Author: Erin Clark
Planning for Long-Term Care: The Time is NOW
The population is aging, and as more people move closer to retirement and beyond, the importance of planning for long-term care has never been more important. Unfortunately, it is often a topic that is underestimated at best, and avoided at worst. There are 78 million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), which translates to a retirement rate of 10,000 people each day. Many of these baby boomers understand the importance of planning for retirement, offering investment options such as 401(k)s, IRAs and CDs, to name a few. But too often, planning for and investing in long-term care is overlooked, and that can lead to disastrous results for your nest egg. The cost of long-term care is trending upward, due to both a general increase in demand as well as a reduction in federal support. To share a few numbers: Total healthcare spending in the U.S. made up more than 17% of our gross domestic product. That adds up to more than three trillion dollars per year spent on healthcare. In addition, since 1996 the December to December price increase outside of healthcare has averaged 2.2%, while the price increase for medical care has averaged 3.6%. Understandably, many Americans are not confident that they will ever be able to save enough to allow for the level of care they could someday require, or they are underestimating just how costly it can be. But this is no reason to turn a blind
Creating a Successful Referral Network
It is no secret that strong, reliable referral sources are crucial to any provider's business. An effective, high-caliber network will give any HME the extra boost to reach its bottom line, establishing a strong reputation and setting your HME apart from the others. Making sure your customers are satisfied and have positive experiences with your level of service will of course help grow your network. A happy customer will pass along your name to potential prospect, who will then be more likely to reach out to you directly. But while relying on your customers to serve as ambassadors to your business is essential, it is important not to overlook your peers right within the HME community. Providers who work within a hospital setting have challenges unique their independent counterparts. Because of this, it may be easy for a hospital-based HME provider to feel alone, or feel that their access to resources is limited. This can be especially true of smaller hospital-based HMEs with fewer than 10 providers. However, joining a hospital group network through a group purchasing organization (GPO) can provide much needed support and crucial access to networking understanding performance metrics. A hospital group network helps to facilitate relationship development and networking. Being a part of a GPO network will help you exchange best practices with other hospital-based HME providers who face the same challenges pertaining to retail, billing, technology, how to increase refer
Setting Achievable Goals for Your Business
It’s no surprise that having and achieving business goals are critical for any kind of success. Goals are necessary to help you identify who you are, what you want and how you can grow as a provider. But for many, the process of identifying your goals can seem more daunting than it needs to be. Here’s a quick guide on setting goals efficiently, so you can dedicate more time to actually achieving them. 1. REMOVE the roadblock Taking those first steps toward identifying your goals can be intimidating. The best thing to keep in mind is that there is no right way to start, nor is there a perfect time. So jump in with both feet—brainstorm a list of anything and everything that could help achieve your bottom line. 2. REFINE your vision Now go back through the list from your brainstorming session and start fleshing it out into actionable items that are broken down into steps. This means you’re making your goals SMART: specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and time-based. 3. REVISIT your commitment We all know how busy day-to-day life gets, and that’s no exception for providers. It’s important to keep your goals top of mind so that you stay focused and committed to achieving them. Keep a physical list within view at your desk, set reminders on your calendar—whatever you need to keep yourself accountable and on
Sell More POCs with New OxyGo and OxyGo FIT Commercials | Home HealthCare Today
LIGHTS… CAMERA… ACTION! Pour on sales with OxyGo® POCs and their new super light model, the OxyGo FIT™. New 30-seccod, 60-second and 120-second OxyGo and OxyGo FIT commercials have been produced that can be inexpensively customized to promote POC sales in your business. And when they come in to buy the OxyGo brand, they’ll buy other products you sell also. The new commercials are designed to run on local TV stations and drive customers to your store. They can also run on a continuous loop in your store or can be shown to potential buyers, as needed, to help close a sale. And you can put them on your website to build content and viewership. Each follows six proven rules for producing great commercials: 1 — They connect by making their key core selling points interesting 2 — They have an interesting opening to engage potential customers 3 — They give reasons for potential buyers to visit your store 4 — The stick to the point and don’t wander 5 — They are easy to understand and use everyday language 6 — They call for action For a nominal cost these commercials will be voiced over to reference your unique store name and location(s). Your store phone number will be provided both by voice and by an easy-to-read tagline at the end of the commercial. Each commercial is customized with your store’s information! The new OxyGo commercials wer
Blog - Author: Erin Clark
Author: Erin Clark
Planning for Long-Term Care: The Time is NOW
The population is aging, and as more people move closer to retirement and beyond, the importance of planning for long-term care has never been more important. Unfortunately, it is often a topic that is underestimated at best, and avoided at worst. There are 78 million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), which translates to a retirement rate of 10,000 people each day. Many of these baby boomers understand the importance of planning for retirement, offering investment options such as 401(k)s, IRAs and CDs, to name a few. But too often, planning for and investing in long-term care is overlooked, and that can lead to disastrous results for your nest egg. The cost of long-term care is trending upward, due to both a general increase in demand as well as a reduction in federal support. To share a few numbers: Total healthcare spending in the U.S. made up more than 17% of our gross domestic product. That adds up to more than three trillion dollars per year spent on healthcare. In addition, since 1996 the December to December price increase outside of healthcare has averaged 2.2%, while the price increase for medical care has averaged 3.6%. Understandably, many Americans are not confident that they will ever be able to save enough to allow for the level of care they could someday require, or they are underestimating just how costly it can be. But this is no reason to turn a blind
Creating a Successful Referral Network
It is no secret that strong, reliable referral sources are crucial to any provider's business. An effective, high-caliber network will give any HME the extra boost to reach its bottom line, establishing a strong reputation and setting your HME apart from the others. Making sure your customers are satisfied and have positive experiences with your level of service will of course help grow your network. A happy customer will pass along your name to potential prospect, who will then be more likely to reach out to you directly. But while relying on your customers to serve as ambassadors to your business is essential, it is important not to overlook your peers right within the HME community. Providers who work within a hospital setting have challenges unique their independent counterparts. Because of this, it may be easy for a hospital-based HME provider to feel alone, or feel that their access to resources is limited. This can be especially true of smaller hospital-based HMEs with fewer than 10 providers. However, joining a hospital group network through a group purchasing organization (GPO) can provide much needed support and crucial access to networking understanding performance metrics. A hospital group network helps to facilitate relationship development and networking. Being a part of a GPO network will help you exchange best practices with other hospital-based HME providers who face the same challenges pertaining to retail, billing, technology, how to increase refer
Setting Achievable Goals for Your Business
It’s no surprise that having and achieving business goals are critical for any kind of success. Goals are necessary to help you identify who you are, what you want and how you can grow as a provider. But for many, the process of identifying your goals can seem more daunting than it needs to be. Here’s a quick guide on setting goals efficiently, so you can dedicate more time to actually achieving them. 1. REMOVE the roadblock Taking those first steps toward identifying your goals can be intimidating. The best thing to keep in mind is that there is no right way to start, nor is there a perfect time. So jump in with both feet—brainstorm a list of anything and everything that could help achieve your bottom line. 2. REFINE your vision Now go back through the list from your brainstorming session and start fleshing it out into actionable items that are broken down into steps. This means you’re making your goals SMART: specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and time-based. 3. REVISIT your commitment We all know how busy day-to-day life gets, and that’s no exception for providers. It’s important to keep your goals top of mind so that you stay focused and committed to achieving them. Keep a physical list within view at your desk, set reminders on your calendar—whatever you need to keep yourself accountable and on
Sell More POCs with New OxyGo and OxyGo FIT Commercials | Home HealthCare Today
LIGHTS… CAMERA… ACTION! Pour on sales with OxyGo® POCs and their new super light model, the OxyGo FIT™. New 30-seccod, 60-second and 120-second OxyGo and OxyGo FIT commercials have been produced that can be inexpensively customized to promote POC sales in your business. And when they come in to buy the OxyGo brand, they’ll buy other products you sell also. The new commercials are designed to run on local TV stations and drive customers to your store. They can also run on a continuous loop in your store or can be shown to potential buyers, as needed, to help close a sale. And you can put them on your website to build content and viewership. Each follows six proven rules for producing great commercials: 1 — They connect by making their key core selling points interesting 2 — They have an interesting opening to engage potential customers 3 — They give reasons for potential buyers to visit your store 4 — The stick to the point and don’t wander 5 — They are easy to understand and use everyday language 6 — They call for action For a nominal cost these commercials will be voiced over to reference your unique store name and location(s). Your store phone number will be provided both by voice and by an easy-to-read tagline at the end of the commercial. Each commercial is customized with your store’s information! The new OxyGo commercials wer
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