Our latest Newspoll tanks, but HME resilience springs eternal

YARMOUTH, Maine – As far as HME Newspolls go, this one was a dud. 

There. We said it. 

Since we were working on our January issue at the time, we thought it would be interesting to have providers share what they believed to be their biggest business opportunity and biggest challenge, as they headed into 2023. 

It’s hard to say whether providers are too busy to think about 2023 just yet (a mistake) or are simply tired of answering surveys and polls (understandable). 

However, among the few responses we received, there was, at least, an upbeat attitude. 

“(We’re) thinking outside the traditional HME box,” wrote one respondent. “What services other than the usual can we offer?” 

For many providers we speak to, both on the phone and via Newspolls, new opportunities include increasing retail sales and adding new products, as well as changing how they approach sales. As one respondent put it: “(We want to) improve customer service.” 

For those respondents looking ahead to the challenges they predict 2023 will bring, the biggest seems to be a common refrain we’ve become accustomed to in the past few years: staffing. 

“Finding and hiring the high-quality employees,” wrote one respondent. 

Reimbursement also remains a perennial challenge, say respondents, with the cost of goods rising, while allowables stay stubbornly fixed. While CMS in early December announced fee schedule increases of 6.4% to 9.1%, AAHomecare has stated that’s not enough. 

Meanwhile, providers say they are making the best of things, focusing on motivating employees to do well, increasing efficiencies and simply trying to make more from less, they say. 

“We are serving fewer customers but more efficiently,” wrote one respondent. “We may actually make money in '23.”