Unlock Home Care Growth: Master the High-Impact Hospice Partnership

Families hear the word “hospice” and often assume it means 24/7 care. Then they call and cancel home care, only to realize too late that hospice visits are scheduled, not constant. We walk through the real hospice care model and the exact gaps that home care agencies are built to fill, especially overnight, on weekends, and during the long quiet hours when families are afraid to leave the bedside.

We share a clear, client-centered framework for hospice and home care collaboration: who does what, how to prevent miscommunication, and how to set up simple reporting so caregiver observations reach the hospice nurse fast. You’ll also hear what our caregivers must never do, how to respond when families ask “Is the end close?”, and why rotating at least two caregivers can protect the relationship and keep care steady. Along the way, we talk caregiver training for end-of-life care, palliative care fundamentals, comfort-focused mindset shifts, and the emotional reality of supporting families through grief.

If you’re a home care agency owner or admin team member looking to grow hospice referrals ethically, we cover outreach tactics that work: meeting hospice teams, being the partner who responds quickly, sharing outcomes, and giving families real choice instead of pushing exclusivity. We also get practical about policies families ask about, including gifting caregivers and how reviews can honor great work without crossing boundaries. Subscribe for more home care marketing and operations guidance, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

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Transcript

The Hospice Misconception Families Have

What Hospice Actually Provides

SPEAKER_02 0:10

All right. There's our housekeeping. Please keep your lines muted unless speaking. We would love for you to share stories, experiences, and tips. Ask some questions. If you're not comfortable asking, you can always put them in the chat. There's some chat stuff in there right now. Lisa put happy earth day in there. So you can always put a question there if you don't want to talk live. Make recommendations. Tell us what you'd like to know. We can run out of topics sometimes and ideas, and we think what would be most helpful for all of you. So if you want to put some ideas in the chat, that would be great too. And we will get that done and present it to you. We will be doing a free giveaway. The giveaway will be one set of customized leaf behinds with your logo, your colors, your contact information. We're giving away June. So all you need to do is type the word yes in the chat if you want to be entered into the drawing for free giveaways. The only caveat is that we need for you to please send us pictures of you giving those out. We'd love to see the pictures and see how it turned out. So if you would like to be entered in the drawing, just type in yes in the chat. And then you're agreeing also to send us pictures of the Lead Behinds once you're out marketing with them. Let's see. Did anybody put anything in the chat? We've got anything in there? Any yeses? Oh, yeah, we had a lot. Okay. All right. So today we are covering. My thing is not going. Okay, here we go. Today we are going to unlock the growth, master the high-impact hospice partnership. I know many of you are probably already partnered with the hospice or forming a partnership with hospice. It can be a really great relationship. We always had partnerships with hospice. They're usually bigger jobs. They don't last as long, but they are bigger jobs. It's a great, you know, you need to mix your basket of referral types, right? And so partnering with hospice can be good. That's what we're going to talk about today. So it's going to be a practical guide for home care agency owners and administrative staff on building a powerful client-centered partnership with hospice providers because together we can do more. Agenda, we're going to talk about collaborating for comprehensive care. We're going to talk about the big misconception, what hospice actually provides, home care vital, our home care vital role in hospice client care, building that partnership, growing the partnership a day in the life, and then key takeaways and next steps. So the big misconception, and I'm sure many of you, I know Lisa Marcella talks about this all the time, is that when a current client of yours is already with you, everything is going wonderful, and then they hire a hospice, they call and say, I have hospice now. I don't need your services anymore. Many do not understand that it takes both home care and hospice to support this client. Families believe that when a loved one is enrolled in hospice, they assume that all their care needs are going to be covered. It's all going to be covered around the clock every day, and it's free. How good is that? They believe hospice will be there whenever something is needed, and that bringing in additional help is either unnecessary or maybe even not allowed. And I have had some of them say, I don't think you can come. I have hospice in the home. But the reality is hospice is medical and palliative care model. It's not 24-7 caregiving services. So there's nurses, there's aides, there's social workers, there's chaplains, and they're all scheduled on an interminute basis. They're not there 24-7. They're not there around the clock, they're not there at night, they're not usually there on weekends. So home care is essential because we're filling the gaps between the other people that are coming for hospice. And so, what hospice actually does, what does it actually provide? So there are skilled nursing visits. They usually only come two to three times a week. As the end kind of gets closer, they might come more often, but typically it's two or three times a week. And I would say maybe an hour, less than an hour. Annette, Lisa, do you guys have any thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01 4:29

They usually just pop in to see how things are going to be.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Lisa, do you think under an hour? Yeah, I think about 45 minutes is usually the time frame. They just for the first assessment. They're for when they're actually onboarding them or whatever. Right. So they come in, they assist assess the symptoms, they manage medication, they coordinate the care plan. They're not there daily or overnight, and it is a quick kind of pop-in and out. There, they do have AIDS. The AIDS may assist with personal care a few days a week, typically for a limited number of hours. It's nowhere near the level of daily support most families need. There's usually a social worker and a chaplain. They're there to provide emotional, spiritual, logistical support, which is really important, but it's not hands-on. And then medication and equipment, hospice covers medications related to terminal diagnosis, as well as hospital beds, wheelchairs, those kinds of things. So as far as people being in the home, it's not very much. And what I found with hospice, and at least Lisa and Annette can pop in too, is that you're there, definitely you're there for the client. I'm not saying you're not there for the client, but this family really needs a lot of support with hospice. They're so afraid to leave bedside, they're so afraid to sleep at night, they're so afraid their loved one is going to pass while they're asleep or they're in the bathroom or whatever. That's what I'm seeing. So it's a lot of emotional support for the family too. It's not just for the client. Would you guys agree with that? Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

Yeah, not only is it that, but reassuring them that you're there for a reason. If that they can go to the store and they can, they do need to get out. I know that not just for it to sound selfish, but they do need to get out and get some fresh air and do something other than just being there and scared of what's next, right? So I always try to encourage the spouse or the family, go ahead, that's what we're here for. You are okay to go and come back.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Yeah, I totally agree. And that do you have anything to add to that?

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Usually there's always a lot of family stopping by, and it's just it's nice to know that they have some support if they want to go take a nap. I just it's usually too, I would say we used to we had certain caregivers that like to do hospice cases. Sometimes maybe sitting there more. You're not really doing a lot. You're maybe just sitting while they're resting or getting them a blanket or water. But I think the family feels very comfortable knowing somebody that is there to support them and they're not alone and their loved one is has somebody has eyes on them constantly. Yeah, yeah.

Home Care Fills The Coverage Gaps

Building Strong Hospice Partnerships

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Okay, and my screen keeps freezing. Goodness. So home care is there when hospice cannot be. So again, as we were just saying, overnight coverage. That was a really big one. Most of our hospice cases were 24-7. But if they weren't 24-7, they were overnight awakes because the family, between all the family, they could cover the daytime, but they needed someone there overnight. And so they are exhausted, they need to sleep. We want them to enjoy their loved one as much as possible during this time. And if you're exhausted, that's probably not gonna happen. So it's an overnight awake. Typically, the caregiver is not sleeping, they're watching their client and making sure everything is okay. Weekends and holidays, hospice visits typically are Monday through Friday. So home care agencies provide reliable coverage on weekends and holidays anytime a crisis or family need arises. The daily personal care, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, medication preparation, light housekeeping or meal preparation, light housekeeping, any of those kinds of things, home care, the caregivers can take care of that. And that those fall outside of what hospice typically does. Hospice might, the aides might do some bathing, but it's not full, it's not the kind of thing that we would do in a home care agency. Companionship and presence. So that end of life, presence matters deeply. Caregivers offer consistent companionship, a calming voice, a familiar face. It reduces the anxiety for the clients and the families altogether. And that said, I had several caregivers that preferred hospice clients. This is what they wanted to do. They were good at it, they enjoyed it, they liked being that emotional support. They've been with several hospice clients through the years. And so it is nice to have some caregivers that prefer this kind of work because it is very different than I would say just a regular home care client where you pop in and your companionship and cleaning and doing all those. It's a very different kind of care model. So, how do you build that partnership? How does home care and hospice how can they share clients successfully? That effective collaboration between home care agencies and hospice providers doesn't happen on accident. It requires clear communication, mutual respect, aligned goals, all centered for the client's comfort, dignity, and wishes. I will say, and I want to, I'm anxious to hear what Lisa have to say about this. I never did like just choose one hospice agency. Many of them wanted just this one-on-one. We only refer to each other, we refer to no one else. And I never wanted to corner myself that way. And it can be hard because that's what they, the ones that came for me, that's what they wanted. They wanted it to just be we only refer to you, you only refer to us. I don't think that that's a good for me anyway. I didn't feel like that was a good. I wanted to be open to other hospice agencies. I wanted to be able to send my clients to other hospice agencies from time to time, making something happen. I don't know, but I never felt comfortable. How about you guys? How'd you feel about that? If somebody asked you, let's just just the two of us and nobody else, an exclusive partnership.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Yeah, we didn't do that either. We had three hospice agencies that we worked with just because we just wanted to, we didn't want to just focus on one agency. We wanted to be available for everybody. Yeah, we didn't get a ton of referrals for hospice. We did get some. So it was nice to work with all the different agencies.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

And I like to have the family talk to a couple. I wanted to give my families options. I didn't want to say this is who we work with and this is it. I wanted them to be able to interview a couple of hospice agencies, which is another reason. How about you, Lisa? How'd you do handle that piece?

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Yeah, we definitely did have some a few hospice agencies, but I had people that I really just preferred working with because they were just so good and I knew what I was getting. And that's the same thing they would expect from us. There was a few, yeah, that I definitely would love to work with and be like, hey, we have, and I would say I've worked with these people before and I love working with them, and I know you're gonna be taken care of, and I can get that person out to speak with you if you're interested. And then there was a on the flip side of that in Arizona, when I was in Arizona, we actually had a hospice agency that was attached to our company. So that was hard because I had other hospice agencies that I also wanted to work with or was open to because they were just great. So a little difficult. But yeah, I think it's good to give patient choice. Yeah, definitely.

Communication Systems That Prevent Problems

Training Caregivers For Hospice Work

SPEAKER_02 11:52

So this is a great chart, and you guys will get a copy of these slides. This might be something worth cutting and pasting into a document or even just printing the slide, a shared care model, who does what, so that your clients understand what the roles are. So pain and symptom management is hospices' role. That's their primary responsibility. We observe and report changes. We obviously can't do the medication or administer it, but we're observing and reporting changes. Maybe the medication is wearing off faster now. We need to let somebody know that. So that's the kind of thing we're doing. Medication management. They prescribe and coordinate. We remind, observe, and document. Daily personal care, limited aid visits. They may come in and do it from time to time. It's very limited. Wear home care, we can do that daily. Overnight supervision is not provided by hospice. Home care fills this gap. Family caregiver support, they do have social workers and counselors, and then we provide the hands-on relief and respite. Emergency response, they do have an all on-call nurse line. And if housing is coming, if the end is coming, they will come out to the home. Mostly though, you're calling, and then they decide if they need to send somebody. Where we are home care physical presence on site, companionship, they have they do a volunteer program. Our caregiver is their daily consistent presence. So I thought this was a nice chart. We know what all of this is, but for your clients and their family members, when they call and say, Oh, we don't need you anymore, we have hospice. This kind of helps clear that. Even with home health, they'll do that. And it's no, the home health nurse comes three times a week. That's it. And PT maybe twice a week. Like it's not going to be enough. So it's a great way to explain it to them. Something some people are more of a communication is the cornerstone. So if you, when you sign up a client, always find out if hospice or home health are in the home or if they're going to be. And if they are, you need the phone number, you need a contact name, you need the company name. We need all of that information because communication is going to be so important. Our home care caregivers, what they observe matters. The caregivers spend more time with the client than any other member of the care team. They notice changes in breathing and appetite, pain levels, skin condition, and mood way before anyone else does. Imagine if the nurse is coming twice a week, yeah, she's gonna see that something's different after two or three days for sure. But the caregiver is gonna see it as it's happening and needs to report it in a lifetime. Well-trained caregiver who communicates these observations to the hospice nurse can directly impact the patient's comfort and safety. So train your team to document and report consistently. Use a simple daily log that can be shared with hospice case management. Also, when somebody's on hospice, there is usually a bright orange sheet of paper on the refrigerator called a DNR, and it'll have the hospice phone number, name, everything on it as well. But it's more important that you get that before you're ever even in the home. Keys to effective communication: establish a direct contact at each hospice agency that you work with. Use standardized observation reporting form for your caregivers. Hold brief family meetings when care needs shift. Never assume hospice already knows anything. You should always report everything that you're seeing. Attend care plan meetings when possible or if you're invited and communicate changes in client conditions the same day. Always report everything immediately. So training your caregivers to work with hospice clients. So working with a hospice client is different from your standard home care. Your caregiver needs specialized knowledge, emotional preparation, clear guidance on their role within the hospice team. This is one of the most impactful investments your agency can make. So understand the hospice philosophy. Train caregivers on what hospice is and what it isn't. Emphasize that the goal is comfort, dignity, and quality of life. It's not a curative treatment. So they really need to understand that shift in mindset is essential for caregivers coming from a traditional medical model. Know the signs of decline. Teach the caregivers to recognize common signs that client's condition is changing. The decreased appetite, increased sleeping, changes in breathing pattern, skin color changes and withdrawal. Knowing what to look for and when to report it is super, super important, especially if you want repeat referrals from this hospice agency. If you're communicating with them and they're getting all of this valuable feedback from your caregiver, they're more than likely going to continue to refer to you. Communicate with the family. Families under stress of terminal diagnosis need empathy and clarity. Train your caregivers to compassionately communicate. How to listen actively, how to avoid saying the wrong thing, and when to redirect emotional conversations to the host social worker and the chaplain. But one concern or issue I've had with my hospice caregivers is they some of them come in and want to take over. I've been doing this for 25 years and they want to run the show. So it's really important that they understand we take direction from hospice. The hospice is in charge. We're here as a secondary. We may be here more often, but we're not calling the shots. That's not your role, it's not your job. So we need to respect boundaries and our scope. Caregivers must understand what they are and what they're not and what they're authorized to do. They should never adjust medications, make medical decisions, or provide clinical care. Their role is supportive and observational, and that role is deeply valuable. Annette, Lisa, do you guys have anything to add? Have you ever had your caregivers try to take charge of a situation like this because they've been doing hospice for so long? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

In a lot of other situations too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

So yeah, we would just make sure say, hey, call the always call the office. Don't maybe they see something going on. They're not a medical professional that the hospice agency is calling all the shots. If they have any issues, they didn't they need to call the office. But yeah, a lot of time caregivers, and I think they do it out of their heart. They've been doing it a while and they think they know what the right thing is to do, but they have to make sure they understand the role.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

And they should understand the family's gonna come up and say, Do you think the end is coming? How close is it? I had a caregiver caregiver one time say, Oh no, she's still eating, it's fine. And then the client died that evening. Our caregivers can't answer those questions. And they need to be prepared to say, We'll have to check with hospice. And I don't care if they've been doing it 25 years, they still cannot answer those questions. And they should be prepared with some kind of answer because they're gonna get asked. It's a really hard position to be in to ask those things and not have the answers. Lisa, anything to add?

SPEAKER_03 18:48

No, I think in every situation, those career caregivers that have been doing this a really long time sometimes just come in and want to take over. And that's, I think on a side note, that's why I always made sure that I didn't have just one caregiver anywhere. I don't care if it was just smaller shifts or what, but I always tried to rotate at least two. So I don't want any caregiver taking over the job or thinking that they are in charge. And I had to go out and regulate a lot of those at some point like this is not how it's gonna be. It's it's gonna come from the office or hospice to the office, then to you guys. Definitely understanding their role.

Supporting Caregivers Through Loss

SPEAKER_02 19:24

That's a really good point. When you have just and the family wants just one caregiver, right? And that's what they don't want people hustling and bustling and coming in, and my mom already met one person. I don't want her, and I understand that from their perspective. But Lisa's right, if you have just one, the odds of them taking control and taking over and being in charge are much higher than if you have more than one caregiver. And that goes for any case. Any case, it's just it's better to have, and plus your backup. If someone calls out or something, there's backup. So that's a really knowledgeable backup. It is knowledgeable backup. It's not someone going in on the fly because somebody called someone who's been there before. It's somebody they're comfortable with already. So yeah, that's really important. It's a great point, Lisa. Um, emotional preparedness, supporting your caregiving team. So this work is hard. Getting them prepped ahead of time is support. That's the biggest support you can give them is what can they expect when they're there? Make sure they're trained, make sure they understand protocol. That's a lot of support before they even walk in the door. Working with clients at end of life is the most meaningful and most emotionally demanding things caregivers can ever do. Grief, loss, emotional exhaustion, they're all real risks for your team. Agencies that support their caregivers through this work see lower turnover and higher quality care. And yes, supporting them is important, super important. Something that I noticed in my years of experience is when even if they're with this client before they're on hospice, and then they go to the hospice and all they've been with this person for a year, maybe or so, um, their client dies. They will go look to work at another company. They think that's it. They think that their job has been terminated because their client died. I don't know why they think this, but they do. And so being involved and being there emotionally and supporting them and letting them know we know she's gonna pass. We're really sorry, we're here for you, we will be here for you when it happens. We will find you another client. They need to know that it doesn't end when the client dies. I don't uh did you guys have that happen to you too?

SPEAKER_03 21:33

I think that they're worried about their bills and they're like, oh my gosh, they're not gonna have another person for me for how long? So getting a hold of them right away, and a lot of the times, I guess it's 50-50. Sometimes that caregiver's there when the person passes, and sometimes they're not, and we have to let them know. But at that time, is I think what you're about to get into the supporting them. Sometimes they might even need a day or two off. It just really depends on how long they've been with that person. And even for us as a supervisor, when I would go in and I would do pop ins and hospice and 24 hour cases, I popped in a lot more too to make sure that everything was going okay. And even I would feel a certain type of way anytime someone would pass. I'm like, oh my gosh. For the family, seeing everyone crying, it brought out such emotion for me too. So I could imagine someone who's there all the time. So supporting them, I think is and letting them know that you are there for them to you're you have another job when they're ready. Yes. Yeah. They need some time off.

Growing Referrals With Hospice Agencies

Messaging Families On Why Both

Integrated Care Day In The Life

Key Takeaways And Partner Outreach

SPEAKER_02 22:30

So I think that's I think that they and I think we should be looking if we do think that it's down to the last day or so scheduling should be looking and as cold and that sound they need to pay their bills like Lisa said. And so letting them know we understand it's getting close like we're looking for a client for you the hours that you want the same hours. What are you thinking? And that might be difficult for them but they will appreciate the fact that we're we have we're looking out for them and that's important. So supporting them debrief after client passes even a brief check-in call matters. We absolutely should be calling to see how they're doing normalize grief. Let staff know it's okay to feel lost and to be sad. Offer connection to hospice bereavement services many of these agencies extend that service to your caregivers. I didn't know that I think that's a great idea. Rotate difficult assignments when a caregiver is emotionally depleted. So if they become out the hospice case and they're exhausted maybe you don't send them to the house with seven cats the next day right give them a little bit of footprint. Don't send them to the place where no one else can handle it the very next day. Lisa said they might mean a day or two off and they might and that's okay. We need to give them that. Recognize and celebrate their work end of life care is a profound gift. And the fact that they were there end of life many of my caregivers would get them the client kind of cleaned up before the family walked in to like they really take this they they just do an amazing job. It's just incredible it's definitely a special kind of caregiver that can do this and that wants to do this. Definitely growing the partnership building referral relationships with hospice agencies. Hospice agencies are among the most valuable refer referral sources for home care agencies and vice versa building a formal trusted referral relationship benefits both organizations and more importantly the clients and families that you both serve. So how do you position your agency as a hospice partner? Hospice providers are selective about who they choose. And so if you can train your caregivers in hospice care not as a hospice aid but just as a home care caregiver what do you need to do what do you need to know and you have that training and you share that with your hospice these hospice companies that you want to refer to you that helps. Like they trust you then so get trained and certified pursue hospice specific caregiver training programs and document your staff's competencies consider training in palliative care fundamentals and live communication comfort care techniques. And so if you can give them some hospice training and show these hospice agencies that your caregivers and you don't do all the caregivers just the ones that are interested in hospice show that you have that certification or some kind of hospice training that will help them to trust you. Introduce yourself formally schedule a meeting with the director of patient care or the volunteer coordinator at local hospice agencies bring materials that explain your services your coverage area and your caregiver training standards. They're going to want to know that they've been criminally background checked and any of that kind of screening that you do because you're sending them into their patient's home. So think about that they're going to want to know that they've been trained they've been screened they've you've called their references all of those things are going to want to see that. Be responsive and reliable when a hospice case manager calls you for a referral respond quickly. Always respond quickly always get back to them. Nothing builds a referral relationship faster than being the agency that says yes we can help you. And then you deliver on the promise and you think about it. They don't have to wait for an answer. When they hear you say let me check with my scheduling team they just go oh no I just want you to take it like we're desperate. So try really hard to be super responsive. Share the outcomes and feedback. Close the loop with your hospice partners let them know how the client is doing. Share observations from your caregivers and ask for feedback on how you can improve the collaboration. This goes really far it's really mostly about communication. Talking to families reframing the conversation when a family asks we already have hospice why would we need home care too your team needs a clear empathetic and honest answer. Here are some key messages you can share hospice visits are scheduled. We're here in between so that's a really great statement and then explain what that means. We help the whole family not just the patient and for me this has been the biggest piece and they are afraid to go to the bathroom they're afraid to go to the grocery store they're afraid to go to sleep they're going to miss something and they need and they just need that emotional support of someone who's been through this before I think that's a big piece of it too when you send someone who has done five six seven hospice clients or been doing it for 15 years the family leans into that strength. It just it's really hard to watch your loved one just disappear. And with that caregiver there's a lot of support that comes with that. And we're a part of the team it's a team collaboration hospice and home care we do this all the time together. This is how it works. This is what's to be expected. The value we bring by the numbers so the case for combining home care and hospice is not just philosophical it's practical, measurable meaningful for clients and family 90% of seniors people want to die at home. 90% and so having just hospice there isn't typically enough and 90% of them want to die at home. So that is why we partner together. We gap in hospice coverage we cover those gaps three times more time at bedside caregivers spend significantly more time they are there three times more than anybody from hospice. So it's really an important role and one in three family caregivers are at risk of depression and burnout and they're exhausted and nothing's going to burn them out more than a family member on hospice. It's exhausting for them because they're emotionally attached. Even just providing regular home care with a client that's not on hospice I they'll always say to me mom is so hard. She's so difficult none of your caregivers are going to like her this isn't hospice just in general and I say we're not emotionally attached to your mom. It's a whole different thing and that helps it helps so much to not be they're going to like I always say they're going to like your mom. They're going to enjoy your mom and they say no they're not I think they're not emotionally attached. There's no baggage there's no history it's a fresh brand new start with a brand new person. It's not the same relationship and so that usually puts them at ease but the family burnout is a real thing especially in hospice. So these are just some numbers that you can share with those patients. A day in the life integrated care model. So this is what a typical day might look like in the morning the caregiver arrives they assist they document notes midday a hospice nurse may come by assess and adjust care afternoon the caregiver offers companionship and some light tasks evening night overnight caregiver monitors reports changes. And so this is the kind of what the day in life could look like for the caregiver for the family the care the hospice nurse came by this day they don't come by every single day either. So but this is why home care is so needed when it comes to hospice. So the goal is dignity comfort and presence at the end of life at the heart of everything the training the partnerships communication protocols and referral relationships is single profound goal helping people live out their final days with dignity comfort and the people they love around them. And this picture that's what's happening the caregiver is there but not right there front and center. And then when the family needs to go caregiver comes back. So they're they definitely have the a strong presence and they're there when needed the greatest gift we can give a dying person is not just clinical excellence it is the consistent compassionate presence of someone who shows up day after day and says I'm here you're not alone that's the gift the caregivers give every single day and when paired with clinical expertise of a hospice team it becomes something truly extraordinary. So your key takeaways are and your next steps are to educate your team on the hospice model. Maybe pick a handful of caregivers that would be good hospice caregivers. Maybe you already have some hospice caregivers um develop or update your hospice care training you definitely have to have some hospice training for these caregivers if they're going to report back correctly and if you're going to gain that partnership with some hospice agencies they're going to want to see that training. Reach out to local hospice agencies identify maybe two or three that you would like to get to know many of them have weekly morning meetings where they might let you bring coffee or donuts and talk about your services and everyone comes to that the social workers the nurses everybody's in those morning meetings. That's what I've done how about you Annette Lisa is that did you come to like a morning hospice meeting or how did you partner?

SPEAKER_01 31:37

I used to I would do in services with the hospice teams and hop in like one of their meetings and do a presentation and we had a couple like two or three really nice hospice agencies here in our area that most of the doctors and that would recommend the patients to go to so I would try to do in services stop by bring them coffee constantly connect with them. And there they always have a lot of case managers and social workers I used to find there was always new staff that didn't know about us. They didn't know about us I don't know Lisa what about you?

SPEAKER_03 32:09

Yeah same they in fact they would say hey we have our meetings on this day would you like to pick a day and come and bring us talk with us and tell us about you. So yeah definitely the same.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

I found it to be helpful too to have the hospice rep come and talk to my team also like what do they need from the caregiver? What do they need from our scheduling team? What are their expectations too? Because it was better coming from them than coming from me for that partnership. I wanted everyone in the office to be aware of how hospice works what they do what does the social worker do what is the chaplain's role like all of it just so that they would understand. Sometimes my scheduling team because a hospice aide might do some bathing they saw him as a competitor and I'm like no it's not so it was nice to have and they like they want the rep wants to come in and speak to your office. So I think that's a good even they're not going to probably do a hospice training for your caregiver but at least talking about the hospice role and that side of it to the caregivers would also be good. Maybe record it and you can use that as a part of your training ongoing too you also want to take your family messaging review the language your team uses when speaking with prospective clients that are on hospice. We want to make sure we're saying the right things and not promising the wrong things and that the family understands the roles between hospice and the caregiver and support your caregivers emotionally very important. Get them make sure they're really prepared to walk in that home and then support them emotionally. Lisa and Annette do you guys have anything to add to the key takeaways? Anything else?

Gifts Policies Reviews And Exit Interviews

SPEAKER_03 33:42

Yeah I wanted to go back you had you mentioned recording hospice and so when I had two offices that I couldn't get to meet because we were about an hour and a half apart, Glendale and Prescott. And so I actually had invited to I think we used Teams back then but to a Teams meeting to go over so that's one way you could do it as well especially if you have multiple offices and it was nice. It was very casual and it was that was great. The other thing I did want to mention is that when and this is goes to caregivers supporting them almost every time I've had caregivers who were on shifts that were longer shifts they ended up have we ended up having that person long term and then they ended up hospice and then all of that when the person passed the family always wanted to gift them something. So I think that bringing that up is it before it happens is a good idea because it's okay there the family does not want to give it to us but they have to send it to us and then we can mark down whatever it was if it was of this value or and then we can give it to the caregiver. But I think that's something that is a weird situation that it could put the caregiver in because they don't want to stand up and because they they love the family and they it's just a weird awkward place. So I think bringing that up to the family and to the caregiver tastefully and when we're onboarding and things like that. But just to keep that in mind because they are going to want to gift their caregivers because it's a it's what a unique position they're in to be there helping that person go on to the next plane and just being there for them. It's such an honor and it's just a different thing. And so it just needs to be addressed because it's not like just getting 20 bucks here or there. It's definitely something way different and they want to reward them and say thank you for taking such good care of their loved ones. And Lisa we have a question when would you bring that up to the family and client and to the kids I think that's something that you just there's lots of times it's going to depend on the conversation and where you're at with those with that family. But a lot of times the family will even ask because when we're signing paperwork we bring that up that's what I was going to say yeah yeah it's right there in the intake it's right there during the assessment. And so just making sure that's reinforced so that the caregiver doesn't get in trouble. That's really a big piece of it. Do we have a limit Lisa on how much what the dollar was I can't quite remember but I think it was a hundred dollars of value or something.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Ours was 50 nothing over ours was 52.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

And I think was that California maybe it's more sense of here.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

I can't remember exactly what it was I could be fibing on accident but I think it should be in the agreement this is a part of the agreement where you're not allowed to gift our caregivers and we know you want to and if you really want to you can call the office and talk about it and we will present that to the caregiver.

SPEAKER_03 36:40

Yeah on your behalf yeah but it's definitely during the intake and then once someone passes the family usually would I swear I would get so many texts or calls we really love such and such can we give her something and then I would explain kind of the rules of engagement and then it would go from there. Yeah. We were happy to do it. So they were like whatever we need to do so that she doesn't get in trouble and so that you're you're everyone's in a good position.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

And then I would tell them too if you want you can also leave her a Google review through our company that mentions the first name and she'll keep that and save it and it'll she'll put it on her application her next whatever it's a big deal to see that online about yourself.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

So that's another that's another piece of something that we started doing it was called an exit interview and we would talk with the family and the caregiver after to make sure like on the support side for the family and the caregivers it's make sure everything went okay and that like as hard as we work to get the clients we also want to make sure and now that they're leaving services that they were happy with everything and we're making sure that they leave with a with a smile and that makes sure that they will come back to us or refer to us if they have any loved ones that need our help not just hospice any type of care.

Hospice Inside Supportive Living Facilities

SPEAKER_00 37:52

Yeah. Lisa this is Linda from Illinois and I think we're a little bit different. We're an outlier we actually have supportive living and so hospice we do have individuals and I we just I was sending a note to our team because we've had two people recently that were in hospice and supportive living so I don't know how you speak to that in this group setting in this context because we're a little bit different. They're not in the their home is their apartment in the supportive living facility. So if you could speak to that I would just if there are any ideas.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

I think it's the same I think it's the same ground rules that is their home. So you're still walking into their home whether it's under a larger building and so I think everything still applies pretty much the same. You guys have so supportive living I know you guys have I know we talked about this the other day that you had quite a few people that just passed recently but you have caregivers right and you have do you have skilled or do you have hospice on site or are you bringing hospice in?

SPEAKER_00 38:59

We bring hospice in.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

Okay. So I think it's this we think it's the same. It's still the home it's is it you guys making the decision or is it the resident and their family making the decision?

SPEAKER_00 39:10

It's a joint decision is something that is negotiated between the family and the facility.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

I would say probably much more involved in that piece of it than home care.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Yeah and they probably really trust your because your car because there there is no home care worker there is a hospice worker and it's our and our staff does the so it's basically definitely negotiated because our staff is doing the role that I'm hearing you say that a home care worker would do. So there's no caregiver. The caregiver is the CNA that has been with them the entire time and then the hospice piece is the supplement to what's going on in the planet care.

SPEAKER_03 39:49

Do you guys ever have to like outsource to bring in other caregivers or do you have ever run into that issue?

SPEAKER_00 39:56

Based upon level of care there are times when families when it's it begins to be too much for our staff to do and so we will negotiate with the family to say look in order for them to stay hospice only is going to hospice isn't here every day they're not 247 so we it some families will pay and bring in an extra caregiver. Sometimes that daughter or that son becomes the family becomes part of the rotation.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

It sounds like you need to have a home care agency on deck that you for a couple that you want to work with or that you work well with so you can bring them in when that when that one-on-one care is needed that one-on-one support is needed.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

I would say too you probably need even more emotional support for your team when they because they fit with them side by side. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:44

So yeah I know we were talking Linda too about doing like memorial things for some folks that passed away at your community and like the cards I think it'd be a good idea to to do some things like that for your caregivers too especially if they lose someone they've been working with all the time and forever. So having something like that and then maybe I don't know how you feel about this Linda but get days off or like a couple days off just to regroup if they need it. Maybe they're even like I don't not just throw that out there but paid or or other I don't know but right yeah yes but I think that yeah I think that it all works a little bit the same but you have to maneuver it move it around a little bit exactly okay great thank you okay I'm glad you asked yeah that's good different perspective Annette.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

Okay everybody go care pro sales training I know I have a bunch of our class members here today we offer the sales training classes we usually have a couple a month we have our May and our June classes posted we still have openings let me know if you're interested it's once a week for an hour 12 weeks lots of good information I say we spoon feed you we cover every referral source if you follow what we say and you're out there most people you do get a referral by week six and we love I love to hear everybody's successes and how well everybody's doing so we'd love to have you if you're interested let us know June Main June we still have openings in all the classes so let us know.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

All right perfect okay everyone thank you everybody by