When one thinks about being ill, one always thinks about the comforts of home: what it’s like to be in the safety and security of one’s home, to rest in comfort in familiar surroundings–the sigh of relief when your head is gently resting on that favorite pillow, when sipping comforting soup while wrapped in your soft, comfortable robe…
Think about not just being ill, but having an illness that has far reaching implications. What systems and experiences can be put in place to aid in the recovery and comfort of a patient–not just in a hospital, but in their home as well?
It is a fact that comfortable experiences are nurturing to one’s self and being in a place that is familiar is stress relieving and lessens anxiety, which, common sense tells us, less anxiety promotes a sense of well being. The health care industry is evolving to leverage that experience to create a seamless healing strategy from hospital to home to recovery.
AGING IN PLACE
Remaining in your home by choice, also known as ‘Aging in Place’ or ‘Life Care at Home’, is growing in popularity for obvious reasons. The goal of home health care is to allow older adults to receive the custom care they need in the setting of their choice: the comfortable familiar surroundings of their own home.
With home care, the aging adult is allowed to live in the least restrictive way in their own home instead of a nursing home or other institutional setting. An interesting fact that Nina Antoniotti, RN, MBA, PhD made in her presentation at the Exchange 2012 AHE Conference, was where she stated that “the ultimate goal is making the clinician/patient relationship the best it can be”. And that includes a high level of patient experience, care and satisfaction.
DEMOGRAPHICS OF A GROWING INDUSTRY
It is a fact that people are living longer and healthier lives. There are 75 million Baby Boomers entering into their golden years. A person who is 65 today can look forward to another 20 plus years. And, according to AARP, there are now 22 million senior homeowners (65 years or older) in the US. Eighty-five percent of them want to stay in their homes and communities for the balance of their remaining years. Sixty-eight percent of Americans over age 65 will require some form of long-term care. Life care at home will be the best answer for many of these seniors.
In addition to Home Care, the Hospice Care, which is a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments. Sometimes combined, these ‘caring’ concepts need to provide so much more than a hospital stay: home care and hospice is all about the patient experience–24/7.
These Home and Hospice Care patients and their families deserve the best support, treatment and experience that is possible, under the circumstances. At a time when the desire to age in place has emerged as a rallying cry among elderly and disabled adults and their advocates, it is important to understand the challenge of assuring the adequacy and quality of in-home care.
HOW MUCH IS HOME CARE GENERATING?
Did you know that there are over 12 million individuals currently receiving home care?
Total home care spending is difficult to estimate due to limitations of data sources. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated total spending for home care to be $65 billion in 2008. These estimates do not include spending for home care services that are unavailable in the national health accounts data; for example, payments made by consumers directly to independent providers.
It is a fact that healthcare is big business. And with big business comes marketing and branding. Many hospitals are branding themselves to further their business. The home care and hospice organizations are just beginning to understand the need to market and brand themselves.
With the rise in home care, the needs, the competition and the quality is beginning to be measured and analyzed. According to Antoniotti, ‘patient care and satisfaction trends are changing’. And with those changes, comes opportunities to increase the value of the that care and experience.
In a world where there is little doubt that the demand for formal care services is set to increase significantly, it is imperative to understand how to create a high-level experience for patients and their families.
WHY CHOOSE YOUR HOME CARE/HOSPICE ORGANIZATION?
The competition in home care is only going to accelerate, with the patient experience being at the center and driving the evolution of services. Home care and hospice organizations are feeling the need to differentiate themselves by ensuring that they are offering a superior patient experience and are looking for ways to not only create that difference but to market it as well.
What better way to differentiate your organization than by offering a total system that incorporates the highest level experiences for your patient from a complete hospital to home transition strategy to a welcome home package that supports the patient and identifies your brand?
November is National Home Care and Hospice Month. Many organizations have positioned themselves as superior in terms of their highly trained staff, the services they offer and of course the standards by which they hold themselves– but no where is it apparent what the organization stands for--it’s brand.
BRANDING YOUR ORGANIZATION
As a home care and hospice organization, you took many years to build your business and your reputation, in other words your brand. Boca Terry can give you a powerful marketing tool that creates a win/win/win for all involved.
Boca Terry manufactures and distributes quality embroidered and custom products for a variety of professional industries from medical to senior and retirement living homes to award winning resorts. With years of expertise in the textile industry, our wholesale robe distribution staff helps each one of our clients place orders for custom or embroidered products to meet their exact needs at fair pricing.
With all this experience comes the ability to respond to the needs of the rapidly expanding home care industry. As a home care organization, you can deepen your brand awareness through the customization of your company logo or name on each and every robe that each and every one of your patients wear.
Imagine growing your business through expanded brand awareness with simple, subtle yet powerful tools that remind your patient, their families and friends that it is your home care organization that is providing the care for their loved ones?
WIN/WIN/WIN
The win/win/win comes with your company experiencing more business through more brand awareness, the patient wins by receiving a comforting experience that nurtures their recovery, and every one wins when a patient feels better!
