HC: What is your view of where the HME/DME industry is headed in the coming years?

TR: As has been well documented, America’s 78 million Baby Boomers are turning age 65 at a rate of one every 10 seconds and people are living longer in general. So despite the changing landscape of the industry from a legislative/regulatory standpoint, there are more opportunities than ever. In July 2013, when Round 2 of the Competitive Bidding Program begins, it will be critical for providers to expand their product offerings and diversify if they do not win a bid. With all challenges, through adversity comes great opportunity. The remainder of the decade will present consistent growth for providers, and the industry is positioned to capture this opportunity.

Retail items are becoming increasingly important as Baby Boomers—many of whom have disposable income—can easily afford them. This generation wants to remain active and independent. They want to be able to spend time with their grandchildren and get out of the house. Mobility products are extremely valuable to mobility impaired seniors who desire to lead full lives. Providers need to get engaged with retail, make the investment, jump in with both feet and stay committed to best practices to drive awareness to consumers. To think like a retailer, they need to create traffic, offer a compliment of products, including brand names and be knowledgeable of the market and consumer. Providers also need to know their competition, both locally and on the Internet, and be the true mobility specialist within their area. Pride invests heavily in helping to train our providers’ sales staff to be retail sales specialists. This includes keeping provider associates up to date with the latest product information and assisting with development of customer service skills. We also focus on showroom merchandising techniques and the tools necessary for each retailer to do their job effectively. Rounding out the retail sales strategy is utilizing Pride’s Provider Market Support Services which incorporates advertising, public relations support and participation in retail events, all designed to deliver a consistent message. Successful providers are those who implement marketing strategies to communicate with, and capitalize on, potential and repeat customers who have newly established or existing HME needs.

HC: How is Pride/Quantum helping HME/DME providers in the current environment?

TR: The most important thing in the competitive bidding environment is to have high quality products at a low cost, which is what Pride Mobility and Quantum Rehab strive to give its providers. With their profitability dropping, most providers do not have the time or resources to make repairs to products. Developing additional retail products that allow providers to minimize cost and maximize profits is priority one. Pride and Quantum want to be sure we are treating providers in a fair and equitable manner. In order to gain efficiency, we are working as a company to streamline processes. Our new website, www.prideprovider.com, is an example of this. The new provider website combines all online provider resources into one site with a single login. It has a clean, aesthetic look and intuitive navigation. The website allows the provider to have a simplified shopping experience for products and parts online. Ordering through the website helps providers keep costs at a minimum and gain new efficiencies in their businesses. We are continuing to work from a government affairs perspective toward the best outcomes possible for beneficiaries and the industry as a whole. We also have a Competitive Bidding Resource Center on www.prideprovider.com. The website is a one stop source for all providers’ competitive bidding needs, including bid spreadsheets, Medicare bidding documents, product information and more. Our Government Affairs team is continuing to work toward the best outcomes possible for providers and beneficiaries, including advancement of the Market Pricing Program industry alternative to replace the flawed Medicare bidding program where action is expected in December.

HC: Give us a background of the activities leading to your entry into the HME market.

DH: Ten years ago, HealthCall was focused on solving the challenges resulting from the proposed pay-for-performance initiative. We were working with cardiologists within disease management programs. At the time they had nurses following up and calling patients at home to check on their well-being. While it was a successful program, it was too expensive. Using technology and lessons learned while working with chronic populations, we focused on automating the customary steps of staying in touch with patients. In a series of studies presented at the Heart Failure Society of America we demonstrated a 72-percent reduction in readmission rates, along with reducing full-time staff from six to one. About five years ago our clients within hospitals and physician groups began introducing us to home medical equipment providers, who in turn asked us to help automate compliance and resupply.

HC: What opportunities do you present to HME providers in terms of service expansion?

DH: We are all aware of the significant challenges facing the HME industry. We have clients coming to us because they were frustrated with poor referral rates. They struggled with differentiating their service from competitors and had concerns about the accountable care mandates and being left behind in the market. At the same time, hospitals and health systems are undergoing systemic changes mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. With these new laws, hospitals are under financial scrutiny to improve the quality of their outcomes in patient care. In HealthCall’s client base, as well as in national studies, our research showed that approximately 20 percent of patients were readmitted within 20 days of being discharged from the hospital. Reducing readmissions can be too challenging for hospitals, as they have historically focused on the acute care of episodic events rather than providing the continuity of care needed to reduce readmission rates in the outpatient setting. Now many are finding that the answer is in forming the right partnerships. HealthCall PersonalTouch enables HMEs involved in respiratory care to prove their value with measurable data and deliverables designed to improve outcomes. This includes the reduction of 30-day readmission rates. By enhancing the usual services delivered by the HME provider, PersonalTouch helps position them as the solution… as a continuum of care partner. With this management solution HMEs can provide doctors and hospitals with a full suite of services, such as facilitating patient education and self-management skills, tracking key signs and symptoms and reinforcing the patient-provider relationship. These are key disciplines advocated in most hospital-to-home programs. This program also ensures objective measures. We demand tracking when shipping important packages; shouldn’t we expect the same in tracking the care of our patients? HMEs using PersonalTouch can now provide their referral source with detailed insight into specific patients as well as entire populations. Reports document readmission rates, adherence to care plans and improvement in patient well-being. These objective measures set our HMEs apart from their competitors, who can only make relative claims. In a broader sense, having a proven clinical management solution creates a full turnkey solution for the HME provider.

HC: What type of investment would be required by an HME provider to adopt your technology, and what would the return on that investment be?

DH: The initial investment is minimal for HMEs who are already involved in respiratory products and services. HealthCall is a cloud-based solution and requires no additional infrastructure or internal IT support. PersonalTouch is designed to complement the HME’s current processes. For example, along with the typical oxygen delivery and equipment setup process, the technician might spend an extra six minutes setting the right expectations about the program with the patients. PersonalTouch clients realize a return on their investment in three ways. The first is through increased referrals by competitively differentiating their service. The second is through the operational efficiencies gained in automating the verification process of oxygen usage and other compliance documentation. The third return is through increased patient loyalty and the related sales of ancillary products.

Daniel Hayes is president and CEO of HealthCall, LLC. Call 219-476-3459, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.healthcall.com.