As we approach the end of the year, how have you done on your sales strategy? Did you achieve your individual and company goals? Did you have a plan? Did you stick with it? A lot of questions, but all very valid.
Many HME providers know technology can help their business. What you might be missing is finding new, fast evolving technologies that can boost your revenues, grow your business and improve your stream of referrals. The latest innovations do all this by focusing on improving business efficiency and expanding operations areas that many HMEs struggle with to achieve success.
Why do most HME providers strategic plans fail?
Most of those plans fail. Depending on which study you follow, the statistics range from a dismal 3% of companies whose executives say they are successful at executing their strategies to at best about one out of every three organizations that integrates its plans into its daily operations with high effectiveness.
Why are we so weak on strategic plan execution?
Do we treat our strategic planning like the gym membership that we all get at the beginning of each year to lose weight and get in better shape, only to quit by February?
The best time to begin a strategic planning process is between September and Mid-November. We have a great opportunity as it pertains to a strategic sales plan for our business.
What can be the most advanced technology do to help your business grow?
Here are three things you can do with the latest innovations.
1. Power of Information:
- Information is the best resource available in the healthcare industry. With the right tools, you can harness the power of information and find solutions to the difficult answers that help your business and needs of your patient.
- Executive Dashboard: Provides trending data over an extended period of time whether it’s a few months or an entire year which enables you to adjust your strategic plan.
- Business scorecard: Provides a snapshot of where the business stands at that moment in time, and allows you to adjust your formula and sales strategy.
- Leveraging intuitive dashboards and tracking your metrics against key performance indicators helps you gain the visibility needed to make sound business decisions and identify workflow bottlenecks, in order to increase efficiency moving forward.
2. Ready with Audit
- HME businesses face increasing numbers of pre and post payment audits, which can be very stressful and costly.
- Without a sound strategy and technology platform for maintaining accurate and retrievable documentation, an audit request can disrupt operations and put your organisation at financial risk.
- An advanced software solution should automatically find the correct documents and add them to each claim, as well as send audit responses using the latest esMD protocols.
- Beyond improving efficiency, the right technology can help providers maintain a strong cash flow by resolving audits quickly and accurately.
3. Build Stronger Relationships
- Referrals are the heart of any HME business. It is hard work to establish productive relationships with referral sources and keep them engaged with you long term.
- More and more referral sources are embracing the transmission of electronic referrals through their EHR system.
- In the near future, physicians may opt to only send referrals to providers who are equipped to accept e-Referrals, request e Signatures, and automatically share patient data and outcomes easily.
- HME providers that implement a strong technology platform will be most prepared to succeed in this new interconnected world.
The best run companies have the hardest time growing. Building a process for monitoring your external environment and developing strategies based on that analysis can help position your business for sustainable growth.
