Looking ahead.Resolutions for HME Success

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

A new year is the perfect time to compare your business plans for the past year against your actual performance. If your performance fell short, don’t fret. This is also a great time to design your business plans for the upcoming year, making the appropriate changes to help you meet your goals.

Did you meet your 2017 goals?

Evaluate. Plan. Grow.

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What are the New Year’s resolutions for your business?

Leading HME providers build best practices into their business plans each year. They cross the finish line successfully because they measure, evaluate and adjust continuously. And, they plan to grow!

Whether you met your business goals in 2017 or not, this eBook is intended for HME providers who want to set the stage for a stellar new year. We highlight some of the best business practices that leaders in the HME industry are using to move from

break-even to high-growth. Don’t run in place on a treadmill this next year … move forward with new plans and better execution.

Leverage innovative solutions to improve your internal processes and the efficiency of your operations so that you can run a profitable and cash-healthy operation in 2018.

11 Get Serious about Expanding Your Business2 Leverage Technology to Delegate3 Empower Your Employees with Tools

for Success

4 Don’t Make Do... Get a New Fax5 Build Value Every Day6 Lead in Referrals

Here are six best practices to help you reach your New Year’s goals:

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Want to grow your business in 2018? Use analytics to drive forward!

GET SERIOUS ABOUT EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS

— A.J. Filippis, Owner and CEO, Wright & Filippis

“ It was critical for us to find a strategic partner who not only listens to our market’s specific needs but also continuously invests in their solutions. Prior to Brightree, we were using multiple systems to access patient information. With Brightree, we have a proven, scalable and integrated platform that takes care of our billing, business management and regulatory needs, ultimately freeing up our staff’s time to focus on better serving our patients so that we can continue to expand our business.”

Do you know which of your products have the highest profit margins? This year, make it your business not only to project, but measure your actual profit by product. A fully-integrated billing software tracks and measures the effects of changing reimbursements on your products, without the need for spreadsheets or costly consultants. You can identify a problem with a specific product line the minute it dips, and use your sales data to instantly calculate gross and net profit for all payors or selected payors – giving you the opportunity to adjust your sales strategy.

Investing in a best-in-class software platform, like Brightree, provides you with an executive dashboard and a business scorecard that will allow you to leverage intuitive data and track your metrics against key performance indicators (KPIs). With these tools you can make sound decisions, identify workflow bottlenecks, and move forward more efficiently.

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2Want to grow your business in 2018? Automate your resupply!

LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY TO DELEGATEDo you spend too much time on manual, day-to-day business processes? You’re not alone. It’s tough to carve out the time and resources to do things that will really move your business ahead, like handling your resupply department. Resupply has traditionally consisted of many manual processes. Many HMEs simply don’t have the time and resources to focus on time-consuming areas, like resupply, that often don’t feel like profitable pursuits. But, the truth is, it’s too important to ignore.

If you didn’t meet your goals last year, make resupply management a New Year’s resolution. Transform your manual resupply “have to’s” into an automated money-maker. Brightree® ConnectPRO™ is revolutionizing the way HMEs manage resupply. The ConnectPRO program is comprised of the perfect combination of technology, cost-effective outsourcing services, and the industry’s first resupply-focused data warehouse. Brightree’s resupply program can improve your business efficiency and profitability by achieving a higher percentage of contacts. It replaces your old processes and manual resupply efforts consisting of smiling and dialing, emailing and texting one patient at a time.

ConnectPRO is designed to better support patients once they are in their resupply program. It’s a game-changer for your resupply business because it helps you:

Manage patient compliance Retain more patients in your resupply program Increase resupply revenue per order Engage and educate patients on health benefits of resupply

“ ConnectPRO handles the burden of resupply management so that we can do what we do best: focus on our patient’s care.”

— James Crim, Medical Services of America

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Deliver better patient care andgrow your resupply business.

TECHNOLOGY■ Automated Patient

Contact Technology■ IntelligentQ Engine■ Multi-modal Patient

Engagement

PEOPLE ■ Patient Management & Optimization

■ Outsourced Call Center■ Order Intake & Processing■ Patient Pay Integration

DATA■ Trending & Industry

Benchmarking■ Reporting & Analytics

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3Want to grow your business in 2018? Set your employees up to win!

EMPOWER YOUR EMPLOYEES WITH TOOLS FOR YOUR SUCCESSHow can you maximize your employees’ contributions to the achievement of your company goals? And, drive high-quality patient care in a cost-effective manner? Successful HME providers have learned that the company’s business plan must include a way to attract and retain the best talent, and to empower employees to work smarter, not harder. Make sure your plan for 2018 includes the right technology, tools and training in your work environment to develop efficient employees.

The knowledge and skills of your HME staff directly affects the quality of patient care you provide from your business. As a provider, it is up to you to equip your staff with the most advanced technology and tools so they excel at their jobs.

In addition, it is critical for HME providers and their employees to know of any and all ongoing changes facing the healthcare system. Brightree University offers HME providers comprehensive employee education in a focused-classroom environment, onsite training at your facility, as well as consulting in best practices to maximize your team’s knowledge and efficiency. You can elevate the competency of your staff by having them learn from Brightree’s team of consultants.

“ Brightree has been a value add to our company. Easy and thorough step by step training for new hires, inventory management, on demand features and reporting. I have used many other programs and systems out in the marketplace today but Brightree has been the BEST and most user-friendly system available.”

— Dallas Duhon, Owner, Patient Care Medical Supply Inc.

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“ I just got my first Brightree electronic fax CMN back. I’m so excited! The clarity was great and the turn-around was less than 12 hours. I LOVE IT!”

4Want to grow your business in 2018? Upgrade with electronic fax!

DON’T MAKE DO... GET A NEW FAXTired of that old facsimile machine? How much did you spend in toner and paper last year? What about the time you spent sending and receiving faxes? Ever lose a transmission? Your business may receive hundreds of referrals, respond to many audits, and make countless requests for documentation. If you’re still doing this by manual fax, there’s a good chance you’ve already lost referral sources that now require interconnectivity from their providers.

Don’t make do: get a new fax! Make your New Year’s resolution to finally upgrade your manual fax to an electronic fax. You can regain lost hours and make your process more efficient with Brightree Electronic Fax. This digital solution features paperless fax transmission, saving your agency time, money and space. Integrated with Brightree’s Document Management solution, electronic faxes can be attached to the patient record for easy storage of documents in the patient record, which makes responding to audit requests easier.

Brightree’s Electronic Fax allows you to:

Receive, send and manage faxes Customize and assign work status to incoming faxes for your

intake workflow Easily locate and filter any fax Provide automation or manual assignments to fit your workflow Make notes, assign, index, and file … all right from your

inbound fax worklist! Audit history for both inbound and outbound faxes Interface with MyForms and Document Management to store

faxes and trigger workflows Work in one system … no separate app needed!

— Sarah Cotner, Vice President, Moore’s Home Health

5Want to grow your business in 2018? Focus on the patient experience!

BUILD VALUE EVERY DAYDo you know how to improve patient outcomes this year? One of the most important measurements for success in the new age of value-based healthcare is the patient experience. The majority of health systems have already embraced value-based care. It is more imperative now than ever before to build real value into your business plan starting with the improvements you can make to each and every patient experience. This leads to more favorable patient outcomes, which directly affects your bottom line, while creating loyalty with your patients and your referral sources.

Here are some ways you can provide an exemplary experience for your patients: Eliminate manual/wasteful processesAs part of your business strategy, determine what activities deliver the most value to your patients and have the greatest impact on your finances. Some of the most common areas of focus to explore are bottlenecks, inventory, patient wait time for delivery, and staff workload.

Many successful HME providers rely on Brightree’s business management platform to optimize workflows and deliver meaningful metrics to track and measure the actual time spent on each step. Results are readily available within Brightree to quickly identify areas for improvement, prioritize work and allow you to become more efficient.

Meet the needs of your patients fasterWith Brightree’s ePurchasing, your organization can leverage technology to become even more efficient and cost-effective by ordering supplies within Brightree directly from leading vendors and performing direct-to-patient shipping. This not only reduces shipping costs, but it reduces overall inventory carrying costs.

Another way to meet your patients’ needs faster is to implement a Mobile Delivery Management solution. Mobile delivery helps you eliminate excessive paperwork, multiple spreadsheets, and sticky notes that can delay deliveries and potentially compromise patient data. It also helps to efficiently manage your drivers so you can maximize productivity in the field.

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— Dewayne Hutchinson, Owner, ProCare Respiratory & Home Medical

“ I was looking for a partner interested in growing with me and with the HME industry, a partner that stays abreast of the constant challenges of billing HME, and a company whose owners and employees have direct experience in the industry. I found all of that in Brightree.”

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“With Brightree’s continuing investments in technology and R&D, we have a partner we can grow with. The relationship of trust

we’ve built with Brightree is helping to ‘future-proof’ our business, so we can close the loop on interoperability and stay engaged with

other healthcare platforms, and continue to take care of our patients’ needs.”— Patty Mastandrea, COO,

Medcare Equipment Company

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Want to grow your business in 2018? Serve referral sources electronically!

LEAD IN REFERRALSDid you lose any referral sources last year? Do you know how much it costs you to replace a referral source? Do you know how to develop new referral sources and what they expect from an HME provider today? Studies demonstrate that critical patient information for referrals and transitions are often missing, which distresses patients and creates problems for you with your referral sources. Seamless interconnectivity is not just needed to eliminate these upfront issues it’s required by most referral sources working in the healthcare industry today. Recent studies also tell us that referral sources are more likely to switch to HME providers who use technology coupled with modern processes.

The right technology partner will help you automate your referral process and overcome last year’s impediments in interconnectivity.

Brightree’s electronic referral management solution uses the latest interoperability standards to allow you to receive electronic referrals directly from the EHR/EMR systems used by your referral sources. This electronic exchange of critical patient data provides your organization with time sensitive referral information, improving both your efficiency and accuracy, without interrupting the clinician’s existing workflow. More importantly, moving from manual to electronic referrals enables your organization to participate in the interoperable exchange of data that the modern healthcare delivery network now expects and demands.

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Whether your business is struggling, or you’re experiencing substantial growth, there is no better time than the New Year to revisit your business plan. As an HME provider in the post-acute healthcare industry, you play an important role in helping fellow Americans overcome and manage their health problems. There are a lot of moving parts to positively affect wellness in each and every patient served.

The New Year is the perfect time to build a new plan that ensures your success in 2018. Don’t settle for the same old, same old. Overcome this year’s obstacles and think bright! Partner with Brightree! Over 2,200 organizations rely on Brightree to help them focus on the things that matter most to their business. Our robust cloud-based business management software and integrated solutions provide everything you need to generate new cash flows, share data seamlessly with your referral sources, dramatically streamline operations and improve profitability. Leverage innovative solutions to run a profitable and cash-healthy HME in 2018. Partner with Brightree, and make 2018 your brightest year yet!

Do you want to improve upon your 2017 performance? Are you ready to grow?

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Make 2018 Brighter with Brightree.

Visit us at www.brightree.comor call 1.888.598.7797

to set up your personal demonstration today!

For more information or to request a demo, please visit www.brightree.com/consult or call us at 1.888.598.7797.

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