How to Sell Hospice Services

by Brian Hill
Hospice care is an alternative to hospitalization for terminally ill patients.

Hospice care is an alternative to hospitalization for terminally ill patients.

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Selling hospice services is a delicate matter because the services are required at the end of the potential customer's life. That doesn't mean that the hospice business shouldn't sell itself. Promotion is how the customer, his family or referral network learns of this valuable service. The hospice industry served 1.65 million patients in 2011, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

What's Your Product?

Your product is caring for the terminally in their own homes, a hospice home or extended care facility, but what you really are selling is a dignified death in a familiar and caring setting at a minimal cost. Most elderly patients qualify for Medicare, which covers 100 percent of the cost of hospice care. The challenge is overcoming the idea that accepting hospice care is giving up. Stress that the decision for hospice care is not giving up, but choosing a different path for the end of life. The emphasis is on the quality of life instead of prolonging life at all costs.

Define the Consumer Base

The person using the hospice services may be coherent and well enough to make the decision of which hospice services to use. That may not always be the case. If the terminally ill patient is on medication that impairs her thought processes, the actual customer may be close family members. Many potential customers will be seniors.

Develop a Referral Network

Network with doctors, hospitals, assisted living and extended care facilities to convince them your service is the one they should recommend to clients and patients. Your passion for your work is an important ingredient that demonstrates your caring commitment to the hospice service, the community and the consumer. Find referrals by networking at business events such as mixers, joining chambers of commerce and attending charity events that sponsor medical research or that medical service providers attend. Follow up each new business referral with a request for an in person meeting to explain your hospice services further.

Educate the Customer Base

Not everyone knows what a hospice service does. Develop a presentation that educates the consumer and your referral network in what your hospice specifically does and what hospice services in general do. Rather than focusing on the attributes of your service -- for example that you provide pain medications -- stress the benefits. Patients feel as pain-free and stress-free as possible given their circumstances. Gather research and data that show that hospice patients often live longer than those who treated aggressively.

Choose Advertising Media Carefully

Select media that exposes your advertising to the right demographics. Middle-aged couples with elderly parents are a better niche than young families. Medical websites are a good choice if the advertising is on pages that have content on serious diseases that affect the elderly. Websites and hard copy magazines that have subscribers who are retired are another option.

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