In this issue, we take a deeper look at research - the first step in Transcend's 10-Step Process for Effective Marketing (April issue). Typically, communities need so much education on what hospice care is really all about that it can be overwhelming. But research can bring that fuzzy task into focus or help break it into more manageable chunks. Let's dig in…

If you're like the majority of hospice professionals, you've been involved in hospice care for at least a few years. The amount of knowledge you've amassed through experience is probably tremendous. You simply need a process to apply what you know from a marketing perspective. MORE>>

Effective marketing is a true blend of art and science. People tend to remember the "art part" — the creative elements of a campaign. But art's role is to make communications distinctive and memorable. The role of science is to pinpoint and assess the topics that need to be addressed in the first place. Finding out what your market really knows — or doesn't know — about your hospice organization is critical. And that's where scientific research comes in. MORE>>

With the reliance on data as the platform, driver and metrics for Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement programs, market research can play a vital role, if applied correctly. Furthermore, marketing initiatives created to improve situations reported by the data can have a measurable effect on quality and performance issues such as access, utilization and family satisfaction. MORE>>

NHPCO and Medicare show these statistics regarding length of service among hospices nationwide:

Because of those last two figures, experts suggest keeping hospice services relatively autonomous, both in marketing strategies and financial analysis, from affiliated hospitals or home health agencies.

(Simione & Poole, Hospice Financial Management as a Strategic Planning Tool, October 9, 2007)