Or What It Takes to Get Business From Referral Sources YOU ALREADY work with them on a daily basis: the case managers, discharge planners, therapists and nurses who refer their patients to you for home care products and services. You're on the phone and on the road every day, caring for their patients' needs. That is, after all, the core of your business - and the only way to keep up a steady stream of new patient referrals.

But when did you last take the time to ask your referral sources what they want of you? And when was the last time they stopped and considered just what - from their point of view - makes the ideal home medical equipment provider?

It has probably been awhile, perhaps a long while. If so, it's also overdue, whether you've been working with your current referral sources for a while or are looking to cultivate new relationships.

Time being what it is - in short supply - HomeCare's editors set out to learn straight from the source what makes for a perfect HME provider.

We spoke with medical professionals involved in hospital work, various forms of therapy, assisted living facilities and hospice programs. Their insights yielded some common themes - expertise and accessibility key among them - but each referral source also had a particular set of needs and wants for their HME provider relationships. Needs and wants that must be met, they say frankly, for them to continue the relationships.

So while you might never be able to achieve perfection in their eyes, the profiles you'll find on the following pages could help you figure out how to get one step closer.