Are You A Gambler? Are You Willing To Take Vegas Risk With Clinical Documentation Or Realize Less Can Be A Whole Lot More!
Kenyon HomeCare Consulting • March 3, 2021
Let’s think about how documentation has changed over the years in the home health and hospice industry. Many of us remember a one page flow sheet with a small narrative on back where we described exactly what we did in that visit and how the patient/caregiver responded to teaching. We documented things that weren’t “normal” for the patient. Today, our documentation looks a whole lot different and the question is what we gained.
What We Gained:
Access to a whole lot of information is the answer. The introduction to the electronic medical record allows easy access to vast amounts of information at our fingertips. Nurses and therapists can access scanned in documents from the hospital and see all the data from any previous visits. The changes to the care plan can be made immediately and physician’s orders are generated from the visits. There is no waiting to get back to the office to handwrite an order that was taken. You don’t have to wait and fax something off to the doc when you have direct access in software. Supervisors write direct messages to staff about visits while they are being made. These are all positives for use of the technology in providing services.
When More Clinical Documentation Isn’t Better:
Here’s the rub. Now, our care plans are standard. We don’t see a whole lot of variance between those patients who have the same diagnosis. While we would expect some things to mirror each other, there is also a lack of seeing the individuality in the patient’s situation. The same rings true for the documentation. There is so much documentation, that clinicians don’t have the time to truly review previous visits. There is a lot of repeat teaching that results in care plans where specific interventions were never addressed. Meanwhile, we write all goals met on a discharge summary when we never checked to make sure all goals were met. The patient may still need to be discharged, but often we take credit for things not documented.
We also have seen a decline in the clinical note. The clinical note used to be the meat and potatoes of the visit. Any clinician could easily see what was happening with the patient with a clear and concise clinical note including what the plan for the next visit should be. Now, most items which were part of a clinical note are buried in different sections of the assessment. In our efforts to be more thorough, we are documenting a whole lot more while saying less. It is often so cumbersome, that the meat and potatoes end up missing. If you question this premise, then talk to your MACs about the findings of auditing. How many therapy visits were historically denied prior to PDGM? What nursing visits have 6 pages of documentation without clearly showing the clinical need or skill? The answer is a lot and this is why we see states in Review Choice and high denial rates. It’s because the data shows it just isn’t there. Without streamlining your documentation and making sense of what needs documented and where, you might as well be sitting at a blackjack table.
Let Kenyon Homecare Consulting Help With Documentation:
At Kenyon Homecare Consulting, we focus high quality, patient-centered care. This includes Oasis and documentation training. If you would like to streamline your documentation efforts to improve efficiency and accuracy, call us at 206-721-5091 or contact us online to see how we can help you minimize risk and improve documentation efficiency. Register today for our free webinar February 3rd, Unified Care Planning in 2021 and why it should be your best friend moving forward.it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.
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In an increasingly competitive healthcare and senior care landscape, providers are constantly searching for ways to differentiate themselves. Families looking for care, and the hospital discharge planners who guide them, are no longer satisfied with generic promises of "quality service" and "compassionate staff." They want proof of specialized capability. One of the most effective yet often overlooked ways to grow in this sector is to provide caregiving staff with thorough training in chronic disease care. In addition to improving patient outcomes and reducing hospital readmissions, this training also serves as a powerful marketing advantage and sales driver. Here is how turning your caregiving team into specialized chronic disease experts transforms your market positioning and accelerates revenue growth. 1. Transforming Specialized Care into a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Most care agencies and senior living communities market themselves using the same language: "assistance with daily living," "meal preparation," and "medication reminders." When everyone says the same thing, care becomes a commodity, and pricing becomes the only differentiator. By equipping caregivers with advanced training in prevalent chronic conditions—such as Alzheimer’s/dementia, Parkinson’s, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and Diabetes—you shift your brand positioning from a general utility to a specialized medical solution . The Marketing Edge: Your marketing materials transition from passive descriptions of tasks to authoritative statements of capability . Instead of advertising "we help with seniors," you can market "specialized, evidence-based care protocols for advanced Parkinson's management." 2. Building High-Value B2B Referral Pipelines The lifeblood of senior care sales is the professional referral pipeline—hospital discharge planners, social workers, physicians, and elder law attorneys. These professionals risk their own reputation when they recommend a care provider. Discharge planners, in particular, are intensely focused on preventing 30-day hospital readmissions , a metric heavily tied to hospital funding and penalties. The Sales Edge: When your sales team meets with a hospital transition manager, they aren't just dropping off brochures and lip balm. They are presenting a clinical solution. The Pitch: "Our staff, nurses, PT, and Home Care Aides undergo a rigorous 8-hour certification program specifically for CHF symptoms, care, and tracking. We actively monitor daily weights and fluid retention to catch exacerbations before they require an ER visit." This level of specificity builds immediate trust, establishing your organization as a preferred partner capable of handling high-acuity, complex cases that other agencies might turn away. 3. Creating Authentic Trust in B2C Digital Marketing When a family member realizes their loved one needs help, their first stop is almost always a search engine. They aren't looking for broad corporate statistics; they are looking for answers to specific, frightening problems (e.g., "How do I stop my dad with dementia from wandering at night?" ). In-depth staff education provides a goldmine of content for inbound marketing strategies: Expert Content Marketing: You can leverage your staff's training to create highly targeted blog posts, downloadable care guides, and educational webinars. Thought Leadership: By hosting free community seminars on managing chronic conditions, you position your brand as the local authority. When families are ready to transition from self-care to professional care, your organization is already their trusted advisor. 4. Shortening the Sales Cycle Through Consultative Selling The consumer sales process in senior care is deeply emotional and fraught with guilt, anxiety, and confusion. Families are often in crisis mode. A standard salesperson who only speaks about room dimensions or hourly rates will struggle to close the deal. When your sales representatives are backed by a highly trained clinical and aide staff, the sales discovery call morphs into a clinical consultation . Traditional Sales Approach: Focuses on features, schedules, and pricing "We can send a caregiver on Tuesdays and Thursdays for four hours to help your mother clean and cook." Consultative, Education-Backed Approach: Focuses on disease progression, symptom management, and quality of life. "Because your mother is dealing with advanced COPD, our caregivers are trained to recognize early signs of respiratory distress, manage energy conservation techniques during bathing, and ensure proper oxygen optimization." The latter approach instantly alleviates family anxiety. It proves that you see their loved one as a person with specific medical needs, not just a line item on a ledger, effectively neutralizing price sensitivity and shortening the time it takes to sign a contract. 5. Maximizing Lifetime Value (LTV) and Word-of-Mouth In senior care, the best marketing is a glowing testimonial from a relieved family. In-depth chronic disease education directly correlates with higher client satisfaction and longer length of stay (or care retention). Preventing Care Burnout: Caregivers who lack training get overwhelmed by the behavioral or physical symptoms of chronic diseases, leading to high staff turnover and disrupted care. Trained caregivers handle difficult symptoms with confidence and skill. The Ripple Effect: Stable, high-quality care leads to happy families. Happy families write powerful 5-star online reviews and passionately recommend your services to friends and neighbors, creating an organic, self-sustaining sales loop. Conclusion: Education as an Investment, Not an Expense In-depth chronic disease education for caregiving staff should never be viewed as a mere regulatory compliance box to check. It is a foundational business strategy. By investing in the clinical intellect of your frontline workforce, you feed your marketing engine with authentic, high-value content, arm your sales team with an undeniable competitive advantage, and build a brand reputation that commands premium pricing. In a crowded market, the most educated care team wins the deepest trust—and ultimately, the client. At Kenyon Homecare Consulting , we focus on high-quality home care, home health, and hospice services. In doing so, we provide in-depth chronic disease education on the conditions that affect our clients population the most. If you are interesting in development of a true competitive advantage, visit Kenyon's Chronic Disease University for your educational needs. Call us at 206-721-5091 or at gkenyon@kenyonhcc.com with any questions.
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