Page 35 - HME Business, March 2017

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Karen Cavallo
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Contact the Editor:
David Kopf
(949)265-1561 dkopf@1105media.com
HME Business welcomes comments and sug- gestions from readers. For editorial archives and subscription information, including how qualified HME professionals can sign up for HME Business, visit us online:
www.hme-business.com
Editorial Index
PRODUCT SOLUTIONS: COMPRESSION
COMPANY NAME PAGE
Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Free2Go Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 HealthMobius ...........................32 Rifton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Advertising Index
COMPANY NAME PAGE
AAHomecare ............................35 ACHC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Afflovest ................................17 Blue Chip Medical Products, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . .3 BOCInternational .........................9 Brightree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 CAIRE ...................................5
Advertising Index
COMPANY NAME PAGE
DIESTCO Manufacturing Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Fisher & Paykel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 GCE....................................11 MediUSA ...............................25 Mediware ...............................10 Mommy’sHelper .........................22 Noble House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 OxyGo,LLC...........................1A-1B PrideMobility.............................7 QS/1....................................21 ResMed..................................2 SunsetHealthcareSolutions................23 TheComplianceTeam.....................15 UniversalSoftwareSolutions ...............26
Renew
Renew
Hacked.
Why HME providers must prioritize data security.
What’s Inside:
R N e e m w o s , t e T r P e a n t d i e s n & t MA n o a n l i y t o s i r s i n . g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 8 RCeosmMperde’ssAioinrFPitro2d0uMcatsk.s........... 264
HMEInventory..................... 27 HME’sIndependenceDay.......... 30
The New Year Could Bring
Big Changes for HME Providers E p r o a fi c l e h s 1 0 J k a e n y t u r e n a d r s y t h a H t w Mi l l i mE p B a c t the industry. This year will probably be one of the more exciting ones that we’ve profiled since we started out Big 10 list in 2008.
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What’s Inside:
IncreasingReferrals.............. 22 News, Trends & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 8
MedtradeSpringPreview.......... 15 IncrementalRetailSales ........... 16 MobilityScooters .................. 26 AnHMECustomerJourney......... 30
Nightmare IT Scenarios Are Now a Fact of Healthcare Life
very clear: healthcare faces an ever- present data security threat. Local and national news continuously reports on hospitals and other healthcare enti- ties that fall prey to hackers. Why are hackers targeting healthcare? Because they know that healthcare businesses handle extremely sensitive data, and they will pay to protect that data.
A preferred method of attack is through ransomware. In a ransomware attack, malware is introduced into
the healthcare organization via an email attachment or similar method, and that software then takes over
the organization’s patient data. The hackers then contact the healthcare organization to tell it that they will release the data when the company pays a ransom.
Attacks on hospitals got so bad
last year that they accounted for 88 percent of all reported ransomware attacks in the second quarter of 2016. In fact, the plague of ransomware has become so mainstream that some hackers actually operate help desks to assist their victims in restoring their data after paying their ransom.
And that threat looms just as large over the HME industry. IT is a vital resource for providers, and now is the time to protect it. Learn more in this month’s cover story.
Data Security forHME . . . . . . . . . . . . Page18
Advertiser Index
What’s Inside:
Orthopedic Opportunities . . . . . . . 22 News, Trends & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 8 Building a Senior Product Lineup . . . 12 ManagingReferrals ............... 14 DiabetesProductSolutions ......... 25 Understanding ERP Software . . . . . . . 30 Providers Have Hefty Patient Data On-hand. How Can It Help? The HME industry’s adoption of information technology
has been nothing short of revolution- ary. Not too long ago, providers were using cobbled together spreadsheets and off-the-shelf business manage- ment applications to wrangle complex billing, documentation, operations, accounting and recording keeping challenges related to running a health- care business. It wasn’t enough.
Then software companies began offering HME-specific billing tools, and soon those tools soon matured and expanded to help them manage their entire businesses. Now, HMEs use IT to manage deliveries, handle billing, mitigate their audit exposure, and ensure patients are getting the best service possible.
And in the process, providers started collecting mountains of information about their patients. From demographic information to billing history to prescribed DME to retail purchase histories, HME businesses know a lot about their patients. Moreover, all that healthcare information is centralized in HME providers’ IT systems. What can it tell providers about their patients and how can they use it to help improve outcomes? What other innovations are developing? Read this month’s cover story to learn more from some of the industry’s software experts. Leveraging
Patient Data . . . . . . . . .
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N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 6 Volume 23, Number 11 hme-business.com
What’s Inside:
2016 New Product Award Winners . 12 News, Trends & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Finer Points of e-Commerce. . . . 11 OxygenMarketOutlook .......... 27 Fisher&Paykel’sEson2..............31 BillingNon-Assigned .............. 34 As the HME Industry Changes and Evolves, so Do Its IT Tools
It’s become cliché to
say that the only constant is change, but in the HME marketplace, that well-worn expression rings true. Of course reimbursement is the biggest change. Programs such as competi- tive bidding, rental caps and audits not only constitute massive changes, but complete up-endings of the home medical equipment market.
And those changes aren’t isolated; they have a multiplier effect. A good example would the TRICARE program, which cranked up its reimbursement the moment CMS’s full rate reductions via the national bidding expansion were implemented on July 1. And TRICARE is just one example of many of those “Medicare multipliers.” Funding cuts aren’t the only changes the industry faces. There are changes in care; changes in product; changes in terms of supply; changes in patient lifestyle needs. The list of change goes on and on and on.
But there is one tool that helps providers manage that ever-shifting, ever-expanding sea of change: information technology. The software and technology tools that providers employ to manage their businesses let them not only stay on top of these changes, but get out in front of them. Once again, we take our annual look at how those systems are evolving to keep pace with change.
Annual
Software Roundup . . . .
Page 20
D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 6 Volume 23, Number 12 hme-business.com
Taking Shape
Special Bonus Publication Inside
DECEMBER 2016
hme-business.com
10 Trends that Will Frame the Year to Come
For starters, the United States will have new Presidential administration, as well as a new Congress. Add to
that the fact that longtime industry champion Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and CMS Administrator Seema Verma
will be heading up U.S. healthcare, and the industry can hold onto some well-founded expectations that it will be working in a more accommodating public policy environment.
That environment will surely impact at least some of the industry and market trends that we’ve outlined for this year’s installment of the Big 10. That list includes: The outcome of rural relief efforts; the continued effort to reform competitive bidding as a whole; changes in Medicare audits; the ongoing evolution of retail HME; emerging verticals, such as women’s health, sports therapy, orthopedics, wound care and pain management; connected care and remote patient monitoring; and cost vs. quality pressures in the private payer world. And those are just some of the trends we examine. Make sure to dive into this year’s Big 10 list to see the key trends that will impact your HME business over the next 12 months. Annual Big 10 . . . . . . . Page 20
V o l u m e J 2 a 4 n , u N a u r my b 2 e 0 r 1 7 1
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hme-business.com | March 2017 | HMEBusiness 33
Even a casual
perusal of the headlines will make one thing
February 2017 Volume 24, Number 2 hme-business.com