Targeting the right people within your referral / influence centers who can refer seniors and their families to your services is a critical part of growing any home care company. The trick is visiting them often enough with the right message to develop a true referral partnership.

Referrals come from relationships and relationships come from frequent touchpoints. Most facilities worth calling on have weekly, if not daily needs. Centers where more than ten patients a week are being discharged should be called on as often as possible.  Overall, I believe that weekly touchpoints are what it takes to develop and maintain a referral partner.

The question is, what do I talk about each week?

I’ll start by pointing out what NOT to talk about.

Avoid talking about yourself. You are calling on very busy people who usually don’t have time for a social visit. Of course, you want to be upbeat and pleasant, but limit the amount of personal information you share. Have a business reason to call on your partner. Focus on patients or residents they have with problems that you have solutions for. Keep your discussion focused on how you can help them and their patients.

Don’t speak disparagingly about your competitors. Earn your referrers’ respect, by doing the best job you can, keeping your promises and following up with progress and patient updates. Speak positively about the impact your services are having on your clients. Lighten their load, don’t burden them with negativity.

Don’t try to buy referrals with treats and gifts. People may enjoy a cookie or piece of cake, but it doesn’t build loyalty and trust, the way solving patient problems does. Ask yourself who would you refer your grandma to for care - the person who brings you coffee and donuts every so often, or the person who calls on you every week with relevant information about how they can help you manage your patients better? It’s the difference between being perceived as the donut girl or the geriatric care expert!

Different messages appeal to different people in different centers. It’s important to understand the challenges each of your partners face daily and find ways to assist them. Share the ways you can take on tasks that would lighten their load. This will elevate you to partner status.

The sections below give some examples of topics to share that demonstrate the benefits to your referrers in recommending home care and the benefits to their patients and/or residents.

Discharge Planners/Social Workers (Hospital)

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to Professional:

Patients are discharging sooner and sicker than ever before. Discharge planners are often concerned about a patient’s safety and adherence to their discharge plan- particularly elderly patients. Referring to you will fulfill their obligation to provide necessary resources to ensure best outcomes for their patient.

• Peace of mind
• Fulfill their ethical obligation to ensure patient’s safety and recovery
• Reduce readmissions

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to the Friends and Family:

Support the patient’s transition home:

• Safety
• Medication management
• Dr. Appts.
• Nutrition and hydration
• Recovery support
• ADL support
• Peace of mind for patient and family
• Reduce adverse events
• Reduce chance of readmitting to hospital

Floor Nurse or Charge Nurse

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to Professional:

Patients experiencing delirium or dementia are at risk of falls, endangering themselves, other patients or staff and pose a liability threat to the health care center. These patients require more supervision than the center can provide and would benefit from one-on-one assistance for that patient.

• Patient safety
• Reduce liability issues
• Relieve staff
• Reduce need for antipsychotics
• Reduce need to discharge to psych

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to the Friends and Family:

When the staff of a healthcare center is unable to give an in-patient the attention, they need to keep them safe, they will require the family to step in and provide the additional support. Many family members lack the time, energy, and expertise to care for their loved one. Home care can provide:

• One on one care – all hours of the day
• Safety
• Peace of mind to family
• Companionship, comfort

CEO, CFO, Chief Nursing Officer

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to Professional:

Hospital executives are looking for ways to reduce readmissions. Ensuring that patients have adequate care at home is imperative to the patient’s continued recovery, reducing adverse events at home and reducing readmissions to the hospital.

• Reduce readmissions
• Reduce adverse effects
• Improve outcomes

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to the Friends and Family:

Safety net at home ensuring plan of care is carried out and patient continues to recover.

• Medication management
• Dr. Appts.
• Nutrition and hydration
• ADL support
• Recovery support
• Peace of mind for patient and family
• Reduce adverse events
• Reduce chance of readmitting to hospital

Physical Therapist Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to Professional:

Therapists work extensively with their patients and have a vested interest in their progress. Because of the daily time spent with patients, therapists tend to develop a close relation with their patients and are aware of their limitations and fears.

The therapists can be influential in steering patients in a safe direction – in this case, a safe home care plan as they understand better than anyone the challenges the patient will face upon returning home. A referral to home care will provide:

• Safe pass off to another caring professional
• Ensure that patient continues to progress
• Peace of mind

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to the Friends and Family:

When a patient discharges home, there is always an adjustment. Home care can provide transitional care for a few days to help the patient settle in or long-term care depending on the permanent damage or chronic nature of their condition. Home care will provide:

• A safety net
• Alleviate fears
• Alternative to nursing home
• Safety from falls, etc.
• Assistance with ADL’s
• Ensure implementation of discharge plan
• Peace of mind for family
• Relieve family stress
• Reduce hospitalization

Social Worker, Discharge Planner (Skilled Nursing Facility)

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to Professional:

The discharge planner is a key target within the Rehab Center.  The person in this role is often a social worker and is the one that makes recommendations to families about what is best for their loved one. Their responsibility is to meet with the patient and family to ensure a safe and timely transition home.

They also will be the point person during a person’s stay if there are any issues related to the patient’s care. For example, if a patient is needing more one-on-one attention in the facility, the social worker will contact the patient and/or family and arrange for patient coverage.

If the family is unable to provide the needed assistance themselves to keep their loved one safe, they may require the family contract with an outside company to provide help. Making a recommendation to home care will benefit the social worker:

• Peace of mind –knowing patient is safe
• Fulfill obligation to ensure patient safety and happiness
• Resource to family to help navigate through care options
• Meet their discharge goals

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to the Friends and Family:

• Reduce falls - onsite
• Relieve family stress
• Help with activities of daily living
• Safe transition home
• Continued recovery at home
• Peace of mind

Executive Director (Rehab Center)

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to Professional:

More and more healthcare providers are being held accountable for patient outcomes. With Rehab centers, there is no exception. There is no doubt that home care can help reduce adverse events and readmissions, particularly with the elderly patient.

Home care can ensure that the discharge plan is adhered to upon return home and that the patient is safe and cared for as needed, especially if that patient is at risk or lives alone. It can also help:

• Reduce readmissions
• Reduce adverse effects
• Improve outcomes

Another benefit that you can bring to a rehab center is the assistance with onsite care management. As mentioned above, nurses typically make the call about patient risk, but liability risk ultimately lies with the director. It behooves the director to have an onsite provider that is insured, bonded, and ensures that caregivers adhere to the regulatory requirements of the facility such as background checks of employees, TB testing, etc.

You can be positioned as a preferred provider for onsite care when needed and promise quality assurance and policy adherence. It’s better to work with one agency committed to their policies then several companies or independent contractors with no one managing their specifications. Onsite care by you will ensure:

• Consistency
• Quality of care
• Policy adherence
• State compliance

Benefit of a Home Care Referral to the Friends and Family:

• A safety net
• Alleviate fears
• Alternative to nursing home
• Safety from falls, etc.
• Assistance with ADL’s
• Ensure implementation of discharge plan
• Peace of mind for family
• Relieve family stress
• Reduce hospitalization
• One on one care – all hours of the day
• Safety
• Peace of mind to family
• Companionship, comfort

Written by Debbie Miller, founder of 52 Weeks Marketing. For an extended list of influence centers, potential referral partners and promotional messaging, click on the link below and schedule a meeting with a 52 Weeks Growth Manager. https://calendly.com/52weeksmarketing

To learn more about 52 Weeks, “Marketing in a Box”, click on link to schedule a 10-minute introduction to the system. Each monthly box includes a different message and branded educational tool for your marketer to use. Every week your marketer has a new business reason to visit your important referral sources to build relationships and increase referrals.