Higher billing rates for home care, lower reimbursement rates for home health care and staffing woes across both sectors up the ante on everything else for providers.
With these challenges come opportunities as well. In a recent Home Health Care News webinar, Impactful Sales & Marketing Strategies for Home Health and Home Care Providers, two companies discussed the issues they are facing and how they are working to solve them.
Linn Free, senior vice president of operations at the Omaha, Nebraska-based Home Instead, emphasized the importance of having the right home care consultants in the company and a better understanding of referral partner relationships.
“We want to continue to build a strong relationship with referral partners,” Free told Home Health Care News. “We really want to show up more holistically and be a resource earlier in the process versus only being there in a time of distress.”
Free emphasized that focusing on building relationships and leveraging technology are the greatest opportunities for growth amid staffing shortages.
“We’re working on accessibility for all,” Free said. “We’re making the application process easier to navigate for care professionals. We have a franchise network of over 460 owners. We are focusing on listening and understanding their needs. Care professionals are one of our greatest opportunities to continue to grow the business.”
Jeremy Collier, vice president of strategic initiatives and payer innovation at LTM Group in Dayton, Ohio, suggested that building relationships is all about setting yourself apart from others in the industry.
“First, you get their attention,” he said. “We lean too much on email these days. If we’re not going to email, let’s write a handwritten note. Let’s coordinate so we can have non-skilled services with skilled services. Take the time to do something different. That will set you apart from the competition.”
Both Free and Collier agreed that developing positive referral relationships requires time and effort. However, when it comes to franchisees, a local approach is essential.
Free said that Home Instead franchisees generally live in the communities they serve and understand those communities better than anyone else. They are responsible for building and nurturing relationships with their referral partners, but the company still provides support.
“Our operations team is there to support them with tools, processes, and resources, removing friction to build more impactful relationships,” he said. “We believe in freedom within a framework. We understand one size does not fit all. We shift our sales and marketing to a more customized perspective. We try to understand the local environment to then understand where [franchisees] should focus their time and energy.”
Free said that the company is using a new tool that enables each franchisee to view all referral sources within their territory. This helps them to better maintain relationships and reconnect with contacts they haven’t engaged with recently.
“We’re leveraging AI to help us provide resources to owners and their teams, enabling them to generate referrals more effectively and say yes more often,” Free explained. “Some owners are tech enthusiasts, and some are tech reluctant. It is up to our team to see where owners are in their journey and help them ease that on-ramp with new technology. It’s one thing to talk about tech, but you need to show them the ‘why’ when asking them to trust us.”
Sales-minded growth
The home care industry is known for its compassionate nature, which can make it challenging for people in this field to prioritize sales. However, Free suggested that having dedicated sales professionals is ultimately better for the clients.
“Having that sales mindset helps us expand our capacity to care,” he said. “We want to have that compassion and build strong relationships, but we want to help others experience what we can do on their behalf, making their lives easier and allowing them to remain in their homes longer.”
Collier said that his company is closely monitoring the sales pipeline. They concentrate on comparing the incoming sales with the number of clinicians available in a specific area. This approach helps the company make informed decisions about recruitment and stay ahead of the demand to prevent any slowdown in the sales process. However, he also emphasized that retention is important.
“Retaining staff, patients and referral sources is a big thing for us,” Collier said. “It’s important to follow up after care starts and let [referral sources] know how things are going. This allows you to thank them again and tell them what communities you serve. By explaining to the patient and family what our services look like and what we offer before the patient is discharged, it is easier to retain the patient. A face-to-face visit is so important when care starts. Reach out to the family and explain the services, how it’s paid for and what you’re there to do.”
Collier and Free said that there are untapped opportunities in the in-home care space that could be used to increase sales.
Collier said his focus is to help more home-based care agencies nationwide.
“Be more sophisticated with partnerships,” he said. “Reach out and share contacts with those larger than you. We have a real opportunity to reach out and educate people on what home care is really about.”
Free said franchisees must prioritize growth by leveraging the brand’s history, experience and technology to sustain and expand their presence in both business and communities.
“It is important to take pride in what we do and invest in our owners, their teams and our care professionals,” he said. “One of the biggest barriers to growth is having enough staff and being able to say yes to more opportunities. Everything is about elevating the care our clients get and applying consistency.”
Companies featured in this article:
