Caring Commitment

For Rita Hostak, her role as vice president of government relations at Sunrise Medical is more than just a job. “This is my heart,” she says.

As a fervent patient advocate, Hostak's commitment to industry affairs has become a way of life. In addition to her day job, the 2005 HomeCaring Award recipient devotes much of her time to spreading the home care message and working to support HME causes.

Two years ago, Hostak played an instrumental role in founding the National Coalition for Rehab and Assistive Technology (NCART), of which she is president. She also is co-chair of the Program Advisory and Oversight Committee (PAOC) — a panel advising CMS on implementing Medicare competitive bidding for DME — and an active participant in the Restore Access to Mobility Partnership (RAMP) and the American Association for Homecare.

Recently, HomeCare talked to Hostak about her involvement with the industry.

HC: How do you have time to do your job and stay active in so many organizations?

Hostak: I've been in the industry 23 years, and I fell in love from the very beginning. The vast majority of people I meet are truly dedicated to serving the needs of consumers with disabilities or chronic illnesses, and I love that. It's such a wonderful industry, but we get bombarded so much with regulatory and legislative policies and procedures that make it very difficult for ethical suppliers to do what they need to do to meet the needs of the consumer. I really care about the consumer, and it drives me to do what I can do to get the obstacles out of the way so that [the industry] can serve them.

You know that struggle between “it's a job” versus something that really adds value? I tell people I found the perfect career because I get both. There's a lot of personal satisfaction that comes from this job. You couldn't pay me enough to work the number of hours that I work.

HC: What is one of the greatest challenges you face?

Hostak: My paying job is for a manufacturer. While in my heart I feel like I'm serving consumers, and in my role at NCART I'm certainly serving suppliers, I'm not a supplier, I'm not a clinician and I'm not a consumer. So my personal opinion is very often irrelevant. In order to be credible and maintain my personal level of ethics, I have to stop myself a lot to say, “What you think doesn't matter, Rita. You've got to stop and listen.”

HC: What impact has NCART had?