David Chandler on MCOs: 'We need to transform school of thought'

WASHINGTON - AAHomecare will grow its payer relations team in April to include David Chandler as its director of payer relations.

Chandler is director of reimbursement and government affairs for Liberty Medical Specialties based in Whiteville, N.C.; treasurer of the Atlantic Coast Medical Equipment Services Association; chairman of the Medicare Jurisdiction C Advisory Council; and a member of AAHomecare's Regulatory Council and State Leaders Council. He also serves on the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy/DME Subcommittee.

“He's done great things for this industry already,” said Laura Williard, vice president of payer relations at AAHomecare. “Having his provider knowledge and industry knowledge will be really important to our efforts.”

Here are four things to know about Chandler:

He's ready to get to work

“I'm looking forward to continuing Laura's efforts, partnering with state associations in lobbying Medicaid programs to protect reimbursement,” he said. “That effort has been very successful, but there still some states out there that need help. We'll also be working to protect against sole-source agreements, trying to be more proactive. If that's ultimately successful, we need to replicate those efforts across the country.”

He knows MCOs

“In my role at Liberty, I handle all the contracting for the business, so I've had direct exposure to MCOs,” he said. “Trying to stay away from Medicare rates is the name of the game lately and, working with ACMESA and AAH, a lot of our efforts have been around payer relations. We have a great relationship with BCBS of North Carolina; we meet with them quarterly. We also have a great relationship with Medicaid in our state.”

He really knows MCOs

“Liberty is a unique business in that it's part of a family of businesses and one of the newer businesses is a Medicare Advantage plan, so I've seen where most of the cost comes from and I've learned the language these payers are speaking— it's all about controlling that monthly member cost,” he said. “We need to transform the school of thought to, 'We're in the home and we have the one-on-one interaction with your members in the home, and we can assist you.'”

He wants a seat at the table—and so should you

“If you're not involved, you don't have a seat at the table,” he said. “There are a lot of challenges in our industry, including MCOs looking more closely at Medicaid, and unless you get involved and tell them your side of the story, they're not going to hear it from anywhere else. AAHomecare won't be successful without the support of providers. If you're not involved, you're diminishing the effort globally.”