2020 HME Business Handbook: MSOs
How to Take Advantage of Remote Learning Opportunities Provided by MSOs
Member service organizations such as the VGM Group and MED Group offer a wide variety of learning options for providers to raise their game.
With in-person conferences
canceled though the
summer and fall due to the spread
of coronavirus on a global scale,
remote educational and networking
opportunities have become the
only option for HME providers
to communicate and share best
practices. Luckily, member service
organizations (MSOs) were already
accustomed to serving industry
leaders through virtual webinars,
listservs and other forms of
connection even before the pandemic
altered their ability to convene
hundreds of people in one location.
Throughout the past few months,
MSOs have become a crucial source of
information, holding webinars on the
federal aid landscape for providers as
well as efforts by CMS to relax several
requirements and make it easier to
provide care to Medicare beneficiaries
in their homes. As the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic is expected to
last for years to come, it’s clear that
MSOs will remain a major resource
for providers on how the crisis is
changing all aspects of healthcare.
Beyond relaying updates and
offering educational opportunities,
MSOs provide a virtual gathering
place for HME/DME professionals
looking to quickly purchase critical
items or find personal protective
equipment for their team.
Now that HME employees are
limited to connecting online, there
is no better time to take advantage
of remote education to improve
business practices and respond to an
unprecedented moment.
FORMAL EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES
MSOs, like VGM & Associates,
were already offering a plethora of
webinars for providers to learn more
about billing, reimbursement, sales
strategy, legislative developments
and more. But in the wake of the
pandemic, VGM has hosted even
more online panels and webinars to
educate members about telehealth
regulations, CMS policy changes,
and sales practices during the
COVID-19 crisis. Anywhere from 400
to 1,000 attendees have participated
in each webinar that the group has
offered in recent months.
While webinars were particularly
helpful for providers that could
not afford to send employees to
in-person events, the sessions
offered by MSOs have become
crucial in an environment of rapid
change in home healthcare. Angella
Mattheis, the director of Agnesian
Health Shoppe in Wisconsin, said
that the handouts provided by VGM
after calls on payer policies have
been particularly helpful.
“Even if you can’t be on the call,
I can take these handouts and send
them throughout my system and get
them into the hands of people that
need them,” Mattheis said. “I don’t
have to recreate that wheel because
I’m trying to create policies during
this emergency, and how do you do
all of it at the same time? You ask
VGM to help you, and they always
do.”
In a typical year, members like
Mattheis would have the opportunity
to attend in-person conferences
on a national or regional scale. But
provider associations and MSOs
like VGM have had to call off their
in-person events due to health
concerns. In its place, VGM is reformatting
its annual Heartland conference
into an online series called
Heartland At Home.
While members will miss the fun
and networking opportunities at
Heartland in Iowa, providers can still
access educational webinars on five
different tracks: billing and reimbursement,
rehab, business operations
and leadership, respiratory, and
accessibility. The sessions will take
place over the course of four weeks,
from June 15 to July 10.
Greg Dunn, the director of sales
at Alpine Home Medical Equipment
in Utah, said his company has sent a
group of employees to Heartland for
the past six or seven years.
“We’re very excited this year where
[Heartland] is virtual,” Dunn said.
“We’re going to miss the networking,
but we do feel like we can get more
of our company employees involved
this year.”
ESTABLISHING VIRTUAL CONNECTIONS
Providers are also singing the
praises of MSO Facebook groups
and listservs, which have served as
a major gathering place for HME
leaders looking to buy much-needed
equipment from other providers or
get their questions about payer policies
answered.
Members can sign up to be on
email listservs depending on product
category, allowing providers in that
space to share best practices and ask
for assistance from VGM. If a question
is asked enough times, MSOs
will often develop a webinar with an
expert who can speak to provider
concerns.
The informal communication
network is a major benefit of being
part of an MSO. While Mattheis’
email inbox may be crowded with
messages from providers on the
respiratory listserv, Mattheis remains
subscribed because an idea or question
from another provider makes her
think harder about what she is doing
with her business.
“The pure amount of information
that is shared, and then on top
of it, it is so refreshing to see that
someone will say: I need six ventilators,
does anybody have them? Will
you sell them to me?” Mattheis said.
“And all of a sudden, you’ll get four
or five responses from people who
have them. It makes me feel good
about the industry that I’m in, and it’s
also super knowledgeable and keeps
my compliance level high.”
SHARING PROVIDER STORIES
Beyond the benefits of connecting
more with fellow providers across the
country, joining a MSO and actively
participating in its communication
channels has an added benefit:
providing VGM and other MSOs with
success stories and challenges they
can present to Congressional representatives
and CMS as they advocate
for the HME industry.
Each new member of a MSO gives
those groups a more accurate representation
of the industry that they
can bring into government meetings.
With the coronavirus pushing
more patients to seek home health
solutions, MSOs will play a large
role in showing government officials
how the HME industry has helped
patients stay healthy without visiting
a doctor’s office or hospital.
That’s why Dunn has simple
advice for providers: “Participate.
It’s a large group of providers all
across the country, and we need
more and more DMEs and HMEs to
contribute.”
POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Member service organizations (MSOs) offer
a variety of formal education opportunities,
particularly with webinars on sales, billing,
CMS policies and specific industry sectors like
complex rehab.
- The frequency of webinars has gone up during
the COVID-19 pandemic as providers require
updates on federal funding and relaxed
Medicare requirements.
- Provider members are also taking advantage
of informal communication networks in MSO
Facebook groups and listservs, where HME
leaders are forging connections with other
providers and exchanging ideas as well as
equipment.
- With in-person conferences canceled, MSOs like
VGM are offering virtual webinars and panels so
that HME employees can still learn about topics
like business operations, respiratory and billing.
LEARN MORE
Find more information about MSOs in the industry
by visiting VGM & Associates at vgm.com and The
MED Group at medgroup.com. Specific coronavirus
resources from VGM and its associated communities
can be found at vgm.com/coronavirus
This article originally appeared in the May/Jun 2020 issue of HME Business.