Page 26 - HME Business, November/December 2020

have a pretty strong technology infrastructure already in place, not purpose-built for the intent of a pandemic, but there we were. And then
we quickly ramped up policies, procedures, processes to run the business remotely, do remote shipments at scale, arrange for follow-up consultations. And I think, look, a lot of sleep providers, I think, had remote shipping on their roadmap of things to try and tackle.
There were concerns about brand reputation; of going too far, too fast with it. However, a lot of us had been thinking about it for a while. I think some people had already been doing it in pockets, but we were just forced to adapt really quickly.
And I’m very proud of our team’s ability to do that and the service we were able to provide. The patient feedback that we got over the first several months was overwhelmingly positive in terms of our ability to provide service without interruption. And then we began to educate our referral partners on how they could operate in
a COVID world through home sleep testing and telehealth consultation; trying to help coach them up a little bit because without them diag- nosing new cases, the pool quickly dries up.
HMEB: Have there been some key lessons
that providers have learned? Will they last?
Gary: We’ve learned a lot over the last several months. We will continue to take those learn- ings and apply them to how we do business moving forward. We are selectively, very slowly, and cautiously reopening some of our facilities for folks who demand in-person. I still think it’s a very tenuous time for the country and for the states that we operate in. So we’re still biased towards remote setups. First, because it’s worked well and, second, we don’t want to be involved directly or indirectly with further trans- mission at this point.
From a patient services point of view, a key adaptation we have made is the remote setup and the consultation follow-up. I think even when this is over with, that might be the preferred methodology with an in-person setup, post- initial setup. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but it might be a more constructive dialogue to start therapy for two or three nights and then have a setup
in person before — rather than just sitting in a room and learning about it cold. I think the first few nights of therapy introduce a lot of ques-
tions. So, perhaps a drop-ship or a shipping model first, and then an in-person consultation or telehealth consultation after.
The other key adaptation is the remote workforce. I feel like we can now recruit in all 50 States for support personnel and ship them a phone and on we go. So, it’s a bit of a different view on employee requirements, potentially. We haven’t made that strategy actionable yet, but it’s something that we’re absolutely considering, because it’s been very successful. And I don’t care if they’re working remote. To some degree, it doesn’t matter if they’re five miles from the office or 500 miles from the office.
We’re not doing anything overly exotic, but we’ve focused on education and consultation, so sending patients videos specific to their prod- ucts, so that they can orient themselves.
Sonal: I think everybody understood that they needed to embrace technology in their own workflow and how we were all as providers managing our patients. We needed to embrace technology at each step. So whether it was on the patient intake side, whether it was on the administrative side, whether it was in billing, whether it was for a remote patient set up, they saw the benefits: you can now do a remote patient set up. You can do a phone call or a video call with your patient to set them up, give the patient the engagement and education tools, etc. I think a lot of providers realized that, and after eight or nine months of this, I think a lot of them have moved there. They’ve realized that by using technology and remote tools, you can still give quality patient care.
Also, they have realized they need to use other partners as well. For me, for all us people that are respiratory providers, we’ve learned to do what you can do best; outsource the rest. And I use that simple phrase, “do what you
can do best; outsource the rest.” I think a lot of providers are starting to embrace that philos- ophy. If I’m very good at managing their efforts, then let me focus on that. So with remote setup, “if Philips can help me with their patient adher- ence services or their home delivery remote services, let me give it to Philips,” right? Or, “if I can use a different tool for resupply, etc., or any different technology, whether it’s from any other company, I will use that.”
Another lesson is that this pandemic is real, this is not going away. Providers need to put up business continuity plans as an organization. Providers need to continue with their plans and procedures and protocols [for COVID], because even if we go back into how we were a few months ago or last year, I think this could happen again. So you need to be ready. You need to preempt and be prepared so that if it happens, you know exactly what to do next.
Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation
1. Publication Title: HME Business
2. Publication Number: 1940-6479
3. Filing Date: September 30, 2020
4. Frequency of Issue: an/Feb, Mar, Apr, May/Jun, Jul/Aug, Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec
5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 7
6. Annual Subscription Price: US $119, International $189
7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 6300 Canoga Ave., Ste 1150, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
8. Complete Mailing Address of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publisher: Same as above.
9. Full Name and Complete Mailing Address of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor:
Kevin O’Grady, President/Group Publisher, 6300 Canoga Avenue, Ste. 1150, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
David Kopf, Publisher/Executive Editor, 2121 Alton Pkwy, Suite 240, Irvine, CA 92606
10. Owner(s): Stevens Publishing Acquisition, Corp. (SPAC), 6300 Canoga Ave., Ste. 1150, Woodland Hills, CA 91367 Listing of shareholders in SPAC.
11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or more of the Total Amount of Bonds,
Mortgages or Other Securities:
Nautic Partners V, L.P., 50 Kennedy Plaza, 12th Floor, Providence, RI 02903
Kennedy Plaza Partners III, LLC, 50 Kennedy Plaza, 12th Floor, Providence, RI 02903
Alta Communications IX, L.P., 1000 Winter Street, South Entrance, Suite 3500, Waltham, MA 02451
Alta Communications IX, B-L.P., 1000 Winter Street, South Entrance, Suite 3500, Waltham, MA 02451
Alta Communications IX, Associates LLC, 1000 Winter Street, South Entrance, Suite 3500, Waltham, MA 02451
12. The tax status has not changed during the preceding 12 months.
13. Publication Title: HME Business
14. Issue date for Circulation Data Below: July/August 2020
15.Extent & Nature of Circulation:
No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 11,406
Average No. Copies Each Month During Preceding 12 Months a. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run) 11,713
b. Legitimate Paid/and or Requested Distribution
1. Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions 7,187
Stated on PS Form 3541
2. In-County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions 0
Stated on PS Form 3541
3. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, 0
Counter Sales, and Other Paid or Requested
Distribution Outside USPS®
4. Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail 0
Classes Through the USPS
c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 7,187 d. Nonrequested Distribution
1. Outside County Nonrequested Copies 4,191 Stated on PS Form 3541
2. In-County Nonrequested Copies Distribution 0 Stated on PS Form 3541
3. Nonrequested Copies Distribution Through the 0 USPS by Other Classes of Mail
4. Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail 283
e. Total Nonrequested Distribution 4,474
f. Total Distribution 11,661
g. Copies not Distributed 52
h. Total 11,713 i. Percent paid and/or Requested Circulation 61.63%
16. Electronic Copy Circulation
a. Requested and Paid Electronic Copies
b. Total Requested and Paid Print Copies (Line 15c) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies
c. Total Requested Copy Distribution (Line15f) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a)
d. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c x 100)
3 I certify that 50% of all my distributed copies (Electronic and Paid Print) are legitimate request or paid copies.
7,139 0 0
0 7,139 4,087 0 0
126 4,213 11,352 54 11,406 62.89%
17. Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the November/December 2020 issue of this publication.
18. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete: Tillie Carlin, Manager, Print Production
10 HMEBusiness | November/December 2020 | hme-business.com
Management Solutions | Technology | Products