one based on DONUTS????

 

Not me!

I want my Mom to be with an agency that has excellent outcomes!

The only way your referral sources are going to know is if you tell them!

That’s what’s so great about NOW! YOU STILL HAVE TIME! 2022 is a data collection year for Value-Based Purchasing – that means you have time to get out in front of this and share the narrative you want them to know!

YOU CONTROL THE NARRATIVE NOW!

 

But you will not get it next year.

NOW is the time!

We teach Value-Based Purchasing and how to position your agency to our Sales Management and Coaching clients.

If you are interested in learning more about that, book a call with Mike.

Here are some steps to get you started

    • Know your data
    • Know your competitor’s data
    • Compare and see where you shine and outperform
    • Create a handout on the differences
    • WIN the referrals!

You got this- you have more control than you think!

 

It’s all in the POSITIONING!

Keep serving Seniors

Together We Grow!
M

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Looking for a few Home Health owners and administrators to join the league – Is it you?

This week, I presented at the Home Health Administrators Summit for Decision Health in Las Vegas.

It was SO great to see old clients and friends. I have missed them! And I have missed being around SMART – PASSIONATE – home health owners and administrators looking to level up!

I LOVE being around innovative owners – Hospital at Home – Value-Based – Integrating MORE with In-Home Care so that they are reducing hospital readmissions by 30% on high-risk ACO patients. It’s exhilarating!

When you get like-minded abundant administrators together sharing ideas and solutions on how they approached COVID – STAFFING – NOW THEY GOT STAFF NOW THEY NEED ADMISSIONS! The BALANCING Act!

Challenges were asked, and solutions were shared in real-time:

 

What about a therapy contract group who will not “do what you ask” – they want to still be on paper – not turn in their notes on time – but you NEED them.

What about an Admission nurse vs. every RN making their own admissions based on the territory? Does one produce better OASIS consistency?

Another person asked – How do we get all the people involved in a patient’s care to communicate and know what’s going on with that patient in real-time?

All of these questions –

All of these administrators are looking for answers.

 

Maybe you can relate.

I can so relate. When presented with a challenge at one of our clients, the first thing I do is to reach out to Cheryl, and together we brainstorm on who might be able to help solve the challenge – often, its another one of our clients who is has done something similar or using the same EMR that can give insight on how they use it.

The brilliant thing about having us on your team is that we get to see the inside of many agencies over the years and connect with the owners to share thoughts and solutions. We have been doing this for over 20 years.

During the past week or so, you have read emails from us inviting you to our new Home Health Inner Circle. This is a curated group of home health owners, administrators, and executives who all come to the table for connection, collaboration, and impact.

A group of colleagues.

A group of extraordinary owners and executives who are up to BIG things in the world of home health that you could learn from, and in other areas, they can learn from you!

Colleagues – friends who help each other get to the next level.

 

In the next 12 months, home health will go through another radical transformation with payment changes and OASIS E.

 

We are building a group to navigate the changes with ease.

Go from overwhelmed to a clear path, confident in the next steps to maximize your position.

You are invited!

Click here to answer a few questions to see if the inner circle is the right fit for you!

Together we GROW!

Melanie

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Where did Mom finally end up?

Over the past few months, I have written several blogs describing my journey to provide care for my mother and her recent medical issues. Fast forward to today: Mom was in the hospital and couldn’t find an SNF with rehab that had a bed open…

I called her nurse every night and asked, “Should we should take her home?”

I felt like we could rehab her at home with home health. However, her nurse was a little apprehensive.

She was concerned that she would NOT get the rehab she needed. I reassured her with Home Health, PT, and OT that we could create a home exercise plan (HEP) that would ve “comparable” to an SNF rehab plan with less exposure to COVID since Mom is immune-compromised.

After “team” the next day, her Nurse Practitioner called me and said, “Can you support your Mom at home if we D/C her directly home?”

Of course, I said yes with my friends from Interim Home Health!

Yes, I can fly home and help, but here’s the catch you: want to D/C her on Monday, and I get out of COVID isolation on Tuesday. That way I can fly home on Wednesday.

I called my Mom to confirm this is what she wanted to do and was comfortable “going home” she said, “YES, I want to go home!”

 

So I called my brother who lives on the other side of Ohio and said, “Ryan could you get Mom and take her home on Monday? Set her up. I will organize home health and hire an in-home caregiver through the private duty side of Interim until I can get there on Wednesday.” He said yes!

Ryan has a HUGE truck. I had this vision of him “throwing” Mom up into the cab. Luckily for me, Mom already thought of that and told him to go to her house and get her car to bring her home – good idea!

 

By the time I called Interim later that day, they already had the order for Home Health, and I was fielding calls from the DME company to deliver equipment.

Mom made it home safe and sound on Monday – YEA! She had a friend stay with her Monday and Tuesday night until I could get there on Wednesday.

Interim professionals were doing the SOC on Tuesday. She is receiving Nursing OT and PT.

A private duty aide came on Wed afternoon to help her get settled. On Wednesday, I was out of isolation and flew home to 12 inches of SNOW! What a welcome! But, just like the mailman, the Home Health Clinicians came to see my Mom that week. I am happy to report Mom has graduated from her walker! She is still a little unsteady, but her OT and PT are working on that!

I am grateful that she was able to go home.

Moreover, she is THRILLED to be at home!

 

She said to me last night, “Mel, I think I just do better at home. Look at me; I am walking. I am climbing steps to the landing. I don’t think I would have done this well at skilled nursing with rehab.”

I believe her. In her own environment, which she loves, she is HIGHLY motivated to do her HEP and functional activities (last night, we made bread and the night before cookies to take to the kids).

Big shout out to Interim of Meadville, PA – Their customer service is off the charts, and their clinicians are super skilled!

 

What can we learn from this experience?

    1. Hospitals automatically think “SNF with rehab” if they qualify- but it doesn’t have to be that way. In some cases, it shouldn’t be that way.
    2. Your clinicians, if the patient is medically stable and has a caregiver if they are not able to self-care, CAN receive Home Health.
    3. Home Health was the RIGHT answer for my Mom; I just needed to think about how to cover the 1st two days of her discharge since I couldn’t be there.

Tell the story of my Mom to your hospital D/C planners. Let them “visualize” how Home Health can be the answer – especially now that COIVD has so many of them without “beds.” We call these patient vignettes. This is how we get referral sources to connect the dots from a patient to a referral to you.

Need more patient vignettes to help them connect the dots to you? We got you covered!

 

The RoadMap to Referrals is FULL of patient vignettes you can use out in the field to get more referrals NOW.

Gaining referrals does not have to be complicated. Will you let us help you?

Pick a time convenient for you to have Mike show you the system!

Together we GROW!

Melanie

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What does patient choice look like from the patient’s point of view?

For those of you who have been “following” Mom’s journey. She hit a speed bump a couple of weeks ago.

She had a bone biopsy, and there was some internal bleeding after the procedure; by the time she got home, she was in extreme pain and unable to walk.

She called the ambulance and was transported back to Cleveland Clinic. Mom spent 14 days as an inpatient while they tried to get her pain under control and start to resolve the hematoma that was on her “hip .”

As luck would have it, I was unable to be at the bedside as my son tested positive for COVID, and I was on a ten-day isolation protocol. So my care coordination was via phone and facetime.

Since my Mom lives alone, they thought it best to transition to an SNF with Rehab. I could hardly disagree as I couldn’t fly home to be with her.

The Case Manager (CM) gave her the “list.”

You know the one where they type in your home zip code and print out the list of providers closest to you and tell her to pick one.

Not knowing what to do, my Mom looked at the list and chose the one nearest to her home highlighted by the CM. The CM called them, but they didn’t have any beds open due to COVID staffing shortages.

So, my Mom proceeded to pick five more based on distance from her home. All had the same answer – no beds due to staffing shortages. I didn’t know that any of this was going on, but when I called later that day, she shared that she couldn’t find a rehab for her. I asked her to take a pic and send it to me (see photo).

This is the lesson for us as post-acute care providers.

 

The list – oh, that damn list! I want to cry every time I hear a Case Manager say I give out a list. While, in this case, it was an SNF list – it could have easily been a Home Health, Hospice, or In-Home Care list.

Look at that list. Yes, they will say to you – “well, we give them the star ratings to review.” But really…is that the best way?

Look how she highlighted the list – it was based on distance, so my Mom chose based on distance. This is to say; patients look to their Case Manager to help them navigate through all the choices – even when it is not a great criterion like distance.

Once I understood what was happening and that discharge was “now,” I got on the phone with some of the nurses, and while they would never come right out and say this one is good, or this one is bad, or I would rank the rehabs 1, 2, 3 – One of them said the exact words I used to say to my patients when I was an OT in the field:

“If It were MY MOTHER, I would try: Abc SNF or XYZ SNF or 123 SNF”

 

Again we are humans; they are humans; when asked, they will tell the patient their opinion, but you have to ask, and my Mom didn’t know to ask. So she simply followed the highlighted path.

It’s the hospital policy to offer a list and patient choice. The CM did that.

She also provided “outcome” measures on that list to meet the facility’s policy of “informed choice.”

I will submit it to you it’s not enough.

 

That is where you come in – you differentiate your agency beyond your star rating. How do you educate the Case Managers so that when a patient or daughter like me asks, “who would you send your mom to…” they would respond with Your agency’s name?

It’s up to you to position yourself as the expert in transitioning a patient to their home or a highlighting specific disease.

REMEMBER: It is not their job to remember you – it is YOUR job to make yourself someone they can not forget!

 

Are you struggling to differentiate yourself? Then, Roadmap to Referrals does it for you! Imagine having a new topic each week to elevate your conversations and position you as the expert in CHF, COPD, Parkinson’s, and many more!

Patients and clients deserve your care! It’s your job to engage your referral sources, so they see you as a trusted partner, and it is logical to refer to you when you are the expert!

Wondering how to do that?

We can help:

Choose a date and time for a quick consult with Mike to show you the system!

Together we GROW!

Melanie

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5 Tips For Retaining Your Staff During Difficult Times

Whether you’re a team leader, manager, or agency owner, your team is one of the most valuable assets your company has.

Without dedicated members of staff, you wouldn’t be able to complete necessary projects, inspire your customers, drive sales, or build your brand presence.

Unfortunately, many companies spend so much time focusing on their clients/ patients and profit margins that they forget to retain and engage their staff. Around 3 million Americans quit their job each month in search of better opportunities. 

Now that remote work solutions are making it easier for staff to find new roles anywhere, it’s even harder to convince your people that they should stay with you. 

With difficult times on the horizon for most agencies, here are some of the top strategies you can use to retain your employees and team members. 

Get Salary and Benefits Right

 

Although there’s a lot more to having a happy workforce than offering them the right salary, it pays to provide a competitive wage. Most of the talented team members that are looking for jobs right now know how much their skills are worth. If you’re not willing to pay your employees what they’re worth, they’ll find another agency.

Around 56% of employees say that healthcare and insurance concerns also keep them at their job. If you can’t offer the most competitive salary in your area, maybe you can make the job more appealing by offering additional benefits.

Everything from better flexible working options to access to private healthcare can boost your chances of getting and keeping the talent you need. 

Listen To Your Team Members

 

The easiest way to ensure that you’re going to keep staff members around is to give them a voice and listen to what they have to say. Employees are more likely to feel invested in a business that takes their opinions and insights seriously. 

With that in mind, ensure that your company culture encourages feedback and regular discussions between members of staff. If your employees aren’t happy with the way you’re currently running things, give them the opportunity to make suggestions about things they might like to change. 

Listening to your team members, even if that just means giving them a way to give anonymous feedback to your leaders, could mean that you become aware of significant issues much faster. This way, you can fix issues before they grow too large. 

Create Leaders, not Bosses

 

Everyone dreams of being the boss at their company. However, the reality is that it means a lot more to become a memorable leader. The unfortunate truth is that most of the employees in the current landscape don’t leave their business at all – they leave their manager. 

The people in your team responsible for leading others should have all the characteristics of an inspirational and motivational leader.

Look for people who can handle challenges calmly and think outside of the box.

Provide your leaders with training that will help them to manage positive and negative feedback and support their teams in achieving their goals.

 

A good leader doesn’t just dump the responsibility for mistakes onto staff members and scream at people until work gets done. Genuinely incredible leaders are the people that keep the team moving forward, even in times of trouble. 

Invest in Your Employees’ Future

 

If you’re not going to invest in your employees, why should they invest their time in your company? How can you invest in making your staff members more skilled in their roles? 

Most team members want to see a future for themselves in your business, which means that they need to continue developing their knowledge and talents. Offering training and educational opportunities is a great way to ensure that your staff members feel as though they’re moving consistently in the right direction.

HCS is here to help you do that with Roadmap to Referrals!  Invest in your staff by giving them a competitive edge! 

Build mentorship programs so that employees can teach each other and create a deep meaningful bond.   

If you’re not sure where to get started when it comes to offering training opportunities, try having one-to-one meetings with your staff. This could be a great way to develop individual plans for each of your team members. 

Make Them Proud to Work for You

 

Finally, we’re living in an age where employees don’t just want a great salary and lots of benefits from the ideal job. Your team members want to feel like they’re working for a company that’s making a positive difference in the world.  Are you a values match for them?

In today’s activism-fuelled environment, you’re either part of the problem or part of the solution.

Find out what your team members are passionate about and get involved. This could mean that you create a new green living strategy for your agency where you can cut down on your carbon emissions. Another option involves getting involved with local charities and non-profits or investing in your local community.

 

The more you show your employees that you care about more than just money, the more they’ll feel happy working with you, and the more likely it is that they’ll stay with you for the long term.

We know it’s hard right now to gain and keep your staff.  

We are here for you!  Recruiting and Retention has some practical ideas and strategies to put into action at your agency!   

Click Here to discover more about that program or jump on Mikes’s calendar for a discovery call!

Together We Grow!

Melanie 

P.S. 2022 is the year for retention!  There are easy, no-stress tactics you can use to make your staff feel your “LOVE”!!  

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My Uncle Sam died this week

My Uncle Sam died this week.

He was my shining star of a hospice patient. When people say, “Oh, hospice is where you go to die” or “I don’t know if my patient only has 6 mos to live.” I would use my Uncle Sam as an example.

We put my Uncle Sam on hospice 3 years ago. Without a doubt, in my mind, Sam lived longer BECAUSE of hospice than if he had not had the support that hospice afforded him.

Uncle Sam is not my real uncle – he is my husband’s, Chris, stepfather’s (who is no longer married to my mother–in–law) brother.

I know it’s confusing, but that’s what happens when your father-in-law and mother-in-law have been married 3 times each – you get LOTS of extra families!

The best part about that for me is that I get to choose who my FAVORITE is, and I have LOTS of choices – Poor Chris is stuck with limited options in my family.  🙂

Uncle Sam lived a very adventurous life.

He was a pilot in the Navy and rose to the rank of Captain for TWA, who then was bought by American.

Sam was full of wild, amazing stories and was so witty. You know, the kind of wit that sometimes hurts like a paper cut. He would throw out there a “zinger,” and you would laugh, and then 2 minutes later, you would say – “Ouch,” that stung a little!

So, when Alzheimer’s took his cognitive ability and mobility, I knew hospice was the right answer. His doctors at the VA wanted him to be an inpatient at a long-term care facility, but my Aunt Linda promised that she would care for him in their home, and so we took him home, and he was served by hospice.

Aunt Linda called last week and shared that Sam was actively dying. She asked me to come and sit with her and Sam. The hospice team was fantastic! She had daily visits over the last week from all the disciplines- nursing, SW, Chaplain, aides.

As you can imagine, being on caseload for so long, the clinical team had a deep relationship with Sam and Linda.

The hospice prepared Aunt Linda well for his passing. She had the medications, and she was well informed about using them for his pain.

We sat with Sam and told fun Sam stories. Sam was VERY colorful. He liked to “shock” folks and walk away like he didn’t just say what he said. The first time he did this to me, I was dating my husband Chris – we would come to Fairhope and work on the family boat.

As a child, Chris grew up on this sailboat– sailing every weekend in the summer, but it had sat neglected in the slip for about 10 yrs. So, when we decided to “get back into sailing,” there was a TON of work to be done.

I took on restoring the teak in the cabin. It was hard work, sanding, inside the cabin in the AL summer heat. Sawdust sticking to every inch of your sweaty skin.

Even though I sanded and sanded, I could not get out the water damage marks, so I decided to stain it.
(not knowing then that that’s not the best method of restoration – but hey, this was before we all had you tube in our pockets- how was I supposed to know?) So I stained it, and I thought it looked GREAT!

Later that day – after I cleaned up my work tools, I was ready to show it off! I was SO excited. I thought it made a BIG difference in the cabin. I called Uncle Sam down to see my handy work.

Uncle Sam came aboard with his ever-present cigar in his right hand – stepped down into the companionway, stood up in the cabin, and looked around. I said, “Uncle Sam, how do you like it?” grinning from ear to ear proudly, awaiting him to tell me my hard work paid off, and it looked great! Sam said, “It looks great if you are going to make it a floating bordello.”

He turned and climbed the stairs back up the companionway giggling to himself and shaking his head. I looked around and started laughing too. He was right. It was a little “reddish” – ok, I think I might have used Cherry stain – OMG, what was I thinking?

But Sam just laughed, and later that night at dinner at his house, he said, “Well, Mel – you did a good job at cleaning the wood. And the red-well it matches your hair – so what the hell? Good God, woman, next time, do some research!”

That was Sam – quick with a laugh and putting you in your place at the same time.

Sam passed on Sunday with Aunt Linda at his side. I was at my house getting ready to go over to their house for the day, and Linda text “Mel, I think you need to come now. Uncle Sam is not breathing much” And so I did.

Uncle Sam passed within the hour. He was surrounded by Aunt Linda, myself, and his devoted in-home care caregiver for the last 4 yrs – Trish. (Trish was a private pay caregiver 8 hrs a day 5 days a week for 4 yrs and had become like family to Sam and Linda)

I called the hospice nurse Tara who came to pronounce, call the funeral home and dispose of the medications. She was exactly who you hoped would be there for Aunt Linda, and she executed the plan flawlessly. I am grateful to have been reminded of our clinicians’ fantastic work in the home.

Uncle Sam didn’t have any children, so it was up to Chris and me to write the obit, deliver the eulogy, organize the service and generally be the funeral “director” of the event.

It was a whirlwind of the last few days, but the service was perfect, and Aunt Linda LOVED it – and that was the promise we made Uncle Sam to, in his words, “plant him in the ground” and get Linda through it. We did.

Home Care is the gift we give the patient and their families.

I know you are out there every day sharing your message of hospice, home health, and in-home care so that more people are impacted (just like our family) by your services.

 

Thank you for all you do!

 

You make a difference for families!

 

Melanie

P.S. Want to read more about the “legend” that is Uncle Sam – click here
https://www.corbittsfuneralhome.com/obituary/SamuelClifford-Slaton

 

P.S.S. Want to impact more lives through your marketing messages – click here to discuss how you can with Mike

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