When hospice programs work with families, ensure your funeral home is the first one that comes to mind by reading these groundbreaking tips!

By Kelly Gilgenbach, Vice President of Sales

When local hospice programs send funeral home referrals to families, how can you ensure your funeral home is the first one that comes to mind?

The best way to set your funeral home apart from the rest is to develop and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with hospice workers and programs in your community! Before I elaborate, let’s talk about some statistics that outline the importance of developing a relationships with hospice workers and families whose loved ones are under hospice care.

The Statistics

Where do a majority of U.S. deaths occur? Based on the latest CDC statistics:

• 47% of deaths occurred in a hospital or medical facility

• 22% of deaths occurred in a nursing home or long-term care facility

• 25% of deaths occurred at home

Medicare Beneficiaries

In 2017, 1.1 million Medicare beneficiaries died in hospice care (NHPCO Report), meaning that 39 to 40% of all deaths in 2017 in the U.S. (2.8 million) occurred while the patient was receiving hospice care.

Funeral Homes and Hospice

When a loved one transitions from hospice to the funeral home, families want to know that their loved one is in the hands of people they trust. And based on the facts above, families would benefit from a comprehensive and supportive system provided by their medical team and funeral home staff.

Here’s how one funeral home bridged the gap to make collaboration happen.

Rader Funeral Home’s Experience

Rader Funeral Home in Longview, Texas, noticed a disconnect between funeral homes and hospice programs. Community Relations Coordinator Erika Rader worked to develop a hospice outreach program, and she shares her tips below:

Tip #1: Connect with Hospice Programs in Your Community – Erika shared how presentations and volunteering helped her connect with hospice programs in her community. Read more

Tip #2: Show Passare to Hospice Care Providers – Erika explained how sharing Passare with hospice centers generated more conversations about how the platform helps families. Read more

Tip #3: Enhance Service to Families – Erika recalled how Passare’s easy-to-use software made her staff open to the idea of using this new technology in their funeral home. Read more

Tip #4: Increase Opportunities for Collaboration with Hospice Nurses – Erika dove into the incredibly collaborative software, Passare’s Planning Center, and explained how nurses and family members can prepare for a loss, before it occurs. Read more

Tip #5: Provide a Best-in-Class Service for Families – Erika described the responses from families and community members about Passare’s collaborative platform and how happy she is with Passare. Read more

Tip #6: Become Known as the Leading Provider of Service in Your Area - Although meeting with hospice workers alone has kept her busy, Erika explains there’s no greater joy than seeing how important hospice workers are to families. She hopes to reach out to other programs in her community to strengthen relationships and show the benefits of Passare:

“I may start going into home care centers and nursing homes to show them what we're offering through Rader Funeral Home with Passare. Overall, being able to share this program has strengthened our relationship with the area hospices because we're able to show them that we're doing this for the families. It's just one way that we can better serve them. I know firsthand how important hospice workers are to families. Passare is a resource I am excited to share with them so that they can share it with their families. It's so difficult, emotionally, when you have a loved one in hospice. You're tired. You don’t have a lot of time. So, this is just one thing that can help ease the process. I'm so grateful that we have this service to offer to our community, and I am excited to see the future of the funeral industry with Passare. It’s a wonderful service.”

You don’t have to be a community relations coordinator like Erika to start reaching out to hospice organizations in your community to gain referrals. Start small with these tips:

• Schedule a presentation with one hospice program to show off Passare’s Planning Center and foster those relationships

• Request a demo with Passare to see its collaborative and time-saving features

• Download this FREE eBook for even more tips for growing community connections with hospice!

The more you show hospice programs how much you care for families and how you’re willing to work with hospice nurses, the more likely they are to refer families to your funeral home. But showing them how Passare works and how they can collaborate with you and families doesn’t hurt either.

For more information about Erika’s journey with hospice collaboration, click HERE to watch this webinar.