Page 14 - HME Business, January/February 2021

Business Solutions
There are dozens of vaccines still being developed and safety tested, but as of press time, there are just two vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States: the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna-NIH vaccine.
At press time, the CDC’s latest data showed that 35.2 million total doses of the available vaccines had been administered and more than 6.9 million Americans had been fully vaccinated. So, 2.1 percent of the nation’s population has been vaccinated. Obviously, we have a while to go before life will return to normal.
And how long will that “while” last? Public health experts and epidemiologists say the population needs roughly 70 percent to 85 percent vaccination coverage before the virus will be contained and people can return to the way things were. According to the experts and the various online vaccine trackers, we can expect that the United States won’t get to that level of coverage until sometime in 2022. Moreover, we have yet to consider how other events, such as winter weather, natural disasters, or other issues might hamper distribution. What we do know is that the “new normal” will be here for much of 2021.
BUSINESS AND CARE PROTOCOLS
That means that all the business and care protocols that providers put into place to deal with the pandemic will need to remain in place for 2021. COVID-19’s spread was surprisingly fast. Since the first U.S. fatality was announced on Feb. 29, the United States has seen 27 million cases and 426,000 deaths from the disease (as this story goes to press).
But just as fast as the pandemic expanded, so too did the industry responded just as fast to help control and contain it while they ran their businesses and provided care. That quick response included shifting any back office staffers to working from home, changing how delivery techs documented delivery and conducted set-up, and how their team worked with referral partners.
For most of 2021, we can expect that HME providers will need to keep those policies and procedures in place in order to protect their employees, patients and partners. And, we can expect that CMS and private payer insurance will, in turn, keep their relax- ations and waivers of various reimbursement requirements in place to facilitate providers as they have done in the past.
And, if anything, continuing to operate under those circum- stances should help the HME industry continue to build goodwill and raise its reputation among payers, regulators and lawmakers by demonstrating its value as an integral, frontline component of America’s healthcare landscape.
TELEHEALTH
One revised healthcare practice or protocol introduced into American healthcare due to COVID-19 that we can expect to stay is telehealth. Here in HME, we saw the waiver of the three-year
established patient relationship requirement from telehealth provisions and the removal of the face-to-face exam require- ment for items that otherwise require them due to NCD or LCD.
We also saw CMS waive any limitations on the types of clinical practitioners that can furnish Medicare telehealth services. Now CMS’s telehealth list includes both two key clinical partners/staff for HME providers: Physical Therapists (PTs) and Occupational Therapists (OTs), for instance.
And when it comes to referral partners, similar policy changes have made it much easier for physicians to confer and consult with their patients via telehealth, rather than in person, to minimize contact. Now, doctors are just as likely to meet with patients on their laptops as they are in their examination rooms, especially given that they can get reimbursed.
And their patients like it too. Who wants to drive to the doctor’s office for a simple consult when you can do it sitting at your kitchen table?
Patient and physician accustomization to telehealth also means providers need to work within that context. No, providers can’t expect to get reimbursed for implementing telehealth, but then again, neither can they expect to get reimbursed for having a telehealth line. It’s a new normal that will be the ongoing normal because it simply makes sense, and providers will need to support it if they want to remain relevant.
VIRTUAL EVENTS & EDUCATION
Speaking of doing things at a distance, everyone loves in-person expos, conferences and networking events, and is eager to get back to them. (Lord knows I am.) But the industry’s educators and media companies’ efforts to still deliver the kernel value of those types of events in an online milieu has been encouraging and sometimes eye-opening.
In 2021, we saw both Medtrade East and VGM Heartland take their events online and serve up both expo- and conference-style content online. We also saw the American Association for Homecare host a virtual Standup for Homecare, and we saw members from 18 state HME associations pull together to attend a Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services & Supplies (MAMES) Virtual Conference and Exhibition that was a well-received replace- ment for the various individual state association meetings.
Here at HME Business, we extended our long-running webinar series to include DemoCasts, which are free-to-attend collections of short product demonstration videos from various vendors, followed by audience Q&A with representatives from the companies providing the videos. Those were so well received that we wound up doing several in 2020 and have even more slated in 2021 (see HME-Busines.com/webinars to learn more).
And in 2021, we can expect more virtual events. We have dates slated for the big events, such as VGM Heartland (June 14-16), Medtrade West (July 12-14), and Medtrade East (Oct. 18-20), and at press time, AAHomecare is working with its members to develop the best approach for its annual Washington Legislative Conference lobbying event. It is likely that we can expect the trend toward virtual industry events and education to continue in 2021, and it’s likely that all these events will feature a virtual component. That’s a good thing as it gives people options.
Experts say we need roughly 70 percent to 85 percent vaccination coverage for the virus to be contained.
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