Hospice Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory
The Hospice Business Plan and Business Development toolkit features 18 different documents that you can use for capital raising or general business planning purposes. Our product line also features comprehensive information regarding to how to start a Hospice business. All business planning packages come with easy-to-use instructions so that you can reduce the time needed to create a professional business plan and presentation.
Your Business Planning Package will be immediately emailed to you after you make your purchase.
Product Specifications (please see images below):
- Bank/Investor Ready!
- Complete Industry Research
- 3 Year Excel Financial Model
- Business Plan (26 to 30 pages)
- Loan Amortization and ROI Tools
- Three SWOT Analysis Templates
- Easy to Use Instructions
- All Documents Delivered in Word, Excel, and PDF Format
- Meets SBA Requirements
Hospices and palliative care businesses have become extremely popular over the past 20 years as people take a much more compassionate look at end-of-life matters. The demand for hospice services remain strong in any economic climate given that these businesses are able to render service given that there is the inevitability that people are going to get sick and pass away. Additionally, hospices have changed their business model over the years to accommodate for more affordable situation by allowing in-home nurses to render palliative care in conjunction with that of a properly licensed physician. The usage of an actual hospice facility is now about 50% of palliative care services given that most people would prefer to pass away at home with the assistance of a nurse rather than in an inpatient facility.
The startup cost associated with a new hospice typically range anywhere from $100,000 all the way to $2 million depending on whether or not a standalone facility is going to be used in conjunction with having a person pass away. These facilities often do not require a substantial amount of furniture, fixtures, and equipment given that most people have decided that they’re not going to engage in extraordinary resuscitation or end-of-life procedures. One of the best aspects of owning and operating a hospices that these businesses have extremely high barriers to entry. Typically, most hospice businesses are owned and operated by physicians that have been properly trained in palliative care. As such, the extremely high educational requirements allow these businesses to operate with minimal to moderate competition through the life of their operations. Almost all financial institutions are willing to put up almost all the necessary capital to get a hospice up and running given that these businesses are able to generate revenues not only from patients but also from publicly funded healthcare systems as well. Medicare and Medicaid both have expansive programs that allow for reimbursement for palliative care services. Most private insurance companies do have clauses within their contracts that allow for a strong level of reimbursement support as well for per diem fees as well as any medications that may be given during the course of end-of-life treatment.
As with any type of capital raising activity, a hospice business plan is going to be required if the physician owner or management team requires a capital investment in order to get operations up and running. This business plan should include a three year to five year profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratio stage. As it relates to the market and industry research, there are approximately 5,000 physicians that specialize in palliative care within the United States. Each year, hospices generate in excess of $35 billion and provide jobs to approximately 500,000 people. In each of the last five years, hospices have paid out payrolls in excess of $20 billion.
The growth of this industry is expected to remain very strong over the next 20 years as more people from the baby boomer generation enter their later years and require hospice and end-of-life services. The industry is poised to have your on your growth of about 5% to 8% depending on the location of the business. There is going to be a strong demand among insurance companies as well as the government to have independently owned and operated hospices within the United States in operation at all times.
One of the key focus is when developing a hospice business plan for a bank should be on the substantial amount of tangible assets that will be purchased with the capital being sought. Usually, most hospices do acquire the real estate outright given that there needs to be a substantial amount of remodeling and construction in order to accommodate this type of medical facility. As such, most owners of hospices can expect a low down payment as it relates to what the bank is going to want is a capital injection from the physician-owner or entrepreneur. A special focus should be paid within the business plan to the entire list of all the real estate, furniture, fixtures, and equipment that will be used in conjunction with palliative care services.
A hospice SWOT analysis is a necessary component of the documentation. As it relates to strengths, hospices are almost always able to remain profitable and cash flow positive given that people are going to pass away in any economic climate. The barriers to entry are extremely high and the gross margins typically range anywhere from 90% to 95% on all services rendered. The high start up costs typically provide a further barrier to entry for any new competitors within any given market.
Relating to weaknesses, hospices do have very high operating costs given the highly specialized nature of the individuals that need to be on staff. Hospice nurses typically have substantial amounts of training in the anthology and end-of-life services. In all 50 states as it is a requirement that a physician is also on staff in order to prescribe any medications that may be used in conjunction with palliative care. These all translate into very high operating costs in addition to very high facility costs. However, this weakness is readily ameliorated by the fact that hospices generate very large fees from their services.
For opportunities, most hospice owners will seek to expand by developing in-house operations for patients that wish to pass went home. Typically, a nurse will operate under the guidance of the physician when rendering the services on an in-home basis. This can allow a hospice facility to greatly expand the revenues given that there can be an unlimited number of nurses that are assigned to specific homes where an individual is preparing to pass away. The gross margins generated from the services typically range anywhere from 50% to 85% depending on whether or not the attending nurse is considered an independent contractor. In most cases, these nurses are considered independent contractors and therefore these are considered part of the cost of goods sold. One of the other ways a hospice can expand this to the development of additional facilities outside of the company’s initial target market. Once a hospice reaches profitability that they can easily source additional capital for the development of subsequent facilities.
For threats, there’s very little that is going to change the way that a hospice business – either as a facility or an in-home service – operates. People are always going to pass away and they are always going to need to have a physician or properly qualified nurse that can assist them through the process. One of the only risks that are faced by these businesses is the potential change to the reimbursement rates that are associated with palliative care services.
A hospice marketing plan should be developed as well. Foremost, many physician-owners and entrepreneurs are looking to enter this field typically have extensive relationships with area hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and other medical entities and care for people that are old age or have terminal illness. As such, it is very important that the business develop these ongoing relationships immediately so that referrals can be made when an individual decides that it is time for me to pass away. These referral relationships have very little cost but they can provide a substantial amount of business at the onset of operations. Almost all hospices initially generate the revenues by developing referral relationships with area hospitals and nursing homes.
Beyond physician referrals, a hospice should maintain an expansive website that showcases the facility, in-home services, fees for palliative care service, and contact information. It is especially important that the website have easy to find contact information as many people will search for hospice care very quickly during times when a loved one is going to pass away. This website she listed among all major search engines including Google, Bing, Yahoo, as well as localized online directories. A web development firm can work with the hospice owner in order to ensure that the website appears among all major search engines. Social media marketing is not as important for hospice business as it is for other types of companies. However, many people will seek a recommendation from friends and family online via social media platforms that include FaceBook, Twitter, and Google+. As such, maintaining a small presence on these platforms can result in a modest amount of business coming through as people often announce a loved one is sick and may need hospice care. Unprompted, some people may even provide recommendations and point the individual to the hospices social networking pages.
Print and media advertising is of less importance to a hospice then physician referrals were online marketing. However, there can be a number of circulars that are distributed that are targeted towards older citizens that may be preparing to make these arrangements prior to terminal illness. As such, maintaining a broad-based print advertising campaign can help boost the visibility of the business from the onset of operations. Very little money is usually spent by hospices on print-based advertisements. Radio advertisements and television advertisements are almost never taken out by a hospice facility.
Hospices can be extremely lucrative small to medium-size businesses to operate given their economic security, extremely high barriers to entry, and ongoing demand among the general public. There is going to be no change in demand over the next 10 to 20 years. As it relates to automation, hospices are completely immune from this type of technological change given that people want to interact with other people towards the end of their life, and this business requires a substantial amount of compassionate care.