Az ALFA Conference 2012 Breakout Presentation

How to set your ALC apart, reduce expenses and improve

revenue

By Amy Bair

Business Process Excellence, LLC

www.bpenow.com

1997-2012: 15 Years of Service Excellence

http://www.bpenow.com/


Problematic Process Problem Solver

A little detail about the stranger in front of the room

Reduce Expenses ~ Improve Service

Outline • Discuss the concept of Competitive Edge and

why it matters to you

• Specific ways to reduce expenses and increase revenue at your ALC

• How to examine processes and discern disconnects and bottlenecks and examine potential solutions


Does your community still sport an 80’s (haircut) philosophy?

Do you have individuals in your ALC that struggle with change?

How well do you accept the inevitable? Death Taxes Change

• The government is forcing all of us to change.

• The economy is forcing all of us to change.

• The market…

• The Internet…


How to create your Competitive Edge

• Concept originated from C.K. Prahalad and his HBR article titled “The Core Competence of the Corporation”

• Two considerations when examining your Competitive Edge

– Core Competency

– Competitive Advantage


• Core Competency - unique ability that a company develops which cannot be easily imitated.

– Core competencies give a company its competitive advantage(s).

• Competitive Advantage is defined as the strategic advantage one business entity has over its rival entities within its industry.

– Achieving this strengthens and positions a business better within their industry.


Additionally…

It is important to understand that your ALC’s core competency is not the end service it delivers but the unique way in which it is delivered

– which, in theory, none of your competitor’s can easily duplicate.


Successful example

Honda manufactures cars, lawn mowers and generators.

because…

their Core Competency is engines and power-trains

i.e. Honda has decided to set themselves apart by making their engine the best, most reliable one on the market


How to apply this to a service-based business

Begin by compiling a list

of

all strengths and capabilities at your ALC


Five attributes of service quality which influence customer satisfaction

– tangibles (appearance of facilities, equipment, personnel, and materials)

– reliability (ability to perform the service dependably and accurately)

– responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide prompt service)

– assurance (ability to convey knowledge, trust, and confidence)

– empathy (caring, concern, and individualized attention)


Consider the concept of SERVQUAL (Service Quality)

How to apply this to a service-based business

Additionally, the factors above should be integrated with other strategies such as product differentiation, price, distribution, and promotion.

Defining a combination of these attributes will help you to determine your core competency


Last but not least

The goal is a complex harmonization of specific processes or technologies that competitors cannot easily duplicate.


Any Questions?


Switching gears

6 specific ways to reduce expenses, increase revenue

and improve service at your ALC


Engage your employees People need to feel appreciated. Show your staff the

love and watch your turnover drop dramatically. This will only work if the concept is embraced from

the Executive Director’s chair and on down though.

– Labor makes up 60% of your operating expenses – Industry average to replace one CNA is $2500,

one nurse is $7000 – For an avg nursing home an increase in turnover

of just 10 percent results in $170,000—a 2.9 percent cost savings 1


1. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/mar10/0310RA18.htm

http://www.ahrq.gov/research/mar10/0310RA18.htm

Engage your employees

A few ideas for showing staff you value them

–Hold employee appreciation events

–Be spontaneous with your praise and acknowledgement. Show up with coffee and bagels one morning and tell your staff they deserve it.

–Remove the negativity. Staff assume mgmt approves of brutish behavior if left unchecked.


Engage your employees More ideas

– Show you value every employee regardless of their position

– Establish a mentoring system. Especially important for new hires.

– Create a clear career path – Use SendOut cards. Inexpensive way to show

your appreciation.

This is ALL about the bottom line! You will experience a significant reduction in expenses by increasing employee retention.


Recruit employees and existing residents to be ambassadors for new residents

• Helps your new residents feel comfortable right away.

• Your ambassador can introduce them to other residents, show them where all the amenities are and give them someone to sit with at dinner.

This increases revenue as your residents will feel “at home” and enjoy living there i.e. improved retention


Encourage resident-led dinner parties • This is where you can set yourself apart.

• Allow them to create their own menu, choose a fun theme and decorate.

– Naturally, this can be done within reason. Set budget and food type limits.

This also increases revenue as you are improving engagement which enhances loyalty.


Conduct regular resident surveys • This is a good way to hold staff accountable.

• Residents will feel their opinion is valued which in turn will increase retention.

– Do something with the feedback in a timely manner.

– Communicate it to your personnel. Praise where praise can be given and correct where correction is needed.


Confirm that department and employee goals are in alignment with the center’s long term objectives. Ex. The goal of Accounting is to reduce expenses by 15% this year. However, IT needs to update the infrastructure. Conflict.

• Give everybody the same focus (i.e. increase occupancy rate by 5% this year)

• Generates positive environment - departments can work together crossing unit boundaries as a result of this common vision.

• Tie bonuses and incentives to the achievement of goal


Encourage innovation • Make the environment safe for staff to test

their ideas and possibly fail. (Don’t forget that it took

Edison 3,000 attempts before he finally got the light bulb to work.)

• Since staff is closest to the resident, empower and encourage them to conceive new ideas.


Encourage innovation • Create a structured but easy process for

submitting ideas.

• Put onus on innovator for how to test and measure idea

• Measurement must be quantifiable


A few ideas to jog your inner creative

• Females make up 75% of the 1 mil residents in ALC’s

From “Top 10 Trends in Senior Housing”

• The supply of ALZ/dementia care communities is low while the demand is steady and increasing, regardless of the funding issues.

What can you do with this information?


Any Questions?


Switching gears again-

Let’s talk Process Improvement


Process Improvement


A business process is a sequence of activities that result in a specific outcome to serve a particular goal at an organization. Well-designed and thought-out processes increase efficiency, providing value to the customer and enhancing the bottom line.

Cutting my hair reduced expenses and saved time


~Morning Hair Grooming Process~


Input for scheduling process: •Staff availability •Requests for time off •New hires •Census requirements

Bottleneck!

Process improvement-Staff scheduling


Software-based staff scheduling

Savings at Sandhill Cove


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Schedule Creation

Before OnShift (hrs)

After OnShift (hrs)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Fill Open Shifts

Before OnShift (min)

After OnShift (min)

Additional Benefits: • Saved $70,800 • 75% less time devoted to scheduling


Embrace new technology Use mobile devices to monitor housekeeping

• Housekeeping PM Touch System ™ monitors daily room inspections , deep cleans and Preventative Maintenance tasks

• Affordable QA inspection tool

• No paperwork!

• Improves the quality of your service


http://issuu.com/mdpreferred/docs/advisorapril2012

http://issuu.com/mdpreferred/docs/advisorapril2012


Improved housekeeping and maintenance

• Saves time by tracking/managing daily and deep-cleaning tasks and preventative maintenance

• Automatic alerts set up to remind of due dates

• Real-time Dashboard for management tracking

• 100% property control -> resident rooms, public spaces and grounds

• New bed bug inspection module


As simple as 1 2 3! 1. Pick your

inspection 2. Enter results

and comments 3. See what is

done and what is due

Summary • Breathe! We’re finished.

• We discussed the concepts of Core Competency and Competitive Advantage and why it matters to your ALC

• We talked about 6 specific ways to reduce expenses, increase revenue and enhance the harmony at your ALC

• We examined a few processes and discussed disconnects, bottlenecks and solutions


Follow up • Connect with me on my blog or

• LinkedIn

• Free Assessment at your community to continue discussion from today



Thank you for spending time with me!

What processes frustrate you? • Communication between your ALC and other

healthcare entities?

• Employee retention?


Health & Medicine

Az ALFA Conference 2012 Breakout Presentation