Palliative Care
Service Offering Playbook
Marketing Your Services
Online/Digital Marketing
Our clients and their families live in a digital world and, as such, it is important that you have a strong online presence. This involves having a digital marketing plan that targets and reaches potential clients in need of palliative care. A strong online presence will also help you reach caregivers to service your clients. The success of this digital marketing plan lies in understanding the unique needs and concerns of palliative clients and their caregivers. By providing them with relevant, valuable, and easily accessible information, you can establish your organization as a trusted source of support and care.
In this section, we will outline target audience, objectives of an online marketing strategy, and the key areas of focus for marketing to palliative clients in the online space.
A strong online marketing strategy has a few key components.
Developing a digital and online strategy may not be something you are familiar with or have experience in doing. Work with your business coach to help develop a strong strategy and to understand the key performance metrics. Your business coach can also help to analyze the results and help make decisions on what may need to change based on the results.
While a strong digital marketing plan is key to attracting your target audience in the online space, it is still of utmost importance that you focus intentional time and energy on the local community marketing. Many of the seniors in your target audience (and their family members) look to local professionals and resources to help them navigate the challenges of living with dementia or memory impairments. Building relationships with those professional services and establishing yourself as a local resource will help you win more clients at the local level.
Before understanding how to build relationships with specific professionals in the palliative field, it is important to understand where/who your target audience may interact with on a daily basis.
Home Care Agencies – There are a number of home care agencies in your local area, many of whom cannot meet the demand of the industry. By establishing a relationship with them, you can partner to ensure all palliative clients get suitable care. For example, some agencies may not have the required specialized palliative training or the caregivers and can recommend your agency as a secondary option.
Respite Care Services – Respite care services offer temporary care for palliative patients, giving regular caregivers a much-needed break. This could be for as little as a few hours or it could be for a week or two. These services can recommend longer term in-home care based on a client/family need.
Meal Delivery Services – Services for meal delivery offer nutritious meals to seniors in their homes, ensuring they receive regular and healthy food without the challenges of grocery shopping and cooking. Because these seniors are staying in their homes, they often have needs for other services such as activities of daily living.
Transportation Services – Some non-profit organizations or community programs provide transportation services for seniors who can longer drive, helping them attend medical appointments, go grocery shopping or participate in social activities. These seniors often have other needs as well and can benefit from being referred to a home care agency.
Telehealth Services – Telehealth allows patients to connect with healthcare providers virtually, reducing the need for travel. This is particularly useful for routine check-ups or mental health services. Again, with these seniors staying at home, they often have a need for other types of services and assistance.
Support Groups – Palliative support groups, often organized by non-profits such as the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance of the Hospice Foundation of America, provide emotional support and resources for both clients and family caregivers. Connecting with these support groups can provide their clients with options for additional assistance as the severity of their dementia increases.
Home Modification Programs – Some organizations provide assistance with home modifications to create a safe and accessible environment for palliative patients at home. This might include installing grab bars, improving lighting, installing hospital beds, or making navigation easier. Because they are specifically working with seniors who want to stay at home, they can be a great reference for additional in-home services to help a senior live comfortably and safely in their home.
Disease-specific organizations – Many community organizations provide resources for understanding palliative care and how to care for someone at this stage in their life. Connecting with these types of organizations, such as the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance, HopeHealth, Hospice Foundation of America or Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, can provide you with opportunities to take part in community events/fundraisers, provide educational workshops or connect directly with clients requiring care.
Once you understand where your target market is in the community, establish a plan for connecting with these potential referral partners. This will be covered in the next section.
Professional Referral Process
As described in the previous section, there are a variety of community resources and professionals you can target to reach your ideal client and their family members. In this section, we will discuss the overall process to identify potential referral partners, prepare to market to these partners and establish strong relationships that result in referrals to your agency,
Building Professional Referral Relationships
1. Identify Key Referral Sources - Begin by identifying professionals who are most likely to refer patients for home care services. These might include general practitioners, geriatricians, neurologists, social workers, hospital discharge planners, professionals at senior living communities, or any of the options in the previous section. Create a database of these key sources with contact information of people you want to speak directly with.
2. Create Informative Materials – Collect any brochures, case studies, and one-pagers that clearly outline your services and their benefits, particularly with regard to palliative and hospice care. These materials can be distributed to potential referral sources.
3. Understand their Needs - Understand what your partners need and how you can help meet those needs. For example, they may need a reliable home care service to refer their patients to, or they may need educational resources about home care for their patients and families.
4. Communicate Your Value – When talking with potential referral partners, clearly communicate the unique value of your home care services and how they can benefit the partner's clients. Highlight specific services that meet the unique needs of their clients and the quality of care that you and your caregivers provide.
5. Establish and Grow Relationships – Having strong relationships with referral partners is not done in just one interaction. Continue to follow up with referral partners and find out how you can help them. It is meant to be a reciprocal relationship, not one built on a transaction.
6. Networking events - Networking is crucial in establishing professional referrals. Attend local medical conferences, healthcare events, and seminars to meet potential referrers. Regularly visit clinics, hospitals, and senior living communities to build relationships with the staff.
7. Education Sessions - Provide educational sessions or workshops on palliative and hospice care. These sessions can help other professionals understand the unique benefits and features of your home care service and how it can be a reliable option for their patients.
8. Regular Communication - Keep your referral sources updated with changes or advancements in your services. Regular email updates, newsletters, or personal meetings can be effective for this purpose. You can also include them in any drip campaigns to referral partners that can highlight client stories, new service offerings, caregiver recognition, and company updates.
9. Client Success Stories - Sharing successful case studies or client stories can build confidence among potential referrers. It helps them understand the effectiveness of your service and its positive impact on the clients’ lives.
10. Provide Exceptional Service - Providing top-notch care will naturally encourage professionals to refer their clients to your service. Make sure you have a highly trained staff who can address the specific needs of dementia clients.
11. Follow-Up and Appreciation - After receiving a referral, follow up with the referrer to thank them and provide feedback on the client’s progress. This helps to build a solid and trustworthy relationship with your referrers.
Building strong relationships with professional referrals requires consistency, tenacity and patience. Over time, as you continue to meet with professional referrals and provide them with value, you will become a trusted partner and receive consistent referrals, helping you to grow your business and help many of these clients. If you are unsure of how to approach your potential referral partners, work with your business coach to develop a community marketing plan.
Pricing Your Service
One of the common challenges a business owner faces is how to price a service to maximize profitability while also remaining competitive in the marketplace. Qualicare is never going to be the cheapest agency in the market – that is not the target market we focus on. But you do want to be conscious of not pricing yourself out of the market.
Pricing services for home care for palliative patients should take into account several factors. The aim is to strike a balance that provides fair compensation for the care providers while also offering value to the patients and their families.
Here are some of the factors that might influence your pricing:
1. Cost of Caregivers - The major expense in home care is often the salary or hourly wage of caregivers. You need to factor in not only the direct compensation but also costs like insurance, benefits, training, and taxes (burden).
2. Level of Care Required - Palliative patients can require varying levels of care depending on the progression of their condition. Those in the early stages may need only part-time assistance, while others may require round-the-clock care or specialized medical attention.
3. Specialized Care Training - Caring for palliative patients often requires specialized skills and training to handle the unique challenges these patients can present. If your caregivers have received special training or if you're providing specialized programs or therapies, these can justify a higher price.
4. Overhead Costs - These include the costs of running your business such as rent, utilities, marketing, administrative staff salaries, licensing, and insurance.
5. Competitive Analysis - Look at what similar agencies in your area are charging. Being aware of the market rate can help you make sure your prices are reasonable and competitive.
6. Geographic Location - The cost of living in your area will significantly impact what you can charge. Services in urban or high cost-of-living areas often charge more than those in rural or lower cost-of-living areas.