Revisiting Your Company's Vision and Mission

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” This is a quote from W. Edwards Deming, one of the greatest business minds ever, whose writing and views are still applicable today. What law or regulation stipulates that any business in this or any other industry is required to survive?

After almost two decades of consulting in this industry, I can reflect on a number of changes that have occurred in the DME business environment. However, there are none as broad and perilous as competitive bidding, which the Medicare Modernization Act set in motion on Dec. 8, 2003.

A change of this magnitude screams for a change in strategies and processes and, in fact, demands that owners and managers revisit the very core of their business to ensure it is appropriate for the current environment.

Start at the Beginning

Any makeover of a home medical equipment business today must begin by reevaluating both the company's vision and its mission. In many cases, however, the vision statement is a missing component. And while most companies have some kind of mission statement, it's often not well defined or not relevant.

The company vision should be a statement of what you want the company to be. In other words, the vision statement could be defined as “what we're going to be when we've grown up.”

The essence of many vision statements I've seen is very broad and reflects an altruistic desire, such as “our company wants to help people.” But the level of efficiency required for the industry's current environment is almost universally opposed to a broad vision statement. There are some customer segments, for instance, that a provider can do a better job of helping than others. The challenge today is to identify those segments and narrow the company's vision to help them.

I often write and speak of the root cause of all business revenue and expense as being the solution we offer and the customer we offer it to. In HME, the solution to be offered and the target customer should be clear in the company's vision statement. In this industry, the combination of “product and payer” can be substituted for “solution,” because the products you sell are the solution you offer. If you want to offer better respiratory function, for example, then the product you offer is oxygen equipment.