Respiratory Solutions

Trip to D.C.: $1,000; Town Hall Meetings: Priceless

• By Wayne Stanfield
• Mar 01, 2009

Some months ago, I attended a local town hall meeting held by my member of the House of Representatives. I arrived a little early to ensure I would have a place to sit for the congressman's brief remarks. As I walked in, I was pleased to see only 11 people in the room. After 20 minutes, he began to speak to an audience of only 16 people.

The small crowd is a common occurrence. Town hall meetings are often the least attended event for a member of Congress. That fact makes the opportunity priceless for HME providers. Town hall meetings represent the perfect opportunity to meet your congressman in a small, accessible atmosphere. As an industry, we need to have relationships with every representative and senator, and these meetings are the perfect place to shake hands, look them in the eye and ask questions about the support we need for our industry. You will often have a long face-to-face opportunity to explain the industry and the concerns we have for the future.

Last month, there were more than 45 town hall meetings in different cities across the nation. One representative from Wisconsin is planning 42 town hall meetings in January, February and March. Although some meetings will be larger than others, most legislators hold these meetings in small towns and cities throughout their districts. The meetings are conducted by powerful leaders, such as Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who recently held four town hall meetings in his district, and freshmen representatives, such as Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va., who held several listening tour meetings in the past two weeks. One thing to remember is that some legislators have many such meetings, and others have none.

The first step to attending a town hall meeting is to find out when the meetings are being held. The National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers (NAIMES) tracks these meetings and notifies state association leaders. You also can go to the representative's or senator's Web site for posted meetings, or call the meeting scheduler.

Once you know the location, make plans to attend. Arrive early and bring talking points. Remember, the key to beginning a relationship is to show up, shake hands, look the person in the eye and express thanks for the meeting. Break the ice by joining the group at the meeting. When your time comes, ask questions. Always ask questions in the open meeting so that others will hear your concerns. Doing so will open up more dialogue and involve more people.

Also, offer information to help explain your point. After the meeting, give the representative your talking points. Make sure you have written a personal note on the paper, highlighted the key points and included a business card.

Lobbying in this way gives you a chance to talk to legislators one-on-one. It is the first step in the process of the representative recognizing you by face and name.

After the meeting, always follow up with a brief letter thanking the legislator for listening and restating your key points. It's a good idea to include another copy of your talking points, which gives the legislator a record of your views and will likely elicit a written response. Create a file for each legislator that you correspond with and keep a copy of all of letters for future reference.

The importance of developing a relationship cannot be overstated. Attending a town hall meeting once won't accomplish your goal; you have to go every time to reinforce your face and name, as well as your concerns and issues.

When attending town hall meetings, remember the following: First and foremost, be polite and courteous. You want the legislator to remember you, but not for the wrong reasons. Second, don't hog the meeting with a load of questions. The meeting is what the name says, and the legislator wants to hear from everyone. Lastly, they are politicians and want support from you. It is important that you thank the legislator for being there and for the good work he or she is doing in your district or state. Offer your support to help get his or her job done. If the legislator accepts your help, it puts you in a position to have better access to voice concerns about your issues.

Attending town hall meetings is a great way to make friends, build relationships and get involved. Grass-roots politics is not a spectator sport. You have to play to change minds and make the needs of the HME industry known. Don't take your ability to affect change lightly. One provider’s voice becomes a dozen, then hundreds and ultimately thousands of providers working to change the industry.

This article originally appeared in the Respiratory Management March 2009 issue of HME Business.