AAHomecare Releases Advance Highlights of HME Access Survey

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 28, 2017)—While the full report is still being finalized, health care research firm Dobson DaVanzo has put together a two-page summary of report highlights, including findings that demonstrate a high level of frustration among the 358 case managers/discharge planners who took part in the survey, as evidenced by this result:

Have you experienced difficulties with the ease and timeliness of the discharge process for your patients who require HME since July 1, 2016?

Ease of Discharge

The summary also shares a particularly strong comment from a case manager that echoes feedback from many case managers in recent years:

“I have been a therapist since 1991 and have never been so unable to do my job. Being in home care, we are the last person/profession in with these clients and they are depending on us to get them the equipment they need to be safe…This Medicare system is broken beyond repair.”—Anonymous

Preliminary findings from the report have been very important in our engagements with regulators and Capitol Hill in recent weeks, and the full report should prove to be very useful in efforts to secure longer-term fixes to the bidding system. Thanks to the hundreds of HME suppliers and other stakeholders who shared their input and publicized the survey to beneficiaries and case managers, helping us exceed survey participation goals several times over. We will share the full report after a final review is completed. See report highlights here.

Visit aahomecare.org for more information.