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providers, it’s an uplift to their perception of the job that HME providers do on a daily basis to help take care of their patients. It’s more end-to- end. You are more of a partner in care delivery than a commodity from whom they get medical equipment.”
IT STARTS WITH THE PRESCRIPTION
“The vision for a completely connected care pathway exists, but it’s still in its early days,” says Chris Hogg, chief commercial officer at digital monitoring company Propeller Health (recently acquired by ResMed). “The strongest links in
the chain at the moment are between the physi- cian and pharmacist, via electronic health record (EHR) technology, and between the patient and their individual device, because consumers are already using smartphones and other technology to manage their health. We need to do more work to bridge the gap between provider and patient, and we expect to see those links become much stronger in the next five to 10 years.”
Government got behind e-prescriptions for medications as part of electronic health records efforts, but stopped short of including DME prescriptions in the requirement, says Knowlton.
So while doctors have been e-prescribing medications for about 15 years, the trend is just catching up in DME. Without a government mandate, it may fall to DMEs to sell the benefits of e-prescribing to doctors, Knowlton says, noting, “Those conversations are going pretty well as long as you explain to the physician why you’re doing it and how it is going to help them and benefit patients under their care.
“HME providers are able to go have a tough conversation with a referral source and say, ‘I want you to do this electronically because I can’t sustain an operation where there is so much cost involved in cleaning up every order.’ They are
having really good conversations with that. They are also putting some of those cost burdens back on referring providers — ‘Hey, if I’m going to be your supplier, you have to send me clean orders or I’m going to bill you for that which I do not get reimbursed.’ “
Getting doctors on board is easier when it’s aligned with ERM they are already doing for medications. “Some of the technologies we push for to move e-prescribing forward are actually embedded in a physician’s native workflow,” Knowlton says. When DMEs approach them for e-prescriptions, “Light bulbs just go off for them. It’s like, ‘OK, diverting ourselves to a fax-based workflow is a distraction. If I can order home medical equipment from my EHR and it’s right next to where I order lab tests or medications for a patient, ‘ actually it’s better aligned with their workflow and the things they do every day.”
PILOTING BY REMOTE
Prescriptions are just the beginning of e-medi- cine. Remote monitoring caught on in the sleep segment, but digital technology has acceler- ated its spread and acceptance in many other areas. ResMed already monitors millions of
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What’s Inside:
Annual New Product Awards . . . . . . 12 Non-Medicare Oxygen Options . . . 24 ProviderStrategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 TheCaseforCPAPCleaners . . . . . . . . 9 NewOxygenOfferings . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Noridian, CGS & the 60-Day Rule . . . . 30
HME Software Keeps Pace with Post-Acute Care’s Changes
As
What’s Inside:
Key Performance Indicators . . . . . . . News, Trends & Analysis . . . . . . . . . Group 2 & Group 3 Mobility . . . . . . Convexity’s Tiny FLYP Nebulizer . . . CompressionProducts . . . . . . . . . . . BillingHeadacheRelief . . . . . . . . . . .
21 .8 12 25 26 30
What’s Inside:
Special: Products That Work . . . . . . 14 Top Retail Sales Products . . . . . . . . . 26 Specialized Accreditation . . . . . . . . .8 Managing Mixed Revenues . . . . . . . 10 The Latest HME Software . . . . . . . . 32 Educating O2 Referral Partners . . . 34
Are These Proven Products Part of Your Retail Business?
the most fundamental v p a r o l u v e i d t e h r a s t b h r o i n m g e t o m t e h d e i c p a o l s e t q - a u c i p u mt e e c n a t r e s t h p e a c p e r o i s d t u h c e t i s r a d n e d e p s e u r n v i d c e e r s s t t h a en y d i o n f g f e o r , f a p n a d t i e h n o t w s ’ t c h a o r e s e n i e t e e md s s a s n a d t i s t f h y e t i h r e r e i r f e r r a l
p a Mr t n o e r e r s o ’ v c e l r i n , a i c s a c l a o s b h j e s c a t l i e v s e h s . a v e become imperative for providers
looking to diversify and extend their revenues, their product expertise has become a razor-sharp competitive edge in the retail marketplace . Simply put, why get no help from a big box store or random online retailer, when you can tap into a provider’s special- ized knowledge?
However, when it comes to driving cash sales revenue to the bottom line, providers need to know what prod- ucts perform . That’s why this issue’s cover story takes a deep dive into six product categories demonstrated
to not only help patients but drive sustained cash flow, as well .
To get the real story, HME Business Associate Editor Leila McNeill talks
to various providers and retail sales experts for their take on which retail categories have a proven track record of success, and how HME businesses should go about offering those prod- ucts . Read this month’s cover story to learn more .
Proven Retail
Sales Offerings . . . . . . Page 26
March 2019 Volume 26, Number 2 hme-business.com
HME IT EVOLUTION The latest
enhancements
to the industry’s
software offerings.
The 2019 Big 10 List Yields Some Unexpected Trends for HME
year, we dedicate part
o t h f e o 1 u 0 r J t r a e n n u d a s r y t h i s a s t u w e i l t l o i ms u p r a v c e t y t i n h g e
Hp r Mo v E i d i n e d r s u s s t h r a y p t e h e t h m e i o r s b t . u T s i h n i e s s y s e s a t r r , a a t s e -
gfoiecus,stahebyitmbiegyhotnwdaonut rtofawmidilieanr nthicehire o f S t h o e m p e o o s f t - t a h c i s u t y e e a c r a ’ s r e t r me n a d r k s e a t . r e already at the fore of HME providers’ minds . For instance, the bidding gap is an opportunity that many providers are considering, but it comes with strings attached . Also, HME owners and management must consider how they will respond to the rest of CMS’s final rules, such as changes to oxygen reimbursement .
However, there are other looming developments on the periphery of
the industry that providers might
not anticipate . For example, there is
a good chance that providers could see unexpected competition from online entrants, and the conver- gence of payers and providers could disrupt some aspects of healthcare .
At the same time, innovations such as e-prescription could benefit providers . Those are just some of the trends
we cover in this issue . Read this year’s Big 10 list to learn more about the trends you might be anticipating, as well as the developments you might not be expecting .
the HME industry hurtles
t a h n r d o u c ga r h e v c a h r i a o l l u e s n pg ue bs , l i pc r po ov i l di c e y r , s m h a a r v k e e t rtehlaiendanuyponthoenr etobhueslipnetshseamssevtomlvoere wH i Mt h E c s h o a f n t wg e a : r e t h i s e i mr s o o r f e t w t h a a r n e j s u y s s t t e b mi l l s i n . g a b n u d s i n c e l a s i s m e s s ms t a r a n t a e g g e i c m a e l l n y t r e — s p i t o h n e d l p t o s and manage change .
Managing change has become a key capability for any healthcare business serving the post-acute care sector, and the industry’s software systems have evolved and changed to address those changes . Now, in addition to the broad HME management systems, there are solutions designed to help providers manage specific aspects of their businesses . There are IT tools explicitly tailored for HME accounts receivable; business analytics; delivery management; document imaging and management; e-commerce; and even e-prescription .
To help you stay on top of the evolving list of options available to help your business adapt to change, HMEB has once again conducted
our annual software roundup . We’ve surveyed a variety of systems to see the latest developments and features they’ve incorporated to help your business deal with the HME sector’s constantly unfolding changes . Annual HME
Software Survey . . . . . .
Page 18
November/December 2018 Volume 25, Number 10 hme-business.com
Every
Perhaps
STRATEGY 2019
Ten trends providers should plan for in the New Year
Must-stock HME cash sales product categories
HMEB’s Annual
Big 10 List . . . . . . . . . .
Page 15
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January/February 2019 Volume 26, Number 1 hme-business.com
What’s Inside:
Distributor Relationships . . . . . . . . . 12 Medtrade Spring Products . . . . . . . 23
News, Trends & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 8 A New Approach to Incontinence . . 27 AccessibilityProducts . . . . . . . . . . . 28 MedicaidManagedCare . . . . . . . . 30
Plugging In
HME Migrating to a Seamless, Connected IT Landscape
The technology evolution of healthcare information systems has been nothing short of lightning fast . The U .S . healthcare IT landscape has seen massive healthcare institutions go from hodgepodge systems with poor on-site integration, to cohesive IT infrastructure that compounds operational efficiency, care and outcomes .
This is true of not just large care organizations, such as hospitals and health systems, but the entire spec- trum of care . Doctor’s offices, special- ists, therapists, outpatient surgery providers and outsourcers have greatly improved their IT systems .
Moreover, now those various entities are using those systems to securely share data so that they can better care for patients and operate more smoothly and profitably . In fact, there are entire organizations, such as the CommonWell Health Alliance, that are dedicated to fostering, developing and expanding the secure, standard- ized flow of information across the care continuum .
And now HME providers are starting plug into that ever-growing healthcare cloud . How will that benefit them? What’s involved? What do they need to know? How do they get started? Read this month’s cover story to learn more about this trend .
Connected Care &
HME IT Systems . . . . . Page 19
Connected care has come to HME. Are providers ready?
March 2019 Volume 26, Number 3 hme-business.com
20 HMEBusiness | April 2019 | hme-business.com
Management Solutions | Technology | Products
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“The number and type of medicines that have a digital component is sure to expand.” — Chris Hogg, Propeller Health
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