With your help, we're going to have data coming out of our ears

In addition to getting the June issue out the door, I've been spending this week working with Rick Glass and Tim Pontius to update our HME Financial Benchmark Survey.

If you're an HME provider (hey, you never know who reads blogs), you need to take this survey.

I'm going to be honest: We've noticed that the number of HME providers that take the survey has been dwindling. A few years ago, we had more than 500 respondents. Last year, we had about 200.

This year is our fifth year doing the survey, which is a big deal. When a survey gets into its fifth year and on, you can start to not only analyze that year's data but also compare it to previous years, looking for trends.

We pretty much ask the same questions year after year (that way it's easier to make apple-to-apple comparisons), but we have tweaked the survey a smidge this year, based on responses from previous years. To recognize that more providers are adding sleep and O&P to their product mixes, those are now options that providers can select for questions like "What's your primary business type?" and "Which of the following product lines increased as a percentage of total revenues in the latest fiscal year?"

We've also added two sleep-specific questions for respondents who indicate they're primarily  sleep providers: "Please provide your percentage of net sleep revenues by product line for the latest fiscal year: sales and rental of equipment, sales of supplies" and "Do you outsource sleep services in either of these areas: product fulfillment, and compliance/reorder call?"

Finally, we've added this question to the survey: "In which areas have you downsized due to current or future revenue reductions?" Your options include intake, sales and billing.

Have I asked you to take the survey yet (and get the results, which all respondents receive)? Have I said you have a chance of winning a $200 Visa gift card if you take the survey?

With your help, we're going to have data coming out of our ears. That's good for us. That's even better for you.

That's priceless.

Liz Beaulieu