Strategic Partnerships: A Key to Future Success in End-of-Life Care – September 2018

Strategic Relationships Should Be a Top Priority…

In addition to the day-to-day challenge of operational and financial effectiveness, hospice organizations need to be focused on establishing and growing strategic relationships.  A number of factors point in this direction:  narrow networks (focused on value rather than volume), consolidation of referral sources and payors, and the growing importance of non-Medicare payors (Medicare Advantage in particular).

As the Hospice Medicare Benefit becomes a smaller portion of every hospice’s book of business, the ability to operate outside the “Medicare box” becomes imperative.  Most of those new opportunities derive from strategic relationships rather than relationships with individual referral sources (what was once a strong relationship with an individual discharge planner or physician may be trumped by a health plan or health system’s preferred provider network).

I recently assisted a client in preparing for a meeting with a key strategic partner, a health plan.  Developing such relationships require much more of an entrepreneurial approach – a skill not often needed in the certified Medicare business.  It will be come increasingly important for providers to become adept and comfortable with these relationship-building skills.

Bill Musick, President of Integriti3D, partners with chief executives and boards of hospice and palliative care organizations who seek to make a difference in the areas of planning, board engagement and creating a culture of integrity.  To find out more about taking your planning to the next level, contact Bill at (888) 942-0405.