AAH looks to reshape HME’s brand

WASHINGTON – A clear frontrunner for one of AAHomecare’s top strategic priorities for the next few years is elevating the HME industry’s brand and value proposition, says President and CEO Tom Ryan. 

Following a survey in May and an in-person meeting in Milwaukee in July, the association and its board of directors have narrowed down 14 possible strategic priorities to three. 

“We’re really working on branding and being more patient focused as we address policy changes,” Ryan said. “What are our audiences beyond the HME industry and how do we tell them who we are and what we do in the health care ecosystem?” 

To support this priority, AAHomecare recently promoted Ashley Plauche to senior director of brand marketing, and assembled an ad hoc committee comprised of communications and marketing professionals from leading HME companies. 

The other top priorities in the mix are increasing education and resources, and amplifying payer relations. Here, too, AAHomecare has already made some investments: It recently promoted Tilly Gambill to senior director of education, marketing and events; and earlier this year, it added Alexis Ward as senior director of payer relations. 

“It is our obligation to educate and elevate our members, helping them run their businesses more effectively and efficiently,” said Josh Marx, chairman of AAHomecare’s board and CEO of Medical Service Company, “and we must get more proactively engaged with all non-governmental payers (and TPA-types), so we’re viewed as the subject matter experts on DMEPOS – nobody else.” 

AAHomecare leadership will meet again in Milwaukee in October to hear from the members of the subgroups working on the three priorities to determine where it should make further investments. 

“By that time, the subgroups will have had the opportunity to have follow-up calls to put together more KPIs and more specific goals, and they will present to the board,” Ryan said. “The goal is that we keep this a good strategic document that we can work on for the next two to three years.”