Finding Mr. Wright

At a dinner party at his home, Frank Lloyd Wright asked to hear a Mozart piece played for a fourth time, much to the dismay of the guests. A family member threw up her hands and said “Please, not again.” The renowned architect smiled and said, “Nothing will ever change if you don’t ask.”

We, as an industry, are sitting in an arena facing another round of actions by Congress that will be painful to bear, and it’s time we went to Congress and said “not again.”

We are an industry of good people, running good businesses and providing great care and service to millions of patients, yet we are singled out routinely as shysters, con men and crooks. We are the first, and ironically the smallest, piece of the health care system that is targeted for cuts and other adverse action by Congress whenever it wants to find money to offset some other pork barrel project. The question is, why us?

The answer is really not that hard. We, as businesses and as an industry, simply sit in our chairs and wait for someone else to do something, or worse, we just wait for the tide to go out hoping we’ll still be afloat. Mr. Wright hit us dead on. Nothing will ever change if we don’t ask, but we just keep sitting in our chairs.

So the next question is, what can we do? Again, that answer is not hard. We have to get politically involved, and I mean really involved, not just talk. Every DME owner has to become his own advocate and lobbyist. Every owner, not just the big ones or the progressive ones or the national ones — every one.

We will call just about anyone who will listen in order to complain about what’s happening, but we won’t call a congressman to say “not again.” We will give money to all kinds of charities, but we won’t give money to a political campaign. We will spend hundreds of dollars to attend meetings and seminars to hear the same bad news, but we won’t drive a few miles to meet with our representatives. If we expect to stay in business, we had better get into politics.

The next statement from most providers, small or large, is a series of excuses. “Well, I don’t know what to say,” or “I’ll say something wrong,” or “I feel intimidated,” or “I’m so small it won’t make any difference.” Wrong! You are the most powerful person in the world when it comes to the ballot box. You are a vote. More specifically, you are 10 votes. That’s the way every congressman looks at every person who contacts them.

You don’t know what to say? You know what you feel and what you are passionate about. You know what is happening to your business and what keeps you up at night, so tell that to the congressman.

You feel intimidated? Don’t. Every one of those elected officials is just a person like you. All you have to do is be yourself and talk to them like you do your banker, attorney or accountant.

Yes, members of the House and Senate have a full plate. They see dozens of people every day who all want something. They listen to hard-luck stories and try to balance a schedule that includes committee meetings, floor votes, conference meetings with fellow legislators, lobbyists and constituents visiting from home. They work long hours and late nights, and most of them leave Washington on Friday for their home districts and return on Monday. That doesn’t mean the weekend is time off to putter in the yard. Most have endless local meetings and functions to attend so they can hear from the voters, and that includes you.

The steps are simple. Call and ask your congressman’s appointment secretary when and where he will be in your local area. Attend any or all of those events near you where your congressman is making an appearance. During the event, introduce yourself. Don’t ask for anything, just thank him for his support for your local causes. Don’t talk business; just show up, meet, greet, thank and socialize.

Continue to do this until your congressman recognizes you by sight. After a few of these meet-and-greets, you may want to write a personal check and a note thanking your congressman. Hand your contribution to him at the next meeting. It doesn’t need to be a big check. Most of the money that politicians raise comes in contributions of less than $100.

Don’t stop this process. You’ve gotten your congressman to recognize you. Just keep the conditioning up to build a stronger relationship.

In effect, you have become your own lobbyist, and you are the person most effective at changing policy through your congressman. You can now share information with the congressman directly or with his health legislative aide. As busy people, congressmen use their aides to filter information. Just make sure the aide knows that the congressman knows you personally.

You may say, “But I don’t like my congressman,” or “He’s not in my party.” The truth is that he is the only congressman you’ve got, so like him or not, until he loses the next election, you have to work with him. The main thing is, don’t give up.

Going back to Mr. Wright, we know that nothing will change if you don’t ask. In order to ask, you must get out of your chair. I suggest to you that there is little option.

If providers don’t get out of their chairs and become politically active, there is a strong likelihood that they may have to sell the chair to pay for the equipment that is being reimbursed at less than cost. There is little choice involved unless you intend to get out of DME.

Wayne Stanfield is president and CEO of the National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers, and executive director of the Home Care Alliance of Virginia, a provider network with 63 locations in 11 states. He is a partner in two full-service DME companies and two unit-dose pharmacies. He can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 434/572-9457.