ATLANTA (September 20, 2018)—Industry advocate and leader Regina Gillispie, president and owner of West Virginia-based Best Home Medical, will be honored as the recipient of the 2018 Van Miller Homecare Champion Award at the upcoming Medtrade show in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Homecare Champion Award recognizes and honors AAHomecare members for outstanding service to the HME community. In 2016, the award was renamed to reflect the characteristics of an HME visionary, Van G. Miller, past CEO and founder of the VGM Group. This year’s recipient embodies Miller’s spirit of leadership and dedication to helping fight for better public policy for the HME industry.
Gillispie has built strong relationships and earned a great deal of credibility for the HME sector on Capitol Hill. She has consistently made sure that her state is well-represented at AAHomecare’s annual Washington Legislative Conference, and raised the profile of our policy priorities with West Virginia legislators.
In July, Gillispie spearheaded efforts to get all five members of West Virginia’s Congressional delegation to send a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma asking her to address their concerns regarding “the significant cost differences that rural providers face relative to their urban counterparts within the CBAs” after those issues were not resolved in the DME-related Interim Final Rule released in May. As part of this effort, she connected Congressional offices with state Medicaid officials, who lent additional credibility to industry assertions that patients and hospital discharge planners are being severely impacted by a dwindling provider base.
Gillispie has also been at the forefront of state-level policy wins, helping convince West Virginia Medicaid to mandate that MCOs honor the timeframe of current authorizations for patients under previous MCO plans, as well as securing a 24-month timeframe for recoupments for MCO plans. She also had a leadership role in getting the state to increase oxygen reimbursement rates.
“I truly appreciate the recognition of our achievements in West Virginia, and I want to thank some of the people who have helped make it possible,” Gillispie said. “The support and resources we’ve received from AAHomecare and VGM have been instrumental in our ability to engage our Congressional delegation and state officials.”
“I’m also grateful for the support of my fellow providers statewide who have been persistent and passionate in their outreach to Capitol Hill and Medicaid officials,” added Gillispie. “And finally, I have to thank my Best Home Medical team for their work caring for our customers and allowing me to devote time to lobbying efforts.”
Gillispie opened Best Home Medical in 2005, and has since expanded to two locations serving patients in Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia, and surrounding areas. Her team provides a full range of HME products with a special focus on CPAP and home oxygen technology.
The 2018 Van Miller Homecare Champion Award will be presented during the AAHomecare Washington Update at Medtrade in Atlanta, on Tuesday, October 16 (8 a.m.-9:45 a.m.). The Champion at the Stand Up for Homecare reception will take place from 5:30-7 p.m., Tuesday at the SkyLounge at the Glenn Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Gillispie will also be honored at the VGM Member/Vendor Community Tailgate party at the College Football Hall of Fame later Tuesday night. Gillispie joins a distinguished group of honorees, including Gary Sheehan, who received the 2017 award.
Tuesday morning’s Washington Update is open to all Medtrade registrants.
Visit aahomecare.org for more information.
