You do play a role! You can succeed!

Getting the Power Point presentations for the HME News Business Summit always makes me feel like a little kid at Christmas.

The presentations started rolling in last week, and let me tell you, they didn't disappoint.

In fact, I think this may be the best Summit yet. I say this every year and every year it's true.

This year's speakers have helped me raise the bar once again.

Below are a few tidbits from two presentations to give you a taste of what you'll hear and see next month:

How important is the role of an HME provider in helping hospitals reduce readmissions or achieve other positive outcomes?

Anyone who has checked out the educational program for the Summit knows that a big theme this year is the drive to better integrate acute and post-acute care.

So do hospitals believe HME providers play an important role in helping them reduce readmissions or achieve other positive outcomes?

After conducting exclusive research, speaker Mike Sperduti found that the majority of hospitals interviewed (60%) said HME providers do play an important role. Only 2% of hospitals said HME providers play no role at all.

Be prepared for Mike to ask you: How many of you have approached discharge planners and case managers to discuss the HME provider's role?

As Mike says, “This is about opportunity.”

Is there such a thing as a “top performer” in a post-competitive bidding landscape?

It turns out there is, as you'll find out from speaker Rick Glass.

In this year's presentation on the Financial Benchmarking Survey, Rick includes a profile of an eight-year-old business faced with large reimbursement cuts as part of Round 1 and Round 2 of competitive bidding. Sound familiar?

The company responded to the losses with a “relentless focus” on improving efficiency and accelerating growth. The key: It made substantial investments in achieving those goals.

The company's revenues were flat at $7 million in 2013 vs. 2012, but it finally saw a payoff in 2014, when revenues increased to $12.5 million and 30% EBITDA.

There's more, of course, but that's all you're going to get from me.

Register for the Summit to get the full picture.