Sell the Outcomes

Competition among providers is offering professional referral sources increasing choices, so you should anticipate the concerns of case managers, social workers and continuing care coordinators who are looking for the ideal place to send patients. By helping these sources make appropriate decisions for their clients, you will attract and keep their attention.

Ask yourself, for instance, why a social worker should call you. What difference do you make in the lives of particular clients with specific medical problems? Can you qualify your difference from all others in your community?

Hospitals, rehab centers and pharmaceutical companies are becoming involved in understanding and tracking outcomes. Now it is our turn to develop outcome information that can be used as a selling and marketing tool, surpassing those mugs and pads you have come to cherish as door openers!

Where Should You Begin?

Begin thinking about what you can study that will provide valuable results. This can be anything from the frequency of repairs for your particular line of wheelchairs to your ability to reduce the number of hospitalizations for your respiratory clients. Have you been able to reduce the severity of wounds by using particular seating cushions? Are you providing good patient and family education that has reduced the number of emergency calls or physician visits?

Regardless of what you decide to study, your subject will require a comprehensive assessment during the initial phase of working with a client. For example, when you first admit a respiratory patient to your service, ask about the number of days they were in the hospital during the past 12 months. Maintain this information in your patient record. At the end of the year, look back to see if you were able to reduce the number of hospital admissions through ongoing contact with your client and home visits or calls.

Through the development of a patient compliance program, for example, you play an important role in assisting your client to adhere to a treatment plan that ultimately reduces his or her overall health care costs. Not only will information like this impress the case manager but the managed care company as well.

Another example would be keeping track of wheelchair repair. Customers with a wheelchair that is not working can be forced to miss work or become frustrated and depressed because of their suspended mobility. Track the repairs, how many customers are affected and how rapidly you are able to replace a chair needing adjustment or fix one needing repair.