Did you really just see Katniss Eberdeen in a Dodge truck commercial?
You may think you’re hallucinating from staring too long at the detailed new G Codes for home health and hospice agencies, the ones taking effect Jan. 1 as part of the latest change request from The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
But you’re not confused, at least not about Katniss and Dodge. (It would be highly unusual if you weren’t at least a little confused about the G codes.)
A “Hunger Games” lookalike is splashed all over television, radio, digital and social media advertisements this week in an unlikely marketing alliance with Fiat Dodge Chrysler Automobiles.
It’s part of a huge, cross-industry promotion for the release of “Mockingjay – Part 2,” opening in movie theaters this Friday, Nov. 20. Fiat Dodge Chrysler is taking full advantage of the surrounding hype to join forces in an expensive advertising campaign.
What can Katniss joining forces with Dodge teach the home health care industry?
The creative alliance between auto manufacturer and moviemaker is representative of a strong new partnership trend across many sectors of today’s marketplace, in team efforts designed to make sure the odds of success are a bit more favorable for all.
It’s a trend home health care can’t afford to overlook, because there can be real, bottom-line value in this type of strategic alliance.
In fact, strategic partnerships may well be the best route to profitability as home health evolves, particularly for smaller agencies feeling overwhelmed by the need to stay abreast of regulatory change, control risk and maintain solvency, all without sacrificing focus on quality patient care and outcomes. From community resource sharing to outsourcing traditional staff responsibilities such as coding and chart review, teamwork can play an integral role in helping home health and hospice agencies overcome today’s complex challenges.
John Hammergren, chairman and CEO of McKesson, the largest health-care services firm in the U.S., is among the health industry voices endorsing creative solutions, including strategic partnerships, in today’s fluid health services market.
“Given the unprecedented level of change gripping the health care industry, large and small health care organizations will need to depend on innovative, creative thinking and sometimes each other to successfully navigate the evolving marketplace,” Hammergren wrote in a recent article for the Harvard Business Review.
Health care strategist and author Stephen Tweed, CEO of Leading Home Care, agrees. Last spring, Tweed identified “Community Partnerships” as one of the Top 10 Trends in Home Health Care in America for 2015, on his Home Health Care Today blog, saying many home care agencies are partnering with providers and non-provider organizations to greatly improve health outcomes.
Communities may offer an abundance of helpful resources, from disease-specific program development assistance available through local branches of large nationwide advocacy groups such as The National Cancer Society or The American Heart Association to support groups for caregivers. Even rural agencies may be able to make use of resources available through the largest advocacy groups.
Compliance is one of the areas most conducive to partnerships adding bottom-line value to home health agencies.
Continue reading Hunger Games strategy a win for home health care
