October 17, 2023 • 23 mins
Get ready to be enlightened with our insightful conversation with Natalie McNeal, the driving force behind Hospice at WellStar Health System. Natalie is here to share how medium-sized home-based care providers can prove their quality beyond Medicare Care Compare scores. She shares the secret sauce to her organization's successful outreach - building relationships within the community, spreading impactful patient stories, and leveraging an innovative advisory committee that brings fresh community outreach ideas to the table. You'll get a glimpse of how their governing board plays a crucial role in certifying the quality of their hospice.
We go a step further to discuss how you can ignite the spark in your staff to become ambassadors of quality in your organization. Natalie shares her experience in creating connections within the community for support and how a community needs analysis can help identify underserved populations. She sheds light on her organization's strategic investment in promotional materials and community events to reach these populations. Natalie also opens up about how they've developed a unique training program to equip their staff and volunteers with the ability to interact with patients and navigate through grief. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone looking to enhance their home-based healthcare services. Don't miss out!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Greetings.
I'm Jennifer Kennedy and thelead for Quality at CHAP, and
welcome to this month's CHAPcast.
So in this podcast we're goingto jump two feet first into a
discussion with Natalie O'Neill,who is a healthcare leader and
champion of all things qualityand, I'm very happy and proud to
say, a long time friend as well.
(00:29):
Welcome to the CHAPcast,natalie.
Thank you.
I'm glad to be here.
So I know who you are, natalie,but our listeners don't, so
could you tell them a little bitabout yourself and your work at
WellStar?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Sure, I am the executive director of Hospice
for the Metro Atlanta area atWellStar Health System.
We are a 11 hospital systemhere in the Atlanta Georgia
market and we cover about sevencounties in the Metro Atlanta
area and we have two inpatienthospice units.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, and I know you from you know my work at NHPCO,
but you know you you do somereally interesting work in the
quality realm, which I think canbe applicable to not only
hospice providers but homehealth providers, just any
home-based care providers thatare out there, because your
(01:27):
innovation, I think, makes youunique in your community.
It shows your stamp of quality,it shows that you care, and
that's really what I wanted totalk with you today about is
talking about that concept ofproving your quality outside of
(01:50):
quality scores on Medicare CareCompare, and I know that you
work really hard within yourorganization, yes, yes, to look
at keeping your CAP scores upand paying attention to your HIS
scores.
But you really you don't relyjust on quality scores, you do
(02:12):
things outside of that realm toreally show what kind of
organization you are.
Is that does that kind ofcapture the flavor of what you
like to do?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, our organization is very focused on the whole
concept of delivering the rightcare to the patient in the right
place at the right time, andthey allow us to be really
innovative and think outside ofthe box and try out different
things.
Sometimes things work.
Sometimes they don't, but whenthey do they're usually pretty
great.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
For those medium to smaller organizations.
You know it's quality scoresare a conundrum because maybe
they're not, they don't haveenough to get even up on
Medicare Care Compare, or youknow they have such a small
population they're not getting.
(03:06):
If you have like one negative,let's say in your CAP survey,
return even if you do haveenough, it could really skew
your scores.
If you were talking to whetherit's a hospice or a home care
organization, any any kind oforganization that does
home-based care, what would yousay to those folks out there
(03:27):
about expanding their footprintbeyond whatever scores are
captured in public reporting?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Right.
So there are a lot ofindicators that are out there,
the biggest one being theconnection to the community and
the patient and the quality ofservices that you're able to
bring to the table for thosepatients.
A lot of times, thoserelationships in the community
are so much stronger than what ascore can show on a website,
especially if people aren't real.
(03:59):
In tune to particular scoresand what those mean, you can
really tell your story aroundhow you deliver care and how you
ensure quality in every casethat you have, when you, when
you're connected in yourcommunity.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Now, do you, do you use any kind of testimonials
when you're talking aboutquality out in your community?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yes, we always try to bring back whatever we're
talking about to a story,whether that is someone telling
their personal story if we'reout in an event and there's a
community member there who mightwant to step up and tell their
story about our hospice.
But we also have our arsenal ofstories in the background that
we can pull from at anyparticular point in time.
(04:48):
Our team is well versed onthose and they know what the
stories are and how we impactedpatients in different ways and
then they can really use thoseto talk about experiences that
patients have had and how we canbe of assistance.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
So I hear you talking about events.
You know when we're out atevents and that's you know.
Really, to me that sounds likedeveloping those partnerships in
your community.
What kind of things does yourhospice do that might be
extendable to otherorganizations as ideas for them
(05:26):
to get out there into theircommunity?
And, you know, prove theirquality, show their quality.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So we participate in pretty much anything that
anybody will.
Let us come and talk to.
So you know, whether that's likea Kiwanis club or a rotary or
community organizations,veterans affairs places will
oftentimes let us come in andmeet with their veterans.
We have some veterans materialsthat they can use and we also
(05:58):
use our stories when we aretrying to collect volunteers,
which is so important to ourprogram, and we use those
volunteers to also tell thestory when they are at things.
So you know, expanding thosefingers into the community as
much as possible, we do have asmall group of people that
rotate in and off of a committeeand they act as an advisory
(06:21):
board to us of where we can getinvolved.
They usually have had apersonal experience with our
hospice in some type of way.
It might not have been a familymember, but they may have
worked with us in some way andmight have community connections
that we can call on for ideas,because we cannot be connected
(06:41):
everywhere in the community.
We actually don't have anymarketers in our organization.
So you know that's not somebodythat I have out there moving
around the community for us.
So we rely on those people thathave had experiences with
hospice and know the quality ofour hospice.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I love the idea that you have this advisory committee
and you know, I would thinkthat that would be a huge
connection out into yourcommunity base.
Do you leverage your governingboard for their participation as
well?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
We do.
You know, I think it's prettyuncommon for healthcare systems
to really focus on that fullcontinuum of care, because
they're supposed to be healingpeople, and our organization has
really embraced that.
This is a part of life, dyingis a part of life, so hospice is
going to be part of that.
They know that.
You know, with the expectationsthat they have as an
(07:40):
organization, that we canprovide better care because they
hold us to their same standardsthat they hold their hospitals
to.
So with that comes to usreporting out to our board.
But also that advisorycommittee I was telling you
about, they actually have arepresentative that will go to
some of the general boardmeetings and represent whatever
(08:04):
it is that we have going on inhospice at that time as well.
So we have a voice there onmany levels.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So you're developing voices and champions.
Yes, yes, I love that.
Now I heard you say that youdon't have marketers, and is
that because you're part of ahealth system?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
It is.
Our health system focuses onserving our health system
members, so there's a feelingthat they're already somewhat
familiar with our system andtherefore might choose our
hospice as well.
But we do have other peoplethat represent us.
We have a liaison team.
But that liaison team, theirgoal, is not to leave the walls
(08:43):
of our hospitals.
If you need for the boneproduction policies, you can
just go to the right side ofyour presentation.
I wanna mention that when youwere speaking to help folks to
bring health回來, they weremissing.
Their goal is to meet withfamilies and patients there and
have very in-depth conversationsabout what hospices so almost
what other hospices would thinkof is like an admission nurse,
but they actually don't do theadmission, they just have all
the prior conversations.
(09:04):
But that keeps us connectedwithin our hospitals.
So even though they're not atrue marketer, they still have a
presence.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
You know, one thing I've always admired about you as
a leader, natalie, is that youempower all of your staff to
essentially be ambassadors notonly of your organization but
ambassadors of quality in yourorganization.
So it would seem to me anyonethat who is going out and about
(09:33):
in your community or to boardmeetings, you know, is that
embodiment of the ambassador ofquality, and is that purposeful
that you do that?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Very much.
So.
You know, we look at everyonein our organization as somebody
that has connections and thatcan share hospice stories and
can share experiences, and so wedo empower our team to have
those conversations and talkabout those things within their
community, wherever they'reconnected.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
And I know that you do have as a hospice.
You do have a fundraising armof your organization which helps
you fund some of your coolerinnovations that you've done,
which I'd like to hear a couplein just a few minutes.
But, you know, for thoseorganizations that don't
necessarily have the fundraising, do you have any advice for
(10:33):
making those connections out inthe community for support?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yes, even if you don't have something like our
program, those connections thatyour staff is creating or your
team members that are out there,former patients and families
that might be out there incommunity as well, they can help
you find grants oropportunities that are available
through your communityorganizations that can fund
(10:59):
projects that you want to workon.
So there's more than justpeople donating to you directly.
Some people do that regardlessof having a full foundation or
not, but those grants can be abig help in funding programs.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So tell me about.
Let's take a recent innovationthat you've done to really show
your quality beyond your scores.
Show your quality beyond yourscores out in your service area.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
So one of the things that we do every year is that we
do a community needs analysisand we meet with our team and we
talk about our community.
We meet with health care leaderswithin our organization,
community leaders and we try topull together.
Who are we not serving in ourcommunity?
And then we look to see ifsomeone else is and if that
(11:59):
needs met, then that's great.
But if that needs not met,that's a real quality issue for
us, because that means thatthere's a population that could
really benefit from havinghospice care services.
That's not getting that.
So some of the things that wedo as we look at how do we reach
that population, how do weconnect with them, identify
(12:20):
what's important to them andcreate collateral around that,
attend events that might beimportant for that, sponsor
community events as well.
So you know, maybe it's goingand speaking at some of their
events or just being present atthose, but that does require a
(12:41):
certain level of funding tocreate those collateral and the
investment that goes in withmeeting with your community as
well, because that is time, butit's time well spent.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Well, it is.
Quality is an investment, isn'tit?
It is, it just doesn't happen.
It has to be a part of yourstrategic plan.
There has to be resourceallocation for it, right.
It's just not something that isa byproduct of your day-to-day
business.
(13:15):
It has to be intentional, and Ilove that your program is
extremely intentional about that, and it means that other
programs absolutely can beintentional about that.
For instance, you are, inaddition, I know that you're
very invested in not onlyeducation out for your community
(13:39):
about what your servicesrepresent, but also investing in
that education for your staffas well, so can you talk a
little bit about that?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Yes, we, we are also very intentional with that piece
.
This past year, you know, welearned a lot about duels, death
duels and what they can do inthe community, and we looked
into the program and, you know,had some people from the
community that were reallyinterested, that had gone
through that training and wantedto come on and learn more.
But we're also not as focusedon quality and patient care
(14:16):
maybe as we do as anorganization.
So what we did is we met withthose doula education
organizations and created adifferent type of training but
encompassing a lot of theirvalues and education that they
have, and we created our ownprogram that we have used to
(14:38):
train not only our staff butalso our volunteers, and there's
a lot of information in thatabout how to have conversations,
how to connect with people,what to say, when to say it, but
also people working throughtheir own grief so that they can
go in with an open mind andrealize that other people's
situations might be differentfrom theirs.
(15:02):
And we actually had several ofour volunteers who came back and
said, wow, I didn't realizethat I had unprocessed grief and
now that I'm able to workthrough that, I feel like I'm in
a better place to be able tohelp serve these populations.
Our staff members that wentthrough it said you know I
talked to dying people everysingle day but I really walked
(15:23):
away from that feeling like Ihave, you know, more of a
connection and I know what tosay now and that's been really
empowering for our volunteersand our staff.
And so with that we paid forthe education program to be
altered to us, for the people toattend, but also for meals to
(15:46):
bring people in and create thatcamaraderie.
We did this in person overabout six weeks and it's been
very impactful in ourorganization.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
That sounds so great.
I mean you were looking forsynergy of different types of
services out there that youcould develop that relationship
with.
That would create a strongerand a better experience in the
terms of hospice care.
(16:16):
I like that idea and that couldeasily, I'm thinking, be
translated to you know homehealth, looking for different
synergies out in their communityas well, and you know taking
some of the things that you haveoffered out there, like going
to your rotary club and going tothese different places to talk
(16:38):
about what good home based carelooks like.
Also, I think that you also doquite a bit of innovation.
Now you talked about going tounderserved communities, but you
know you're also looking forinnovation in other places as
(17:03):
well and really with innovationyou're developing, I think, a
more sustainable program movingforward.
It gives you a higher esteemout in your community and really
does show the kind oforganization you are outside of
(17:25):
those scores.
What kind of innovation haveyou done, let's say, in the last
year, for your hospice program?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Sure.
So one of my favorite thingsthat we've done this year and we
are almost completed with theproject, so I can't tell you
exactly the impact that it's hadyet, but I expect you to have a
lot of impact.
Our one of our inpatient unitsbacks up to a beautiful park and
it's very secluded, lots oftrails and walking as part of a
(17:58):
mountain, and we have created,on the way back from our
building to the connection tothe trail, some meditations
along the way, and so we'reposting QR codes that link to a
video.
Some of them are simplebreathing exercises, but we've
(18:19):
also tied some of these to thefeatures that we have on our
property.
So there's one that's aboutclimbing a mountain and
overcoming the stress thatyou're currently under, because,
as you can imagine, in ahospice inpatient unit, these
patients that we serve are notwell.
They are in some type of crisis, and this is very, very
(18:42):
stressful, right?
Yes, it's very stressful forthat whole family unit, so we're
creating a space for them to beable to go out.
We have a stream that also runsthrough our property, so one of
them is a visual imagery aboutplacing your burdens on a leaf
(19:04):
and washing it go down thestream and some people connect
very well to those things.
Some people connect to thebreathing, so we're trying to
have an array of things thatthey can do.
But for those patients thatcan't make it outside, or for
our patients who are at home,the connection to our property
might not be as clear, but theycan still use those same QR
(19:25):
codes to access those videos andgo through those different
exercises and hopefullyde-stress a little bit, take a
few minutes to reset your systemand have a fresh perspective.
So we're really excited aboutthis project and how it's going
(19:47):
to impact our patients andfamilies and our staff.
Our staff can do it too.
Anything that we can do toincrease resiliency with our
team is great.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love this whole project.
I'm looking forward to what theoutcomes look like as well.
I think it's a reallyinnovative project that you've
got going here.
So I'm going to loop back,before we finish up, to those
medium to smaller organizationsthinking that they can't perhaps
(20:17):
do some of these things becausethey don't have resources.
Community engagement you can dosome level of that without
having a huge amount ofresources.
You can leverage patienttestimonials and stories.
Some of those things in my mindare, I think, low hanging fruit
(20:41):
to show your quality outsideyour scores.
Do any other ones come to mindfor you, natalie, as you're
thinking back along your cardcatalog of things that you've
done with your organization?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Right, so I would say the biggest thing that I think
helps is being able to tell astory, and to tell a story from
your heart, so people know ifyou've connected with someone or
if you're just regurgitating astory that you've heard along
the way.
So the more personalexperiences, without releasing
(21:15):
HIPAA information on thoseparticular stories.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Thank you for that, you're welcome.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So people can tell when you talk about something,
if you have compassion orthere's kindness tied to it, or
maybe it's really something thatyou're passionate about.
People can see that.
So it's not only about findingstories that other people can
connect to but the storytellercan connect to Because, again,
(21:46):
the more that they see that youlove your job and what you do
and who you serve, the morelikely they are to have that
trust already built and that'swho they're going to want to
call on to build theirrelationship as they need to
move through the hospice process.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, that's so well stated.
Thank you, natalie, and thanksfor joining the podcast today.
Do you have any final thoughtsfor our listeners?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
My final thought is to always think outside of the
box.
There are ways to do thingswith and without funding.
Sometimes funding makes thingsa little bit easier, but there's
also plenty of ways to beconnected and to enhance quality
without having to spend a lotof money.
It's about setting theexpectation of quality from the
(22:32):
beginning.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Thank you, natalie, and I agree with everything that
you've said, and I look forwardto seeing what your project
yields on the back end, and Ilook forward to continuing to
work with you as a healthcareprofessional to move quality
needles forward, not only forhospice, but for all home-based
care.
Well, thanks again, natalie,for joining.
(22:57):
It was so great to talk withyou today you too and thanks to
all of you for taking time outof your day to plug into our
podcast.
So, from me and the entire chatteam, stay safe and well, and
thanks for all you do.
Greetings.
I'm Jennifer Kennedy and thelead for Quality at CHAP, and
welcome to this month's CHAPcast.
So in this podcast we're goingto jump two feet first into a
discussion with Natalie O'Neill,who is a healthcare leader and
champion of all things qualityand, I'm very happy and proud to
say, a long time friend as well.
(00:29):
Welcome to the CHAPcast,natalie.
Thank you.
I'm glad to be here.
So I know who you are, natalie,but our listeners don't, so
could you tell them a little bitabout yourself and your work at
WellStar?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Sure, I am the executive director of Hospice
for the Metro Atlanta area atWellStar Health System.
We are a 11 hospital systemhere in the Atlanta Georgia
market and we cover about sevencounties in the Metro Atlanta
area and we have two inpatienthospice units.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, and I know you from you know my work at NHPCO,
but you know you you do somereally interesting work in the
quality realm, which I think canbe applicable to not only
hospice providers but homehealth providers, just any
home-based care providers thatare out there, because your
(01:27):
innovation, I think, makes youunique in your community.
It shows your stamp of quality,it shows that you care, and
that's really what I wanted totalk with you today about is
talking about that concept ofproving your quality outside of
(01:50):
quality scores on Medicare CareCompare, and I know that you
work really hard within yourorganization, yes, yes, to look
at keeping your CAP scores upand paying attention to your HIS
scores.
But you really you don't relyjust on quality scores, you do
(02:12):
things outside of that realm toreally show what kind of
organization you are.
Is that does that kind ofcapture the flavor of what you
like to do?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, our organization is very focused on the whole
concept of delivering the rightcare to the patient in the right
place at the right time, andthey allow us to be really
innovative and think outside ofthe box and try out different
things.
Sometimes things work.
Sometimes they don't, but whenthey do they're usually pretty
great.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
For those medium to smaller organizations.
You know it's quality scoresare a conundrum because maybe
they're not, they don't haveenough to get even up on
Medicare Care Compare, or youknow they have such a small
population they're not getting.
(03:06):
If you have like one negative,let's say in your CAP survey,
return even if you do haveenough, it could really skew
your scores.
If you were talking to whetherit's a hospice or a home care
organization, any any kind oforganization that does
home-based care, what would yousay to those folks out there
(03:27):
about expanding their footprintbeyond whatever scores are
captured in public reporting?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Right.
So there are a lot ofindicators that are out there,
the biggest one being theconnection to the community and
the patient and the quality ofservices that you're able to
bring to the table for thosepatients.
A lot of times, thoserelationships in the community
are so much stronger than what ascore can show on a website,
especially if people aren't real.
(03:59):
In tune to particular scoresand what those mean, you can
really tell your story aroundhow you deliver care and how you
ensure quality in every casethat you have, when you, when
you're connected in yourcommunity.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Now, do you, do you use any kind of testimonials
when you're talking aboutquality out in your community?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yes, we always try to bring back whatever we're
talking about to a story,whether that is someone telling
their personal story if we'reout in an event and there's a
community member there who mightwant to step up and tell their
story about our hospice.
But we also have our arsenal ofstories in the background that
we can pull from at anyparticular point in time.
(04:48):
Our team is well versed onthose and they know what the
stories are and how we impactedpatients in different ways and
then they can really use thoseto talk about experiences that
patients have had and how we canbe of assistance.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
So I hear you talking about events.
You know when we're out atevents and that's you know.
Really, to me that sounds likedeveloping those partnerships in
your community.
What kind of things does yourhospice do that might be
extendable to otherorganizations as ideas for them
(05:26):
to get out there into theircommunity?
And, you know, prove theirquality, show their quality.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So we participate in pretty much anything that
anybody will.
Let us come and talk to.
So you know, whether that's likea Kiwanis club or a rotary or
community organizations,veterans affairs places will
oftentimes let us come in andmeet with their veterans.
We have some veterans materialsthat they can use and we also
(05:58):
use our stories when we aretrying to collect volunteers,
which is so important to ourprogram, and we use those
volunteers to also tell thestory when they are at things.
So you know, expanding thosefingers into the community as
much as possible, we do have asmall group of people that
rotate in and off of a committeeand they act as an advisory
(06:21):
board to us of where we can getinvolved.
They usually have had apersonal experience with our
hospice in some type of way.
It might not have been a familymember, but they may have
worked with us in some way andmight have community connections
that we can call on for ideas,because we cannot be connected
(06:41):
everywhere in the community.
We actually don't have anymarketers in our organization.
So you know that's not somebodythat I have out there moving
around the community for us.
So we rely on those people thathave had experiences with
hospice and know the quality ofour hospice.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I love the idea that you have this advisory committee
and you know, I would thinkthat that would be a huge
connection out into yourcommunity base.
Do you leverage your governingboard for their participation as
well?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
We do.
You know, I think it's prettyuncommon for healthcare systems
to really focus on that fullcontinuum of care, because
they're supposed to be healingpeople, and our organization has
really embraced that.
This is a part of life, dyingis a part of life, so hospice is
going to be part of that.
They know that.
You know, with the expectationsthat they have as an
(07:40):
organization, that we canprovide better care because they
hold us to their same standardsthat they hold their hospitals
to.
So with that comes to usreporting out to our board.
But also that advisorycommittee I was telling you
about, they actually have arepresentative that will go to
some of the general boardmeetings and represent whatever
(08:04):
it is that we have going on inhospice at that time as well.
So we have a voice there onmany levels.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So you're developing voices and champions.
Yes, yes, I love that.
Now I heard you say that youdon't have marketers, and is
that because you're part of ahealth system?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
It is.
Our health system focuses onserving our health system
members, so there's a feelingthat they're already somewhat
familiar with our system andtherefore might choose our
hospice as well.
But we do have other peoplethat represent us.
We have a liaison team.
But that liaison team, theirgoal, is not to leave the walls
(08:43):
of our hospitals.
If you need for the boneproduction policies, you can
just go to the right side ofyour presentation.
I wanna mention that when youwere speaking to help folks to
bring health回來, they weremissing.
Their goal is to meet withfamilies and patients there and
have very in-depth conversationsabout what hospices so almost
what other hospices would thinkof is like an admission nurse,
but they actually don't do theadmission, they just have all
the prior conversations.
(09:04):
But that keeps us connectedwithin our hospitals.
So even though they're not atrue marketer, they still have a
presence.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
You know, one thing I've always admired about you as
a leader, natalie, is that youempower all of your staff to
essentially be ambassadors notonly of your organization but
ambassadors of quality in yourorganization.
So it would seem to me anyonethat who is going out and about
(09:33):
in your community or to boardmeetings, you know, is that
embodiment of the ambassador ofquality, and is that purposeful
that you do that?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Very much.
So.
You know, we look at everyonein our organization as somebody
that has connections and thatcan share hospice stories and
can share experiences, and so wedo empower our team to have
those conversations and talkabout those things within their
community, wherever they'reconnected.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
And I know that you do have as a hospice.
You do have a fundraising armof your organization which helps
you fund some of your coolerinnovations that you've done,
which I'd like to hear a couplein just a few minutes.
But, you know, for thoseorganizations that don't
necessarily have the fundraising, do you have any advice for
(10:33):
making those connections out inthe community for support?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yes, even if you don't have something like our
program, those connections thatyour staff is creating or your
team members that are out there,former patients and families
that might be out there incommunity as well, they can help
you find grants oropportunities that are available
through your communityorganizations that can fund
(10:59):
projects that you want to workon.
So there's more than justpeople donating to you directly.
Some people do that regardlessof having a full foundation or
not, but those grants can be abig help in funding programs.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So tell me about.
Let's take a recent innovationthat you've done to really show
your quality beyond your scores.
Show your quality beyond yourscores out in your service area.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
So one of the things that we do every year is that we
do a community needs analysisand we meet with our team and we
talk about our community.
We meet with health care leaderswithin our organization,
community leaders and we try topull together.
Who are we not serving in ourcommunity?
And then we look to see ifsomeone else is and if that
(11:59):
needs met, then that's great.
But if that needs not met,that's a real quality issue for
us, because that means thatthere's a population that could
really benefit from havinghospice care services.
That's not getting that.
So some of the things that wedo as we look at how do we reach
that population, how do weconnect with them, identify
(12:20):
what's important to them andcreate collateral around that,
attend events that might beimportant for that, sponsor
community events as well.
So you know, maybe it's goingand speaking at some of their
events or just being present atthose, but that does require a
(12:41):
certain level of funding tocreate those collateral and the
investment that goes in withmeeting with your community as
well, because that is time, butit's time well spent.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Well, it is.
Quality is an investment, isn'tit?
It is, it just doesn't happen.
It has to be a part of yourstrategic plan.
There has to be resourceallocation for it, right.
It's just not something that isa byproduct of your day-to-day
business.
(13:15):
It has to be intentional, and Ilove that your program is
extremely intentional about that, and it means that other
programs absolutely can beintentional about that.
For instance, you are, inaddition, I know that you're
very invested in not onlyeducation out for your community
(13:39):
about what your servicesrepresent, but also investing in
that education for your staffas well, so can you talk a
little bit about that?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Yes, we, we are also very intentional with that piece
.
This past year, you know, welearned a lot about duels, death
duels and what they can do inthe community, and we looked
into the program and, you know,had some people from the
community that were reallyinterested, that had gone
through that training and wantedto come on and learn more.
But we're also not as focusedon quality and patient care
(14:16):
maybe as we do as anorganization.
So what we did is we met withthose doula education
organizations and created adifferent type of training but
encompassing a lot of theirvalues and education that they
have, and we created our ownprogram that we have used to
(14:38):
train not only our staff butalso our volunteers, and there's
a lot of information in thatabout how to have conversations,
how to connect with people,what to say, when to say it, but
also people working throughtheir own grief so that they can
go in with an open mind andrealize that other people's
situations might be differentfrom theirs.
(15:02):
And we actually had several ofour volunteers who came back and
said, wow, I didn't realizethat I had unprocessed grief and
now that I'm able to workthrough that, I feel like I'm in
a better place to be able tohelp serve these populations.
Our staff members that wentthrough it said you know I
talked to dying people everysingle day but I really walked
(15:23):
away from that feeling like Ihave, you know, more of a
connection and I know what tosay now and that's been really
empowering for our volunteersand our staff.
And so with that we paid forthe education program to be
altered to us, for the people toattend, but also for meals to
(15:46):
bring people in and create thatcamaraderie.
We did this in person overabout six weeks and it's been
very impactful in ourorganization.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
That sounds so great.
I mean you were looking forsynergy of different types of
services out there that youcould develop that relationship
with.
That would create a strongerand a better experience in the
terms of hospice care.
(16:16):
I like that idea and that couldeasily, I'm thinking, be
translated to you know homehealth, looking for different
synergies out in their communityas well, and you know taking
some of the things that you haveoffered out there, like going
to your rotary club and going tothese different places to talk
(16:38):
about what good home based carelooks like.
Also, I think that you also doquite a bit of innovation.
Now you talked about going tounderserved communities, but you
know you're also looking forinnovation in other places as
(17:03):
well and really with innovationyou're developing, I think, a
more sustainable program movingforward.
It gives you a higher esteemout in your community and really
does show the kind oforganization you are outside of
(17:25):
those scores.
What kind of innovation haveyou done, let's say, in the last
year, for your hospice program?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Sure.
So one of my favorite thingsthat we've done this year and we
are almost completed with theproject, so I can't tell you
exactly the impact that it's hadyet, but I expect you to have a
lot of impact.
Our one of our inpatient unitsbacks up to a beautiful park and
it's very secluded, lots oftrails and walking as part of a
(17:58):
mountain, and we have created,on the way back from our
building to the connection tothe trail, some meditations
along the way, and so we'reposting QR codes that link to a
video.
Some of them are simplebreathing exercises, but we've
(18:19):
also tied some of these to thefeatures that we have on our
property.
So there's one that's aboutclimbing a mountain and
overcoming the stress thatyou're currently under, because,
as you can imagine, in ahospice inpatient unit, these
patients that we serve are notwell.
They are in some type of crisis, and this is very, very
(18:42):
stressful, right?
Yes, it's very stressful forthat whole family unit, so we're
creating a space for them to beable to go out.
We have a stream that also runsthrough our property, so one of
them is a visual imagery aboutplacing your burdens on a leaf
(19:04):
and washing it go down thestream and some people connect
very well to those things.
Some people connect to thebreathing, so we're trying to
have an array of things thatthey can do.
But for those patients thatcan't make it outside, or for
our patients who are at home,the connection to our property
might not be as clear, but theycan still use those same QR
(19:25):
codes to access those videos andgo through those different
exercises and hopefullyde-stress a little bit, take a
few minutes to reset your systemand have a fresh perspective.
So we're really excited aboutthis project and how it's going
(19:47):
to impact our patients andfamilies and our staff.
Our staff can do it too.
Anything that we can do toincrease resiliency with our
team is great.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love this whole project.
I'm looking forward to what theoutcomes look like as well.
I think it's a reallyinnovative project that you've
got going here.
So I'm going to loop back,before we finish up, to those
medium to smaller organizationsthinking that they can't perhaps
(20:17):
do some of these things becausethey don't have resources.
Community engagement you can dosome level of that without
having a huge amount ofresources.
You can leverage patienttestimonials and stories.
Some of those things in my mindare, I think, low hanging fruit
(20:41):
to show your quality outsideyour scores.
Do any other ones come to mindfor you, natalie, as you're
thinking back along your cardcatalog of things that you've
done with your organization?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Right, so I would say the biggest thing that I think
helps is being able to tell astory, and to tell a story from
your heart, so people know ifyou've connected with someone or
if you're just regurgitating astory that you've heard along
the way.
So the more personalexperiences, without releasing
(21:15):
HIPAA information on thoseparticular stories.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Thank you for that, you're welcome.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So people can tell when you talk about something,
if you have compassion orthere's kindness tied to it, or
maybe it's really something thatyou're passionate about.
People can see that.
So it's not only about findingstories that other people can
connect to but the storytellercan connect to Because, again,
(21:46):
the more that they see that youlove your job and what you do
and who you serve, the morelikely they are to have that
trust already built and that'swho they're going to want to
call on to build theirrelationship as they need to
move through the hospice process.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, that's so well stated.
Thank you, natalie, and thanksfor joining the podcast today.
Do you have any final thoughtsfor our listeners?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
My final thought is to always think outside of the
box.
There are ways to do thingswith and without funding.
Sometimes funding makes thingsa little bit easier, but there's
also plenty of ways to beconnected and to enhance quality
without having to spend a lotof money.
It's about setting theexpectation of quality from the
(22:32):
beginning.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Thank you, natalie, and I agree with everything that
you've said, and I look forwardto seeing what your project
yields on the back end, and Ilook forward to continuing to
work with you as a healthcareprofessional to move quality
needles forward, not only forhospice, but for all home-based
care.
Well, thanks again, natalie,for joining.
(22:57):
It was so great to talk withyou today you too and thanks to
all of you for taking time outof your day to plug into our
podcast.
So, from me and the entire chatteam, stay safe and well, and
thanks for all you do.
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