Advocacy: Get off the sidelines

Q. How can manufacturers and HME providers team up to support home care advocacy?  

A. Advocacy only works when everyone shows up – including you. If you’re a home care provider and you stay silent while reimbursement cuts are coming, you can’t be surprised when margins shrink, customers lose access and your business suffers. 

In short: You get what you give. As a care provider, you have a responsibility to keep your customers informed about real issues that could affect their health and independence. 

The good news is, tools are already out there. National groups create advocacy briefs, action alerts and fact sheets to explain what’s at stake. Manufacturers can layer on product photos and real-world examples – a hospital bed in a home, a mobility device in action – so customers understand exactly what’s on the line. Suddenly, it’s not just a legislative concern; it’s a neighbor’s independence or a family’s peace of mind. 

Here’s where HME providers come in: You’re the direct line to the customer. So, if you’re not translating industry advocacy points into Plain English (when our policy wonks fail to do so) and sharing those examples with your patients, you’re missing the chance to mobilize the very people who lawmakers are willing to listen to. 

The message doesn’t need to be complicated: “Medicare wants to change how this is covered. That could mean fewer choices and higher costs for you, in just a few months. Here’s how you can help stop that, right now.” 

From there, make it easy. Share a short link, ask them to repost a video from your social page, or provide a simple email for them to send. When you share real-life examples in compelling terms, with very few hurdles for viewers to join in, the more action you’ll see. 

Bottom line: Home care advocacy is not a spectator-on-the-sidelines sport. When manufacturers, dealers and policy experts all push in the same direction to mobilize our community, consumers get vocal, legislators pay attention, and the industry stands a chance at holding its ground. 

Lisa Wells is the founder of Naturally Able, Inc., a consumer healthcare marketing consultancy. Contact Lisa @ linkedin.com/in/lisanaturallyable.