Page 30 - HME Business, November 2017

Oxygen Outlook
Portable Oxygen’s
Leap of Faith
Despite portable oxygen’s strong value proposition, many respiratory providers still haven’t transitioned to using these devices. However, as 2018 approaches, the need to do so becomes all the more pressing. How can they jump in?
By David Kopf
For at least a decade, industry experts have been telling oxygen providers why portable oxygen solutions, such as portable oxygen concentrators (POCs), will redefine their businesses. From a business operations perspec- tive, portable oxygen’s value proposition has been that, while
the devices might cost more up front, they will save providers
far more money on the back end, by helping them transition to
a low- or no-delivery model. From a clinical perspective, POCs give patients far more mobility and independence, allowing them to get out and live their lives. That increase ambulation results in improved long-term oxygen therapy and better outcomes. And, from a sales and marketing perspective, that improved clinical care will resonate with referring physicians and other key health- care partners, which should drive more business for providers.
Still, there is a sizable population of respiratory providers that are waiting in the wings when it comes to portable oxygen. Why is that? How can they get started? Moreover, why, as the
industry enters another year of expanded competitive bidding and audit programs, is it becoming a business imperative that respiratory providers finally take this important leap of faith?
Why Some Won’t
Ever since the implementation of the 36-month rental cap, various sources have been pitching the low/no delivery model. With the implementation and expansion of competitive bidding, the need to transition to such a model seems obvious.
“It’s just not sustainable with the competitive bid rates and some of the state Medicaid rates that are coming out to be delivering oxygen cylinders to patients’ home,” says David Lyman, RRT, director of Alternate Care for the VGM Group. “Not that the patients can’t be on that modality, your standard oxygen concentrator and tanks, but if you’re going to use that model, the patients are going to need to come into their branch to pick up those tanks, because you really cannot ... There’s not
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