Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/45026
8 News Topics included submitting a bid, touting the value of home care and reducing readmissions BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor Attendees networked at the Levine Museum of the New South. CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It's no accident that the HME News Business Summit WWW.HMENEWS.COM / NOVEMBER 2011 / HME NEWS Heard at the Summit: Start early, crunch numbers was held here. Charlotte is, after all, a Round 1 competitive bidding area, something very much on the minds of the HME providers who attended the event. The Summit, held Sept. 11-13 at the Marriott City Center, wasn't all about competitive bidding, though. When attendees weren't network- ing with fellow providers or enjoy- ing the exhibits at the Levine Museum of the New South, they heard presentations about reduc- ing hospital readmissions, the value The Route to Effi ciency Effi cient routing is more than fi nding the shortest path between two points. Esri's ArcLogistics™ helps you create optimum routes that consider factors such as vehicle/driver traits, street restrictions, and time windows. Users typically save 30% on vehicle costs and reduce time spent routing, all within weeks of getting started. Learn more at esri.com/hmenews of home care and the state of the industry. START EARLY, CRUNCH NUMBERS Contract suppliers Kim Brummett of Advanced Home Care and Rick Perrotta of Network Medical Sup- ply shared their strategies for craft- ing winning bids for competitive bidding. Know every facet of your costs and bid only on what's essen- tial to your business, they said. WHAT ARE YOU WORTH? Although the market for HME pro- viders is still lukewarm, there are more buyers out there these days, say M&A analysts. However, sell- ers need to be more realistic about what their businesses are worth. Thanks to competitive bidding, buyers can price businesses them- selves, says Don Davis, president of Duckridge Advisors. "It's simple math, and sellers need to under- stand that," he said. "You need to talk about the intangibles that make your business different." FROM DINOSAUR TO CUTTING EDGE Dr. Steve Landers of the Cleveland Clinic started doing house calls as part of his practice, and while many colleagues considered him a "dino- saur" for doing so, he saw the value of it. These days, he said, several key trends are driving an increase in home care: demographics, tech- nology and consumerism. It is also safer and less costly, he pointed out. "The home is the healthcare venue of the future," he said. HOSPITAL TO HOME Greg Spratt, homecare chairman of the American Association for Respiratory Care, shared some results from a recent survey of home- and hospital-based respi- ratory therapists. With hospitals required to start reducing read- mission rates in 2012, HME pro- viders should take notice of these stats: Only 12% of hospitals partner with HME providers, even though 81% of RTs believe readmissions are for oxygen noncompliance. "That's linked to patient education and that's something you guys are involved in," Spratt told attendees. TIGHT MARGINS Rick Glass, president of Steven Richards & Associates, and Scott Lloyd, co-founder of Extrakare, dis- cussed the results of the 5th Annual HME News/SRA Financial Bench- marking Survey. Revenue growth declined for 27.4% of poll respon- dents. Additionally, "many provid- ers are showing slim profit margins of 8% to 10%," Glass said. HME Copyright © 2011 Esri. All rights reserved.