Staying Ahead of the Curve

One predictor of success in the home care business is the ability to keep up with the changes and to look for opportunities in the challenges.

The Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services (MAMES), which represents seven states in the Midwest, is working at both. Rose Schafhauser, a veteran in the home care and Medicare arena, is executive director of both MAMES and the Arizona Medical Equipment Suppliers Association (AMESA).

Schafhauser knows home care is not going away, given the demographics of aging. She notes that governors, in their annual state-of-the-state addresses, frequently trumpet the importance of getting people out of institutions and into home care. But finding the opportunities in the many challenges still requires creativity from HME providers. “How can we change the way we do business and look for new opportunities? We would be doing a disservice if we didn’t do that.”

MAMES members continue to fight for sound Medicare policy, and they’re also looking for ways to “live with the changes,” as Schafhauser puts it. But with respect to competitive bidding, one of the largest changes headed our way, Schafhauser has found that some providers are sticking their heads in the sand.

Beth Bowen sees a similar pattern as executive director of the North Carolina Association for Medical Equipment Services (NCAMES) and the Virginia Association of Durable Medical Equipment Companies (VADMEC). Like Schafhauser, she finds that a number of home care providers have not been following competitive bidding. So in addition to lobbying for good policy and updating providers about Medicare changes, NCAMES is trying to build basic awareness in those who have fallen behind the curve.

On top of Medicare challenges, home care providers in Ohio face a raft of thorny issues with respect to the state Medicaid program. Kam Yuricich, executive director of the Ohio Association of Medical Equipment Services (OAMES), sums up a big part of the challenge with their state legislators: “They don’t know what we do.”

But OAMES and other stakeholders in Ohio, including the Ohio Council for Home Care and the Ohio Association of Adult Day Services, are facing that problem head-on by holding their 2007 Home & Community Care Policy Conference right in the Ohio statehouse on March 8. The conference will include demonstrations of various types of home care services, equipment and therapies.

Yuricich says efforts to inform legislators can be very productive. For instance, she says that 100 percent of the members of U.S. Congress from Ohio who went on a site visit at a home care facility in their district signed on to the competitive bidding bill during the last session of Congress.

Nationally, the American Association for Homecare also works to keep providers informed about legislative and regulatory issues while educating members of Congress and CMS about the scope of home care services and therapies and their role in the health care continuum.

One additional target for educational efforts is the general public. The public benefits from information about home care and the conditions and diseases that can be treated at home.

AAHomecare has joined the new national COPD public education campaign launched by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The campaign is designed to encourage better diagnosis, treatment and awareness about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

HME companies can play a key role in raising awareness about diseases like COPD. Providers can partner with other groups to help prevent the suffering and costs of COPD while also preserving access to home care for patients who need it. To find out more about the COPD campaign, visit www.learnaboutcopd.org.

So staying up-to-date and informed about regulatory policy, business trends and a host of other issues is important for HME providers. There is additional demand to help keep lawmakers and the public informed. Keeping abreast of all the change in the industry costs time and money. But the cost of falling behind the curve is far greater.

Tyler J. Wilson is president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare, Alexandria, Va. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. For more information about the association, visit www.aahomecare.org.