Page 6 - HME Business, May 2017

Editor’s Note
HME’s Giant Steps
Diversifying your business requires reliable information — and sometimes a leap of faith.
Volume 24 Number 5 May 2017
Editor Products Editor
Publication Design Production Coordinator
Director of Online Product Development
Group Publisher
David Kopf
(949) 265-1561
Sydny Shepard
Wendy Byle, Byle Design Charles Johnson
Marlin Mowatt Karen Cavallo
(760) 610-0800
When I was a kid, I had one mortal enemy: the high dive. Somehow, the high dive at the local recreation center seemed designed to regularly mock me. When you’re standing on the ground
by the deep end, the high dive looks so easy to conquer: it’s not that tall; the pool is probably three times as deep as it needs to be; all the other kids are easily jumping off it with glee — heck some of them are even doing tricks.
So, with routinely trumped up confidence I’d saunter up to the line of kids waiting to climb up the high dive’s ladder. Kid by kid would take a turn, clambering up, coolly walking the length of the board to the end, perhaps taking a bounce or two, and then launching into space for what had
to be the wildest, most exhilarating ride of their life. It had to be — you could tell by the ear-to-ear grin of Chiclet-white teeth they’d have plastered on their faces when they’d finally surface.
I wanted to smile that smile.
So, I would wait in line until it was finally my turn, confidently make my ascent up the slippery, aluminum ladder, walk out to the end of the board, and then my world would completely change. Somehow, that high dive must’ve shot 500 feet into the air when I wasn’t looking. I’d peer down and the view would be nothing short of precipitous. The pool looked like a half-full thimble from all the way up there. I might as well have been Sir Edmund Hillary atop Mt. Everest. My breathing shallowed, my pulse felt like Gene Kruppa hammering on a snare drum, a Grand Canyon- sized pit would suddenly form in my stomach.
And then, I would predictably chicken out. Oh, I’d try to steel myself against the complete horror. I’d remind myself that other kids had been diving all day long. I’d tell myself I could close my eyes and it’d be over before I knew it. I did everything possible to keep myself from having to turn around and slowly, painstakingly climb down the ladder, and slink past all those smirking kids in humiliated defeat.
And yet I would repeat that very process time and time again. Talk about a walk of shame.
Then, one day, I simply dove off the high dive. There was no line. The climb up was easy. I walked to the end, and I dropped off with no muss, fuss, or soul-crushing terror. I can’t explain what changed.
I simply switched off the fear and went. And then I repeated that process — now in triumph — over and over again, to my heart’s content. Feet first, head first, swan dive, jackknife, flip, pretending to accidentally walk off. I tell you, I was practically hamming it up now that I had tamed the spring- board beast of the public pool.
Diversifying a provider business presents a similar prospect. In theory, it’s easy to talk about it. The market potential for this new niche is clear and well defined. The referral partners are in place and so are the patients. In fact, some of them are preexisting relationships. The funding sources are clear and the sales staff has been doing their home- work. Billing knows how to process the claims. Management knows the vendor resources and the right products. This job can be done.
And then the talk ends, and it is time to strike out and start building the relationships and trying to take things from idea to implementation; from plan to practice. That’s when that high dive starts rocketing into the stratosphere, and the height is more than dizzying.
In this issue, we’ve presented wound care as a solid diversification opportunity for providers (see “Financial First Aid,” page 15), and we’ve tried to help you turn off the fear by providing as much information as we can from some key industry experts. There’s solid market potential and there’s a pathway to get to it. We’ve outlined a direc-
tory of vendors. And, if that wasn’t enough, we’re presenting two free webinars (thanks to sponsors McKesson Corp.) to help you dig even deeper. Hopefully this will help you stride down the board and confidently take the plunge.
Recently, my kids and I went cliff jumping into
a cenoté (a big, limestone sinkhole) in Mexico. I climbed up, two of my daughters stood on either side of me, and we dove in. But the height looked twice as tall at the top, my pulse clearly redlined, and the initial fall took forever. But we also couldn’t wait to go again. The experience reminded me that, without the fear, you’d never have the thrill.
David Kopf Editor
HME Business
Steve Ackerman
President Spectrum Medical
Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq.
Chairman of the Health Care Group of Brown & Fortunato, P.C.
Rob Baumhover
Director of Retail Services for VGM Retail Services
Georgie Blackburn
Vice President, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs BLACKBURN’S
Todd Blockinger
Senior Director of Sales The MED Group
Rob Boyeye
Executive Vice President of HME Brightree LLC
Sandra Canally
President
The Compliance Team Inc.
George Coppola
Director of Marketing CAIRE Medical
John C Eberhart
President Eberhart Home Health Inc.
Brian LaDuke
Vice President, Marketing for North America Invacare Corp.
John Letizia
President of Laurel Medical Supplies Inc.
Joe Lewarski
Vice President of Global Respiratory and Sleep Drive Devilbiss
Ron Resnick
President Blue Chip Medical Products Inc.
Tom Ryan
President and CEO AAHomecare
Wayne Slavitt
Founder and CEO Mobül: The Mobility Store
Wayne van Halem
President and Founder The van Halem Group LLC
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REACHING THE STAFF
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