Reporter's notebook: Lieber's list

Because the response to a recent HME Newspoll was so paltry (See “Goal for 2018: 'Make money, not lose it,' March 2018), I called Miriam Lieber to find out what providers could be doing differently with their businesses this year.
Willing to take risks
Lieber, president of Lieber Consulting LLC, says the majority of her client base has experienced some level of success, despite the difficult climate. In the upcoming year, they're looking for ways to stay that way.
“They're scrambling a little bit right now, trying to find new ways to define themselves to ensure that their profitability continues to grow,” she said. “They're looking to expand what they do well, because they know they can't be everything to everybody. If there's an opportunity related to their core competencies, they're exploring it unabashedly. They're unafraid to take risks.”
Developing business
Lieber says her coaching business, which she started just for fun, has kept her “really, really busy,” an indication that providers are making leadership a focal point in the upcoming year in a way that they haven't in the past. Her clients are boosting their corporate culture, and hiring people with higher-level skillsets to focus on payer relations and business development.
“They're realizing if they don't run their business like a business, and don't have good leadership, they're going to wobble,” she said.
Mining technology
Lieber says providers will be mining technology in the upcoming year to find ways to make themselves even more instrumental and relevant to the healthcare process.
“There are more and more software solutions that wed the referral, the patient, the payer and them,” she said. “This helps to make the case, 'There's no way for them to go around us.'”