Doing Things The American Way

We all remember the pending Apollo 13 disaster and the combination of individual creativity, ultimate leadership, indomitable spirit and a willingness to supplant arrogance and let confidence muster all of the God-given talents available to avoid disaster.

So here we are, a shaky economy, even using the “R” word. The war on terrorism appears to be an offensive/defensive initiative that will/must be with us forever. Add a disappointing presidential political nomination process.

Now add the first round of the cluster mess called national competitive bidding and all those well-meaning pinheads in D.C., and you could really be worried about your business.

With respect to this last item, how much of your business relies on the reimbursement schemes of D.C.? In other words, how much of your business have you turned over to others to control?

Sure, you can say, “You're being the Monday morning quarterback when it comes to our CMS dependency.”

Wrong. I've been working in the HME segment of the health care industry for over 10 years now, and for 10 years we've all seen the government's assault on the industry. For 10 years we've thought competitive bidding was coming. For 10 years we've thought accreditation was coming.

For 10 years we've known about the need to diversify payer sources and explore retail and other options. For 10 years we've known that wise businesspeople review their products and services to assess profitability.

For 10 years we've just been hoping and praying that things would turn out our way. Well, folks, hope and prayer aren't strategies for building a business. Hope and prayer without a commitment to action are meaningless.

By the way, for 10 years I've been urging providers to get educated on strategic planning, succession planning, staff and leadership development, hiring and retention and other business growth fundamentals that are critical regardless of your product or services. And for 10 years I've had a number of providers tell me, “What we really need is billing, reimbursement, accreditation and legislative issues.”

The reality, which has become frighteningly clear, is you need it ALL.

So some of you reading this article have been postponing making the investment in time, talent and money for the business. Now, the future you have dreaded for the last 10 years is here. Even though Congress has put off competitive bidding for a bit, we have a firm idea of the massive changes it will bring.