Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Never Walk Alone

As I study the various regulations with which our industry is coping, a melody keeps running through my head. In the musical carousel, the lyrics I hear are: “Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart; and you’ll never walk alone; you’ll never walk alone.” This was Oscar Hammerstein at his best, and today is when we must all have “hope in our hearts”.

To me, “hope” is a call to work. The time now is for all DME/HME providers to change their attitude from hope to work. Not every provider can win participation in a competitive bid. To my great surprise, a large number of providers, many more than anticipated, often do not submit a bid. They feel that if they are put into a situation where they receive a minimum reimbursement for supplies and services, they would not be able to properly maintain their companies.

I speak now to this great number of entrepreneurs who feel their DME/HME businesses could adapt in very short order and live without winning a bid. They would develop new disciplines and become very aggressive in building OTC cash sales. We agree with them 100%. Then, once again they will be able to provide the services their beneficiaries seek. The marketing changes they are now putting into place will make a big difference.
 
What I find most interesting is that those providers with whom I have spoken are all looking forward to working with AAHomecare and their state association. They plan to speak to as many vendors at Medtrade as possible to find new OTC cash sales that fit into their operations. These dealers will never “walk alone”; they will turn “hope” into a better means of existing and growing.

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