Page 14 - HME Business, June 2017

News / Trends / Analysis
VGM Leases Retail Space for Heartland ‘Training Lab’
Adjacent to convention center 1,100-square foot showroom will feature innovative products and display concepts.
As part of its preparations for its June 12-15 Heartland event in Waterloo, Iowa, The VGM Group Inc. has leased nearby storefront to create a retail training lab during the show.
Situated across the street from the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, the 1,100-square- foot showroom will feature innovative products and display concepts that attendees can examine, learn from, and possibly apply to their businesses.
“We’re proud to enhance Heartland Conference attendees’ experience by offering this innova- tive, hands-on approach to learning,” said Rob Baumhover, VGM’s director of retail programs.
“The showroom will be designed as an ideal retail store, providing a unique platform to highlight opportunities for our members to strengthen their retail program.”
Attendees will be able to visit the Retail Training Lab throughout the four-day confer- ence. VGM’s online marketing agency, Forbin, will be in the showroom to discuss online marketing tactics and trends to help providers reach their target audience.
In addition to the lab, Baumhover and the VGM Retail Services team will present a pre-conference strategy-driven session titled Achieving Retail Success. Other retail education for attendees will include presentations on an all-cash, health and
The VGM Group Inc.’s Heartland conference and expo is coming up fast, running June 12-15 at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa
wellness business model; inventory management; and how to use retail marketing strategies.
“If you’re looking to bolster your business’s retail program, then Heartland Conference is a must-attend event,” Baumhover said. “All-inclusive pricing covers education, meals, transportation and a number of social events. You don’t want
to miss out.” n
WEBINARS
More industry intelligence is available at hme-business.com.
Free Wound Care Webinar Archives — Wound care can put HME providers in the fast lane to increased profitability, but which is the right on-ramp for your business? Now available for free at hme-business.com/webinars, you can watch and listen to “Wound Care: Picking the Right Path,” thanks to sponsor McKesson Corp. Presenter Heather Trumm, BSN, RN, CWON, the director
of wound care for VGM Group Inc., explains the market basics, the various wound care categories, and the payment opportunities for HME providers.
Trumm was later joined by her colleague Maria Markusen, director of Operations & Development for VGM Retail, followed up that presentation with “Wound Care’s One-Two Punch,” which discussed how providers can take their wound care busi- nesses to the next level. Both of these important webinar were made FREE thanks to sponsor McKesson Corp., and are available at hme-busi- ness.com/webinars.
New Audit Webinar Archive — The RAC is
Back! Are you ready? CMS has given Performant Recovery, the new national Home Health, Hospice and DMEPOS RAC, the greenlight to start auditing. The first round of RAC audits, occurring in 2011
to 2013, were rough on providers. In this informa- tive webinar, presenter Kelly Grahovac, senior consultant for The van Halem Group, provides keen insights into what you can expect from the next round of this audit, and how you should be preparing to respond to those audits.
Register for all HME Business webinars at hme-business.com/webinars.
14 HMEBusiness | June 2017 | hme-business.com
Management Solutions | Technology | Products
AAHomecare Wraps Another
Washington Conference
The 2017 edition of the annual lobbying event drew various HME stakeholders for meetings on the Hill May 24-25
The American Association for Homecare has wrapped another annual Washington Legislative Conference, which ran May 24-25 at Washington, D.C.’s Washington Court Hotel.
The annual event mobilizes providers and other HME industry stakeholders to spend concentrated time lobbying lawmakers and legislative staff on behalf of pivotal industry issues.
This year’s event focused on leveraging what is hoped to be a friendlier Health and Human Services, which is now headed by longtime Congressional ally Tom Price, MD, who is now Secretary of HHS, as well as a Congress and Administration that is looking to remove regula- tions that hamper business.
“During challenging times, it’s impossible to look our team members in the face and tell them we are doing everything we can if we aren’t taking the basic steps to educate our lawmakers about our services,” said Gary Sheehan, president and CEO of HME provider Cape Medical Supply. Sheehan has attended the Washington Legislative Conference for longer than 10 years.
“Medicare’s price table sets the market within our industry sector — so whether we accept Medicare or not, we have an obligation to do what we can to rationalize their pricing and policies,”
Sheehan said. “It’s been a tough decade for us, but now is not the time to give up the fight, now is precisely the time for our industry to come together, point out the folly of Medicare’s ways and work together for positive change.”
While having a past legislative supporter in charge of HHS will hopefully prove a boon to the industry, AAHomecare President and CEO Tom Ryan stressed that providers still had to come
to Capitol Hill last month in order to push for Congressional support, because legislation offers permanent solutions to HME’s problems.
“Even if our most likely path to a longer-term fix on rural reimbursement, meaningful improvements for the next round of competitive bidding, and excluding CRT accessories from bidding-derived pricing is likely to run through federal agencies, Congressional interest and support is essential to the process,” he explained.
Moreover, Ryan underscored the importance of HME providers engaging in face-to-face meetings with lawmakers and their staff, because those first- person accounts make a powerful impact.
“I’ve learned over the years that building rela- tionships and generating support on Capitol Hill takes a persistent effort; we can’t afford to ease up on that process now,” Ryan added.