Successful facilities have a clearly defined niche and big dream.  They create and follow plans that help them achieve their vision. Their niche and vision plans are designed to generate a nice profit.  Most importantly, they offer unique, braggable, news worthy, cutting edge patient care.  They have become great managers through training, overseeing, rewarding and quickly letting employees go that don’t contribute to strict standards and vision. All of the employees know about the vision and they each help build it through their own personal efforts and through joint efforts of departmental teams.  There is an exciting positive energy running through the whole building. Big ideas are encouraged and flow freely. They have come to realize that profitability and customers are why the company exists and continues.  There is a stark difference between struggling and successful facilities. Ideas Coach has created a five step process for helping census challenged facilities become successful.

Step 1
Develop a Niche

Healthcare businesses that try to be everything to everybody are not nearly as effective as the ones that specialize.  For example, the hourly rate of a cardiologist is about five times more than a family practice physician, and they have more patients.  Specialists have a reputation for being more knowledgeable, experienced and effective. They make fewer mistakes.  That is why customers prefer specialists to generalists.

The same specialist principle that works for cardiologists also works for long-term care facilities.  For example, let’s say your mother is hospitalized with congestive heart failure.  She is about to be discharged from the hospital and she needs to go to a long-term care center.  The discharge planner at the hospital told you about a skilled nursing facility (SNF) that specializes in congestive heart failure.  On average, their therapy, recovery outcomes and quality of life for patients with congestive heart failure are 67 percent better than all of their competitors.   Read More >