AutoGov

AutoGov's F-bombs: Focus and Finish

Alabama football coach, Nick Saban, is famous for drilling several key words into the everyday lives of his players – focus and finish. 

The Crimson Tide has been successful in winning when these two words drive the everyday actions of the team.  Similarly, Bama has stumbled when they haven’t focused; and, they most certainly fell when they haven’t finished.

These two words – focus and finish – are also critical to success in business just as they are in sports. 

Focus on the achieving the goals of your business must be part of the lexicon in spite of the inevitable distractions that plague day to day operations.  More sales, completing technology builds, recruiting talented people, or whatever the goal; success will only come when business people are focused.  Eyes must remain on the prize. 

Finish.  Sound simple, doesn't it?  Finish means never quitting, never giving up on the dream.  Whether ahead of projections or crashing, finish the effort.

Winning only comes with focus.  Winning can’t come without finishing.

Small Business Momentum

Momentum in small business ebbs and flows - from the exhilaration of the highs, to the near depression of the lows.  Often the loss of momentum is self-induced, caused by something negative that has taken hold.

Similarly, strong momentum is a result of hard work, positive attitudes and leadership.

I have come to believe that momentum is one of the most critical factors for long term success.  Hard work, new deals, a kick-butt product, great customer service - all produce great momentum.  This is especially true when each member of the team is committed, approaching their job with a positive attitude and a focus on the type of momentum that meets goals and ensures success.

My business partner uses the phrase “sadder but wiser” fairly frequently.  Operating small businesses for two decades has made us both feel and believe in these words.  Bad decisions on hiring, technology and sales have ensured a sadder and wiser team.  It’s true.  We kill our own momentum.  In fact, bad attitudes of some team members have destroyed momentum for us at critical times.

Sure, the economy has hurt us.  We lost several very large and important clients.  In short, we have crashed and burned more times than we count.  We can almost always trace the crash back to something we did to destroy our own momentum.

Do you have any momentum killers in your business?  The answer might make the difference next time you face a challenge.

Are Analytics Voodoo?

Although data mining and its sister, predictive analytics, live behind the scenes in our day to day lives; we still run into people who are unable or unwilling to grasp its power.

Why does Jane receive a catalog from Pottery Barn even though she has never ordered anything from the store? How are the go - no go decisions on launching the space shuttle really made?

Black art? Hocus pocus? Just a guess?

Hardly.

The sophisticated formulas or algorithms that produce these and hundreds of other decisions we encounter every day are driven by data mining. Data mining leverages giant chunks of historical data - learning from it - to ensure that only those items relevant to a problem or decision are considered. Predictive analytic analysis techniques are then used to create a formula. These formulas are then applied to decisions about marketing, eligibility for government programs or (famously) who to select in a major league baseball draft.

While relying on these formulas will not guarantee success, they do help reduce risk of bad decisions that plague many businesses.

SNF Medicare Reimbursements

Doug Walker from Caring Forward offers a very helpful perspective to the Nursing Home Industry regarding SNF Medicare reimbursements.  A must read for our clients.  Visit his site at http://caringforward.typepad.com.

When 11.1% isn't really 11.1%: What will Medicare cuts actually cost SNFs?

Many smart folks in the SNF industry have spent a lot of time analyzing and discussing the pending Medicare SNF reimbursement cuts, including some dire predictions about pushing SNF operators to the "economic brink."

We have talked to many SNF providers that are putting projects on hold and deferring strategic decisions while they sort out the impact of the cuts. These cuts present yet another challenge for providers trying to provide exceptional care in a competitive environment with already thin margins.

But I just ran across a sharp analysis by Luke Fannon on the LTL Magazine blog that SNF providers should consider. The key point here: This is not a uniform 11.1% cut in Medicare reimbursements. With the "panic number" of 11.1% continuously kicked around, folks seem to overlook this important fact.

Fannon's analysis points out that, although the reimbursements for rehab RUGs will take a big hit (north of 18% in some cases), the non-rehab RUGs will actually reimburse at an average of 2.6% higher than before. Because of the way the cuts are distributed, your mileage will vary as to how it affects your facilities. It will depend on current and future case mix.

It seems doubtful, though, that any facility would take an overall reimbursement hit of 11.1%—it would represent a disproportionate existing level of rehab patient and reimbursements. For many facilities, because of the distribution of the case mix, overall Medicare reimbursements actually stand to increase under the new rules.

We also agree completely with Fannon's recommendations for SNFs seeking to offset the Medicare rate cuts:

• Stay focused on increasing your Medicare census--even with the cuts in the rehab RUGs, boosting Medicare census will significantly increase the revenue for your SNFs. (We would add to that: If your payer mix is OK, but your overall ADC is in the 80s or low 90s, then you also need to focus on marketing and increasing your overall admissions.)