The Day After

For those enough old enough to remember the movie “The Day After,” I believe this summer has brought some similarities. And hopefully for all of us, extra time to think about our businesses.

With competitive bidding, we all received a wake-up call about what tomorrow could have been and what control we had over our future.

Emails were coming daily with call-to-action points. Every day there was some noteworthy news. People worked for hours and hours preparing their bids. Lawyers were working with organized groups to stop the process. Those who became bid “winners” were considering how they would enlarge their businesses or possibly sell to an eager suitor.

Those not in the first 10 MSAs were watching the results, too. Some were deciding whether they even wanted to be a part of the process. Others were contemplating subcontracts and all the positives and negatives that could be incurred from such arrangements.

Then we got a delay in the program and a cut in reimbursement. While not totally acceptable, it allowed us to get at least one night's sleep and maybe a few days not to think about it all.

But, time to awake again. It's the day after. What have we learned from the competitive bidding crisis? Take time with me to reflect.

• We gained more product and cost education. We have become better educated about the products we sell, why there are some products we would like not to sell and all the reasons why.

• We focused on operational costs. We concentrated on pricing, vendors and the cost of delivery. We wondered if our newly planned territory was unreasonable considering our present operation and organization.

• We met with our competitors. We gathered at small group meetings, conferences, lunches and via phone. Some of us even found allies who would work with us on behalf of our referral sources and clients. Owners began thinking about partnerships and relationships with competitors. Some began talking with people they recognized but had never spoken with.

• We listened to many unclear messages from Medicare and realized the complexity of the government's decision-making process. It activated us to be more proactive and even to become better educated about how our government functions.

  For the first time, many HME business owners played the role of lobbyist and had something to celebrate for their work.

• Many who had delayed becoming accredited initiated the process. Those who had not begun realized they were faced with one rule that was not going away.