Is there a market for DME/HME providers with Telemedicine?

Is there a market for DME/HME providers with Telemedicine? As CMS is seeking new means of reducing the cost of providing care, they are looking at telemedicine as a major break through. CMS envisions that it would reduce unnecessary hospitalization by allowing patients to be monitored regularly. It could possibly reduce trips to the ER or being admitted to an institution by 50%.

I prefer to call this service home tele-health!  It can also be referred to as Remote Home Patient Monitoring. I sent a blog in mid-summer and asked for some feedback. I only received a few answers and they were all acknowledged. I will ask once again, because it is an opportunity for your company to become the center of activity for good health care in your community.

Think about the role of the visiting nurse, a trip to an office, or any other technique used for checking a patient’s vital signs. As the middleman between the patient and the practitioner, your company can provide this service.

A brief description of home tele-health is the patient can sit down at home and send their vital signs instantly to their physician or nurse. You provide a BP Cuff, spirometer, scale, blood glucose monitor, oximeter, EKG and the other equipment required. The patient by themselves, or with the aid of a family caregiver, can affix the equipment and instantly forward their reports STAT via telephone or the web to have them monitored by their professional caregivers. The nurse or physician can then question anything that appears to be abnormal. The fees for these services are nominal, but they add up to many dollars in savings.

Are you interested in looking at this opportunity for your company?  Any changes you wish to make, whether for home tele-health or any other program always requires being investigated. Please send an e-mail (shelly.prial@att.net) or call me (321-255-3885). Do not allow this to go elsewhere. I am positive that bringing this service to your community will be a profitable one!

Do it now! Part Two

You took a giant step forward when you hired a new salesperson. Now is when you can also make the changes in your operation that you have always thought about. I say: “do it now.”

In many of the conversations I have held with DME/HME providers in the past few months I am told about the changes they contemplate. Obtaining new fixtures, adding additional lighting, building a model bedroom or bathroom, Home Tele-health, and of course, hiring another person. I am hearing a great deal of talk, but need to see more action.

Now, as the economy of the United States is slowly turning positive, you must make every effort to get a bigger piece of the action. All your ideas for expanding, adding additional staff and becoming more aggressive must now become alive. Do It Now!

Look at the advertising the major marketers are currently doing. They are all going after the larger OTC cash sales. The automobile manufacturers are spending more dollars offering their larger vehicles. According to the financial experts, these sales are growing at a much more rapid pace. This is another reflection of how the economy is starting to turn upwards. The challenge is to see how quickly you can bring your company and team into the fray and bring the community back into your showroom.

Plan which new items or programs would be practical in your market. Prepare to develop more “open house” days and to make these successful, do them in cooperation with your vendors. They will be very helpful in making these “open hoses” more attractive.

Bring your “I want” and your “I need” list as well as some key employees with you to Medtrade. It is only a few weeks away in Atlanta.   

I'm not the only one with this "just do it" mentality, check out this inspiring video from Art Williams and his famous Just Do It speech!

On the exhibition floor at Medtrade 2012 this October, you will find many new opportunities and ideas to help you accomplish your goals. Give your staff members a list of seminars to attend. Speakers, leaders and educators are preparing to bring with them a plethora of tools for you! So “do it now.” Register attendance for your staff members to accompany you to Medtrade. 

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Investing in future technologies: Home Telehealth

There are many opportunities available to a DME/HME provider. Like anything new, these openings must be investigated and must be determined if your company is able to make an investment in a new challenge.

At previous Medtrade Exhibitions there were speakers who explained the importance of Home Telehealth and how it should be marketed. The future for the health care industry may very well be based on how much of an effect Home Telehealth or Remote Home Patient Monitoring can be for DME/HME providers. Today is the time to get on the bandwagon.

Much of your volume emanates by referrals from physicians, nurses, technicians, therapists and home health providers. A solid base of your company has always been patients, senior citizens and family caregivers. Home Telehealth will put your company right is the center for them.

A very brief description is that the patient can sit down at their Home Telehealth station and send their vital signs instantly to their physician and other members of their healthcare team (like the supplier or family caregiver). The patient is able use their BP cuff, spirometer, scale, and blood glucose monitor, oximeter, EKG and other equipment currently available. By themselves or with the aid of family caregivers, they can affix the equipment and in seconds the reports are forwarded STAT and monitored.  Remote Home Patient Monitoring and Telehealth eliminates the need for hand-written and self-documented log books, which are not always maintained the way a physician needs to treat their patient.  The healthcare team can have real-time, on-demand data to notice trends and early warning signs more efficiently than ever before.

 

You should contact some of the Home Telehealth manufacturers to see if your company can become the local distributor. This equipment can be rented or purchased outright. This can be very exciting for you and set your business apart from your competitors.  Referral sources are looking for providers who are ahead of the game and providing the best for their patients.

Medtrade is currently working to develop a special section of the showroom floor for Home Telehealth.

Don’t miss the opportunity that Home Telehealth offers. Don’t put it off for tomorrow, take the first step now and see how you can become the provider of Home Telehealth in your market. If you don’t your competition will!