With Round 2 of Competitive Bidding looming and audits continuing at a rapid pace, HME companies are feverishly looking for ways to diversify and improve efficiencies. Not one single measure is enough – it is time to examine every department in the organization to look for excess. Even if you are focused on Competitive Bidding preparation, to have the lowest bid possible it is incumbent on you to hone in on your operation and make your bottom line as attractive/bid worthy as possible. Here are some of the ways HME companies nationwide are working to enhance efficiencies:

Automation – From document imaging to Point of Delivery (POD), GPS, efaxing, automated attendant supply calls, automated private pay outsourcing, and more, it is critical to choose a task that costs you an inordinate amount of time and weigh the costs of performing the function manually against an automation initiative to eliminate or significantly reduce the time it takes to produce the same results. In fact, in many cases, the cost of automation allows you to not only solve the problem today but it enables you to grow without adding costs and resources in the future. Allow a learning curve where it is warranted and set goals to achieve desired results. Pick one or two automation initiatives and budget accordingly so you can manage and track outcomes. To start, after you determine the most manual and costly processes, poll your staff on possible automation options/choices. To assuage the staff’s fear and vulnerability that an automation initiative will mean they are no longer needed, reassure them that their jobs are not in jeopardy and weigh their input when making the ultimate decision. After all, it is staff that utilizes the automation and the more they buy in, the more likely you will achieve positive results.

Accountability – Knowing you need staff to buy in, one of the best ways to know if staff is truly on board is by measuring their productivity. This is done by establishing concrete and measurable goals and grading staff’s achievements. Set a high, medium and low benchmark and measure against it. For example, if after examining your denials you realize you are butting up against timely filing deadlines, set goals to avoid losing money unnecessarily by adding a project to work on denied claims well in advance of timely filing limitations. First determine how many denials need to be worked and by when. Then determine how long it takes, on average, to work each denial. From there, assign staff a specific number of denials to work and require staff to document their actions. Check their work (via random audit) to be certain they are thoroughly working each denial and determine their achievements by checking for cash collected on their work. Set high, medium, and low achievement levels and begin grading them. You will soon learn who your high achievers are as opposed to your poor performers. Posting the results instills healthy competition.

Attempt to shore up your operation by dissecting the manual processes followed by your staff throughout the operational flow. Observe and examine details used to accomplish goals, looking for manual tasks and functions that are too time consuming and/or too costly. Automate those functions to enhance efficiencies but use the right staff. Accountability and goals will quickly distinguish your strong employees from those needing improvement. Always quantify the results by comparing costs today against the results of your changes. Stake out your corner of the market by ensuring your operation runs profitably. Wherever the changes take the HME industry, you will be positioned for your next move.