CaringForward

2.2 Release of Referral Management System Lets SNFs Sync Marketing Tasks with Microsoft Outlook

We've just released version 2.2 of our Web-based Referral Management System, which is helping multilocation nursing home providers build and manage quality census, improve marketing and case mix, and increase revenue:

Patient Placement Systems (PPS) has released version 2.2 of the Web-based Referral Management System, announcing the ability to synchronize marketing tasks created in the Referral Management System with Microsoft Outlook.

“We recognize that many nursing home marketers and admissions staff members manage their activities and schedules through Microsoft Outlook,” said Doug Walker, vice president and general manager of Patient Placement Systems. “The task sync feature provides an easy way to effortlessly link the sales and marketing activities they currently track in our Referral Management System with Microsoft Outlook.”

Click here to see the full release. 

Link: 10 Things Social Media Can Do For Senior Living and LTC

Brian Geyser at Carenetworks Blog posted 10 things social media can do for long-term care. (It's from a couple of months back, but well worth reposting.) 

I've followed a few of Brian's posts and really like his approach. He doesn't make social media out to be some magic marketing potion that will transform your skilled nursing facilities into Web 2.0 Marketing Sensations overnight. He does provide clear, practical ideas and recommendations that SNFs can start applying today to help communicate and market more effectively to the communities they serve. 

Why haven't you bought your skilled nursing facility liaisons laptops yet?

I happened across this lively discussion on LinkedIn, with all sorts of industry experts much smarter than me sharing ideas for improving SNF marketing and building census. (Great to see this active discourse in long-term care groups online.) 

One other thing many people in the thread advise is to empower liaisons to make fast acceptance decisions about patients in the field. I offered one extension to that advice: Buy them laptops or netbooks or some other suitable Web-enabled devices. Now.  

Netbooks in particular are so cheap now it seems impossible to afford not to equip the liaisons with them. Dell and others have powerful netbooks that weigh less than three pounds for less than $300 now. Most also have cheap mobile broadband options available from multiple carriers, so they can be Web-connected wherever they are. A single extra patient day could cover the cost of that investment. 

We've seen the results with our SNF clients. Clearly, it makes our Web-based system for automating and tracking marketing activities, and accelerating the referral-to-admissions process, even more powerful. Liaisons are able to make assessments, verify coverage, accept patients in the field, and trigger alerts to admissions staff to follow through immediately. The improved responsiveness and turnaround times are dramatic. It can mean the difference between admitting a well qualified patient, or losing that patient to another facility. 

Even for our clients who don't give liaisons full authority to accept a patient in the field benefit tremendously by giving their marketers Web devices. Enabling them to enter the referral information/documentation online at the hospital, and triggering the assessment and approval process at the facility, has a huge positive effect on admissions rates and patient mix. 

We've heard to argument many times from SNF executives that it's just too costly to equip all of their liaisons with laptops. If their effectiveness makes or breaks your census goals, you might rethink your perspective on that investment. Netbooks for everyone!

See Us at ACHCA This Weekend. And Philadelphia, Be Nice

We're looking forward to the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) 2010 Annual Convocation and Exposition in Philadelphia this weekend. The show kicks off this Friday, May 14, and we'll be set up in booth 10 in the expo hall Saturday and Sunday. Come see us and learn how we can help improve census and increase revenue at your facilities with better, faster Web-based marketing and admissions.

And one personal plea to the city of Philadelphia: Please, please, be nicer to me this time. The last time I was there was for the AHCA conference in 2008, and you really seemed angry. Sure, I'm an Atlanta Braves fan, and I'm a little worn down by the Phillies recent NL East dominance,* but it's nothing personal. I'm really a nice guy. Especially you, Mr. Philadelphia Cab Driver. I mean you no harm, so please stop yelling at me for paying you with a credit card. 

*I mean really, Jamie Moyer shut us out the other day on two hits? He should be reading this blog to stay up to date on advances in senior care.

AHCA Brings National Nursing Home Week 2010 to Facebook, Twitter

Yesterday kicked off AHCA's annual National Nursing Home Week, and they're spreading the word social media style. The NNHW Facebook page has 1,128 fans as of this posting, and active updates and sharing of ideas among the page's followers. And NNHW has a Twitter feed here, which is how I came across the Facebook page.

Some National Nursing Home Week Trivia from AHCA:

In what year was National Nursing Home Week founded? 
Answer: 1967 

What is the total number of nursing facility employees in the U.S.? 
Answer: Approximately 1.7 million 

What organization is the official partner of NNHW this year? 
Answer: The National Association of Activity Professionals (NAAP) 

What is the NNHW theme this year? 
Answer: Enriching Every Day 

What are the “Five Steps to Positive PR”? 
Answer: (1) Know Your Contacts; (2) Make It Personal; (3) All Hands on Deck; (4) One Reminder is Not Enough; (5) The Power of Follow-up. 

7 barriers to technology adoption in long-term care--posted on LTL blog

Maureen Hrehocik at the Long-Term Living Magazine blog posted this summary of seven barriers to technology adoption, as presented by Margaret Calkins at the recent Environments for Aging conference in Coronado, Calif. 

I took particular note of two barriers she highlighted:

3. Perceived (or actual) lack of financial resources

7. Staffing-related challenges

(I'm now being lazy and copying my response to her post on the LTL blog.) These are great tips, things we run into every day with long-term care organizations reluctant to pull the trigger on rolling out new technologies--even ones they realize will deliver significant value to the organization.

To me, numbers 3 and 7 are really key. Organizations often feel trapped by budgets that are already locked in, and often can use help in building the business case for investing in technology. I appreciate that Margaret recognizes that lack of financial resources is sometimes a perception, overcome by shifting budget dollars based on priorities or the fact that investments in technology can be offset by increases in revenue or cost savings (or both).

Number seven is a particular challenge. Culture, process and habit and tough to change in long-term care. Even if an existing process is slow, inefficient and unreliable, people will cast a wary eye on new processes and tools to improve it. And I agree that while top-down buy-in and support is key to successfully rolling out a new technology, having tech-savvy champions and leaders among the team helps smooth the transition and adoption of new technologies.

More adventures in long term care from the Interwebs, 2.0

I received this notification in an email last Friday:

Hi, Doug Walker. AHCA/NCAL (ahcancal) is now following your tweets on Twitter.

Sweet! I don't even know what that means, but I am still giddy with excitement! AHCA/NCAL, I'll try my best not to let you down!

Seriously, following up on the previous post, here's an article from the current Provider Magazine about how long-term care providers are embracing Web and social media to communicate better with families and colleagues. Found this particular snippet fascinating: "Facebook currently has over 10 million users aged 55 and over." Don't underestimate the power of social media for marketing to seniors.

Adventures in Long-Term Care on the Interwebs. Uh, 2.0, I think.

We often hear (and say) that the healthcare industry is slow to adopt and embrace technology, particularly long-term care providers. 

But if use of the Web and social media tools are an indicator, then there are some encouraging signs of increasing tech savvy in long-term care. A rapidly growing number of people participate in online industry communities, and more and more such communities pop up all the time. Some examples: Tom Mann and the team at Mature Market Experts do a great job of promoting discussion and exchange of provocative ideas in long-term care. 

The recently updated National Senior Living Providers Network Web site also shows great promise for connecting LTC professionals. And mainstays such as McKnight's have done a good job of actively engaging discussion in the industry. 

Some of the most active discussions and fastest growing long-term care communities are on LinkedIn. (For those of you not familiar, LinkedIn is an indispensable professional networking site. If you haven't joined, you should, and it's free.)  

I have listed some of the better, more robust industry groups from LinkedIn below. (You have to have a LinkedIn account to view or join the groups.) I was especially excited to see that I could copy and paste the list directly from my LinkedIn page and have it maintain the cool formatting, which probably makes me look a little smarter than I actually am. Enjoy:

	ADVANCE for Long-Term Care Management Go to Actions
	Health Management Technology Activity: Discussions (2) Go to Actions
	Healthcare Executive.net Activity: Discussions (12) News (1) Jobs (12) Go to Actions
	Healthcare IT News Activity: Discussions (4) Jobs (3) Go to Actions
	Home Care Executives Activity: Discussions (4) News (1) Jobs (1) Go to Actions
	Jackson Heathcare Family of Companies Go to Actions
	Licensed Nursing Home Administrators of America Activity: Discussions (1) News (1) Go to Actions
	Long Term Care Group Activity: Discussions (3) Go to Actions
	Long Term Care Nursing Home and Assisted Living Marketing Forum Activity: Discussions (1) Go to Actions
	National Senior Living Providers Network Activity: Discussions (3) Go to Actions
	Senior Care Acquisitions and Financing Activity: Discussions (1) Go to Actions
	Senior Care Services Companies Activity: Discussions (2) News (3) Go to Actions
	Senior Healthcare Facilities Forum Professionals Activity: Discussions (3) Go to Actions
	Senior Healthcare Marketing Professionals Go to Actions
	Senior Safety and Security for Long Term Care Activity: News (1) Go to Actions
	Skilled Nursing Facility Management and Ownership Go to Actions

Welcome to CaringForward.com

The long-term care industry has begun to embrace the Internet as a forum of sharing information and exchanging ideas. Long-Term Living magazine recently annouced a "Web 2.0" initiative, publishing sites on social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

Both McKnight's and Long-Term Living now publish blogs to share opinions, analysis and information that's relevant to continuing care professionals. And several individuals have launched sites that engage lively discussion of general healthcare issues, technology in healthcare, long-term care issues and more.

So we're launching CaringForward.com to join the discussion. Our company, Patient Placement Systems, is committed to developing Web-based long-term care software solutions to improve efficiency and performance of providers by automating the admissions process. We've done quite a bit of industry research, asking providers for feedback related to best practices and opportunities to apply technologies to work smarter, faster and better.

We'll be sharing some of that research on this site, along with other information and fresh ideas about how long-term care providers can use technology to achieve their mission of care while improving business and operational performance. We encourage professionals from nursing homes, home health agencies, hospice providers and other continuing care providers to check in periodically for new industry information, tips, advice and discussion.

Doug Walker, Patient Placement Systems