Page 16 - HME Business, October 2017

Shining a Light
As the industry enters a transitional phase, HMEB’s Editorial Advisory Board helps providers plot a course through uncertain waters.
By David Kopf
ach year members of HMEB’s Editorial Advisory Board survey the state of the industry and join a set of roundtable interviews in order to share the key trends, issues, challenges and opportunities that they
feel providers should have on their radars. This year’s installment of our annual roundtable discussion is perhaps one of the most important.
The industry is in a transitional phase: HME now has friends in HHS and CMS, as well as a host of allies in the House and Senate, but at the same time, competitive bidding and a scaled-up audit program have had years of
momentum behind them. While these programs have had their impact on the private payer market, providers have sought to diversify their businesses not only into private insurance, but also retail and facilities care settings such as skilled nursing facilities, residential care, and hospitals.
In other words, the waters are uncertain, and providers need help charting a safe course, which makes the 2017 edition of our roundtable both timely and impactful. So, without further introduction, let’s dive in and see what this year’s panel of experts has to share:
INCREASED ADVOCACY
Steve Ackerman, president of Spectrum Medical and chairman of the American Association for Homecare Both as a provider and the chair of the industry’s national association, Ackerman says advocacy should be a top-line
concern for providers. “The most important thing that people can do right now is get involved with
the industry if they haven’t already,” he says. “The next six months are going to be really significant, because I firmly believe there’s some changes coming from Medicare.”
Reason being, he explains, is that the industry has allies in HHS Secretary Tom Price and CMS Administrator Seem Verma. “The new leadership that Medicare is taking a serious look at what we’ve been discussing as problems, and they are working hard to solve them for us,” Ackerman explains. Focusing on regulatory fixes ensure the
industry can achieve “smaller changes made at an administrative level, so we’re not feeling like we’re being forced to legislate everything that could make real differences in our business.”
At the same time, providers need to develop solid relationships with their lawmakers and legislative staff, as the industry is working the legislative front, as well (such as with the manual CRT bill; see ‘News, Trends & Analysis,’ page 8, to read more). “It’s a great time to get a relationship started or renewed,”Ackerman advises. “We’re
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