Pain Points: Get into the mindset

Q. What is the mentality required for a successful entrepreneur entering the HME industry? 

A. Imagine this: An HME facility known by community and clinicians alike as being a reliable source of empathetic support for patients in need of equipment and fostering trust through unwavering integrity and ongoing support. How does a business owner create such a facility? 

Enter the successful HME minded entrepreneur: patient centric, patient and allergic to anything resembling a loophole.  

The personal and intimate nature of HME is tailored for a patient-centric leader, making decisions around the central value of human experience, health and happiness. Successful HME founders push beyond a retail mindset and differentiate themselves by prioritizing patient over profit. 

The path to sustainability in the HME industry gravitates toward compliance education and thrives on keeping the necessary “ear to the ground” during legislative changes – the call for patience.  Rather than seeing compliance, and the strict regulations which must be adhered to, as a hindrance to success, it is seen as a tool to guide and build from.  

With the myriad of opportunities for fraud right around the corner, the successful HME entrepreneur must keep their head on a swivel in the tumultuous sea of legislative and regulatory bureaucracy. Many of those who have started businesses have done so for the very relatable reason of financial stability.  The freedom that comes with that stability is deeply sought after, and thus can be dangerous for an entrepreneur with an attitude misaligned with the necessities of the HME industry. 

The HME facilities that will continue to be sustainable, profitable and respectable are those run by those with this mindset – and will continue to make a daily difference in our industry.  

Price A Wooding, CDME, ADLS, is the owner of DME for Me Consulting and can be reached for questions at pwooding@dmeforme.org.