For multi-building operators, the concept of sharing best practices can be an important benefit to your organization.  Have your buildings document their best practices relating to operations, customer service, marketing and sales.  Then, take those ideas and leverage them among your other buildings.  You’ll be surprised to learn how much value this can bring in terms of generating more referrals, increasing admissions and building census.

Today, a 24/7 admissions and discharge policy is an important way to demonstrate your commitment to providing outstanding care and customer service. Appreciated by referral sources, their patients and family members, it’s a policy that will help you to attract more referrals and more admissions.

Less talking and more listening will fill beds. When your admissions staff meet with families of prospective residents, encourage them NOT to begin the discussion by talking about your services.  Rather, they should listen carefully in order to uncover specific needs and concerns. Then, focus directly on these issues.

Sales activities are one-to-one personal contacts that help turn relationships into new referrals and actual admissions.  Here’s one such activity that can be practiced by virtually every member of your staff literally every day; smile. A natural, warm smile is truly a welcome mat to your facility; It says, “I’m approachable.” It also communicates a positive attitude, inspires confidence, and wins friends instantly.

To cut through the clutter in today's fast-paced environment, successful communicators utilize both direct mail and email marketing to get their message across. Email marketing provides an easy and cost-efficient way to connect and keep in touch, while direct mail is highly effective when used as part of a targeted, consistent campaign. This dual approach has been proven successful over time.

Optimize the value of your marketing investment; focus on tracking and managing census-leading indicators.

Your organization should consistently and accurately track inquiries/referrals, conversions, admissions, CMI, LOS and satisfaction.  You'll be surprised how much value this can generate.  By establishing a process-based system to capture this information, you can use that data to improve performance, enhance revenue and boost your bottom line.

How important is the ability to convert routine inquiries into actual admissions?  Data shows that converting just one phone call could produce over $10,000 in added Medicare revenue. To take advantage of this opportunity, educate your staff on the value of every call and set up the systems to ensure that you realize the potential of each one.

Don’t take long-standing referral sources for granted. Update these professionals regularly, so that awareness of your organization, services and your points of difference with your competition remain “top of mind.” Maintaining strong relationships is no less important than cultivating new ones. Both are critical to building admissions and census.

The pending financial penalties facing hospitals on Medicare Part-A re-admissions means referral sources will prefer to refer to SNF’s that are focused on reducing re-hospitalizations. A basic retention program can not only reduce re-hospitalizations, but also deliver real increases in LOS and census.

Demonstrate to hospitals and referring physicians that your building is focused on avoiding unnecessary re-hospitalization of patients within the first 30 days of their admission.  It will give you a distinct competitive advantage and can result in increased referrals. 

Develop a formal process and review the sources of your referrals and admissions on a monthly basis. Any changes in your normal referral patterns should trigger immediate attention on the part of the admissions and senior management staff.

Adults age 55+ are generally the “decision-maker” for LTC placement and are the fastest growing segment of Internet users, with over 80% using the Internet to research health and LTC information. Your website is the window to this opportunity.  Make sure it’s designed by LTC experts to communicate effectively with all LTC stakeholders… is easy to navigate, provides information about all your care services and highlights your credibility on the home page.

Whether a free standing SNF or large CCRC, word of mouth referrals is a must in today’s competitive marketplace. You can increase your word of mouth referrals by leveraging your relationship with residents and families that have been “touched” by your services and programs. Remind them of your expertise and leadership in senior care and their good experience with your organization. Keep in mind that communicating with them via email can save time and money.

All staff can be a partner in reducing re-hospitalizations by being trained to immediately inform their supervisor of a change in a resident’s condition. Reinforce your staff training by posting “reminders” throughout the building and be sure to make this a focus in all your staff meetings.

Perhaps the most important lesson learned from this past year is the need to maintain a positive attitude and continue to focus on ways to increase referrals, admissions, revenues and profitability. For example, here are five areas you can focus on immediately:

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.

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.