Careful tracking of inquiries, referrals, admissions, facility denials, discharges and length of stay will explain why your census is trending the way it is. Armed with this information you can direct your census-building activities to be more effective and efficient. HINT: Often the quickest (and easiest way) to get a big increase in census is with a small increase in the percentage of conversions to admissions.

A recent study found that 82% of adults age 50+ who use the internet research health and wellness information online. A well designed and managed digital marketing campaign is more than just a website; it has the power to become one of your most effective and efficient ways to attract inquiries and referrals, whether for short-term rehab, specialty care or traditional long-term care.

Is there a way to anticipate where my census is heading so I can proactively take steps to avoid a dip or maximize an up-trend?

The answer is yes. Rather than just looking at total census, take a closer look at the various factors that have a direct impact on your census – factors we call Census Drivers™ The Census Drivers™ we suggest that you track and review are; inquiries, referrals, admissions, conversion ratio, facility denials, discharges and length of stay. By documenting these on a daily basis and reviewing them regularly, you will likely spot important underlying trends that are leading indicators of what’s going to happen with your census in the near future. For example:

• How well are referral sources performing – as compared with previous periods? Has something changed? Are you getting less referrals or too many referrals you cannot (or do not want to) make a bed offer on?
• How well are you converting referrals into admissions? Often a small increase in conversions can have a major impact on census.
• Is census falling despite the fact that your referrals and admissions are still strong? Perhaps it’s your LOS that’s the culprit.
• Carefully reviewing facility denials can reveal important information about what referral sources think of you. If you are continually getting inappropriate referrals, that can be a sign that you may need to educate (or re-educate) referral sources about your services and capabilities.
• Seeing too many facility denials? Have senior management review every denial, every day. You will be surprised at how this process can reduce facility denials and increase admissions when staff knows their decisions are being reviewed. It’s also a great way to uncover misunderstandings the admissions staff may have about admissions policy.

Tracking Census Drivers™, analyzing them and acting upon your findings is often the quickest, easiest and least costly way to optimize admissions and increase census.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

These famous wise words of President John F. Kennedy can serve as the foundation for your relationship with your local hospital. Ask not what your hospital can do for you, ask what you can do for your hospital.

Now more than ever, hospitals are faced with difficulties such as re-hospitalization penalties, payment cut-offs, and forced bundle payments for ortho. This is something YOU can help fix. Understanding what pains your hospital and how you can alleviate their issues will lead to a great relationship, as well as your facility becoming a preferred provider!

In today’s digital environment simply having a website is not enough. You must actively drive traffic to your website. Email marketing provides an easy and efficient way to connect and keep in touch with all stakeholders. Effective email marketing brings people to your website and ensures that you are top of mind when someone is in need of short-term rehab or long-term care. Combined with the expertly written content included as part of the LTC Digital Marketing Program, email marketing can have a significant impact on helping you establish and nurture relationships that will turn strangers into friends and friends into referral sources.

The goal of your website should be to generate inquiries. The way to do that is to create engaging, clear and relevant content that not only tells a potential inquiry about who you are, but also how you’ll be the solution to their healthcare needs. Americans tap search engines more than 12 billion times a month to find everything from stroke rehab to jambalaya recipes. Make sure that each of your care services has their own dedicated page on your website. By doing this, it will allow your services to get found by those searching and generate new inquiries into your building.