Hospice Partners of America Finds a New Partner for Growth
Since the initial deployment of Trella Health, HPA has found additional uses for the solution. Originally, the team was focused on using the data to identify potential geographic areas of expansion by looking at population demographics, utilization rates and other dynamics. But because Trella Health is the only solution to include all physician and private practice data, the team was also able to use it to identify potential medical director candidates to support their new expansion markets.
As the CEO of a large independently owned hospice organizations, Norma English of Hospice Partners of America (HPA), and her team have built a successful 21-location organization “doing whatever it takes when it matters most.” This philosophy has guided the company to become one of the fastest growing hospice organizations in the country. The secrets to HPA’s growth lies deep within the core values of its founders and current leadership team, but also in the company’s constant drive to find accurate, complete and timely data that can help team members make the best possible decisions. Along the way, there were a few bumps in the road when it came to getting the data they needed, but English feels like she has finally found the right solution with Trella Health.
“Early on, we depended on data that was extracted from cost reports, which was dated and required extensive manipulation of the data to make it meaningful,” explained English. “This took a significant amount of time and energy to get the insights we needed, so we decided to look for an alternative solution.”
–Norma English Hospice Partners of America
Next, the team purchased data from a vendor who at the time was the market leader. But again, the team came away disappointed. “We found ourselves spending a great deal of time trying to make sure the data we were paying for was accurate,” said English. “Unfortunately, when we validated it against information we knew about our agencies, we repeatedly found inaccuracies, which resulted in additional delays while we waited for the data to be corrected. Although we were able to use the data to a certain extent, we had an overall lack of confidence in it.”
When Trella Health came onto the market, these market-data veterans began evaluating the solution with a certain amount of skepticism. To their surprise, they found the data to be accurate, timely, easy to use and understand, and very relevant to what they were trying to do. The standard reports that Trella Health provided were another exciting benefit.
According to English, “First and foremost when we were evaluating Trella Health, we used the same processes we had with our previous vendor to determine if the data was accurate. After going through this extensive process, we were extremely pleased with the results, which gave us the confidence to know that Trella was the right solution for our organization. In addition to being accurate, we appreciated the fact that the data was the most recent we had ever received. Having Trella Health on our team, allows us to focus more of our time on expanding our business in the most effective and efficient way while delivering the best possible service to our clients and referral partners.”
“With Trella Health, we were able to dramatically reduce the time it takes for us to fill our medical director positions, which has helped us continue to expand at a fairly rapid pace. It plays a critical role in our ability to grow.”
–Norma English Hospice Partners of America
A Single Solution for Many Challenges
Since the initial deployment of Trella Health, HPA has found additional uses for the solution. Originally, the team was focused on using the data to identify potential geographic areas of expansion by looking at population demographics, utilization rates and other dynamics. But because Trella Health is the only solution to include all physician and private practice data, the team was also able to use it to identify potential medical director candidates to support their new expansion markets. According to English, “We were looking to expand in some areas that are very difficult to recruit medical directors. Before we had Trella Health, we used local sales representatives and basic knowledge of physicians in the area to try to recruit someone who would be a good fit for us. This was a time-consuming process that ultimately did not always yield the right options for us.
With the Trella Health data, we can see hospice utilization rates and referral destinations for every physician in the area, which gives us a great starting point to find the right person. Having this information at our fingertips has been a key part of our ability to expand so rapidly.” By making more informed decisions about where to expand and how to get the right staff in place quickly, English and her leadership team have been able to more rapidly expand the business to additional locations.
“The Trella Health solution plays a critical role in our ability to evaluate if a market is somewhere we want to be or not in a very factual way. For example, if we see a particular emphasis on a certain service, we can drill through to the physician level to be sure that it is not one physician who is skewing the results – that it is really consistent with the market needs in that area. This gives us great confidence when we choose to enter a new market, and we know our investment will pay off,” English added.
More Informed Referral Partners
The comprehensive nature and timeliness of the Trella Health data is also helping the organization do a better job of selecting and targeting accounts for greater referrals. “One of our goals is to be a knowledgeable resource for our partners, and the Trella solution helps us fulfill that goal by enabling us to bring insight about our referral sources’ business that they were not aware of and may have never known,” said English. “For example, when talking with a potential referral partner, we’re able to share trends and statistics that often surprise them. Many times, they think they are referring more patients than they really are, or they think they are referring sooner than they really are. They are also often surprised to hear that most of their referrals are going to one organization even though that organization may not have the best performance. It is rewarding to help our referral sources truly understand what’s going on from a factbased perspective, and we are now able to do so with Trella Health.”
Even though Trella Health has the most comprehensive and most timely data, it all comes down to the people at Trella according to English. “They are very customer service-oriented and are always trying to make their product better. They are very passionate and committed to making sure we have what we need, and they have always been very responsive. They are updating the information in a very timely manner and bringing additional reports to us regularly. We have been very pleased with our decision to partner with Trella Health,” English added.
“We’ve found Trella Health to be an invaluable resource for us, and we’ve become very reliant on the insights it provides to help us grow.”
–Norma English Hospice Partners of America
A Positive Outlook
By partnering with Trella Health, HPA is now equipped to continue its expansion plans, which in turn, enables the company to “do whatever it takes when it matters most” for both its clients and sales team members. The company is now focused on enhancing the use of the system across its sales organization.
The leadership team believes that the insights will help each individual person make smarter and more informed calls and help them know where best to spend their time. According to English, “We know the value the data can deliver from an executive standpoint, and we look forward to seeing the additional benefits our sales team members will receive from it in the coming year.”
As the company expands, so does its use of the Trella Health solution. From evaluating acquisition and organic growth strategies in new markets to growing referral shares among existing referral partners, HPA has found a true partner it can trust in Trella Health.
