The first and most important pillar for growth is Creating a Culture of Growth. This is easier said than done and yet vital. To create this culture an organization must first understand the “Invisible Velvet Glove On The Spigot of Growth” phenomena! The “invisible” factors such as weekend admission “put” offs, after-hours “excuses,” and medical director “apathy,” are a few examples that prevent organizations from serving more patients and growing. These factors can sometimes be so soft and silent (the velvet glove) that most organizations don’t even know there growth spigot is being closed off. Does your organization have a velvet glove at work?

Some of key metrics that can help diagnosis this are the time between referrals received and admissions, the number of referrals Not Taken Under Care, the number of revocations, the referral inquiry to admission conversion rate (growth pillar number 2) and the number of referrals received from your Medical Director (s). One or all of these can be a sign there is an “invisible velvet glove” controlling your ability to serve more eligible hospice patients and grow.

So what to do??? First is measure and trend the metrics mentioned above. Selecting one or two of these factors and doing a PIP can be a learning opportunity for the organization. The second step is to create an opportunity to have open dialogue (not conversion) about barriers and opportunities related to growth. Getting as many people in the organization together and holding a Growth Workshop to identify, categorize and prioritize barriers and opportunities and then create counter measures on how to bust through the barriers and turbo-charge the opportunities. All this is then placed into a Growth Plan for the organization to follow!

How does your organization address growth? Do you believe there is an Invisible velvet glove in place in your organization? What have you and your organization done to create a culture of growth?

In my next posts, we will examine how to improve your referral inquire to admission conversion rate!