www.greatlakeshomehealth.com/story.php?more_group=92&mo -
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Published on: 1/25/2006
Last Visited: 10/1/2007
If you ever thought one person couldn't make a difference when it comes to HME legislative issues, consider William Deary , and be inspired.
Deary is the CEO of Great Lakes Home Health and Hospice in Jackson, Mich.He is not a mover and shaker in the industry, he says, though he does belong to industry organizations.He doesn't hold any leadership positions in those groups and isn't known on "the Hill."Instead, he focuses on operating his business to ensure that Great Lakes is carrying out is mission: "To provide superior quality health care in the home."
But when Deary heard of the Deficit Reduction Act and a provision in it that required HME providers to transfer ownership of oxygen equipment to the beneficiary after 36 months, he sprang into action.
"The provisions were extremely onerous and not well thought out," he says.He was gravely concerned that beneficiaries, many of them elderly, would be unable to ascertain whether oxygen saturation levels were correct and concentrators were in good working order, thus placing them at risk for complications and, possibly, even death.
So he sought out Rep.
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He explained to me that he had serious concerns about the oxygen cap, and he committed to looking for a legislative fix," Deary says.
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Deary says he found it "well expressed and concise."
"[Rep.
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Deary says.
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He brought [the new bill] back and said, ‘this is going to help our patients,'" says Deary.
The Right Response
If you look at the evolution of Great Lakes from its inception as a home health agency, it's probably not surprising that Deary reacted as he did to the DRA.He's used to responding to patients' needs.
The company started in 1994 when Deary's wife, Chery Lyn, came back to her hometown of Jackson to help with a relative who was ill.
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"If you took a look at our business plan when it was mature, Great Lakes would have 25 employees," says Deary, almost chuckling."We have 450 employees now, both full-time and part-time."
That growth, he says, has "all been market-driven."Great Lakes started out in home health care.Patients who went on to hospice didn't want to lose their nurses, so the company branched out in to hospice care.
"We started providing HME to control expenses on hospice, and doctors familiar with our work saw that they were signing scrips for hospice patients and wanted us to provide equipment for their other patients," Deary says.
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Deary himself has been honored as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and named a finalist for the West Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year award.
"I'm extraordinarily fortunate to share my wife's passion with her," Deary says."She was the one with the passion for patient care.But I didn't like the business model; it didn't make any sense.We've never really operated our company along traditional health care business models."
Deary says Great Lakes operates on a customer service model."Someone from Great Lakes visits with every patient before they leave the hospital so we know their needs.They are trained by the therapist in the hospital with the [equipment] they will use in their home.We've planned accordingly so if someone lives in a manufactured home, we know they will need different equipment."
Such pre-discharge coordination is costly and is not reimbursed.But Deary believes it is necessary and the right thing to do.
"It reduces or significantly eliminates post-hospitalization anxiety," he says, noting that each patient knows who is going to deliver the equipment (and in some cases, even the name of the person) and is also given a business card so they know who to call with any problems or questions.
That practice has been "wildly successful," Deary says, adding that in patient surveys, it has a 98 percent satisfaction rating.
Deary also makes sure that patients' needs dictate what Great Lakes provides.
"We do not sell what we have, we provide what is wanted," he says."That's a paradigm shift in health care.If you just sell what you have, you're not meeting the needs of anyone , the patients, the families, the physicians or the hospital or even your employees.You have to take traditional, sound, well-constructed business models and apply them to health care and meet the patients' needs."
It's all about providing superior quality care, Deary says.
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Deary is not overly concerned about the challenges of Medicare and a volatile health care climate."We have to make the most of the challenges that are tossed to us," he says.
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Even with competitive bidding, tightening reimbursements and the uncertainty of the oxygen cap, Deary thinks Great Lakes will continue to thrive.
"Our unwavering commitment on the part of our staff to achieve our mission of providing superior quality home care is our greatest strength," he says."When you get back in your car or truck and you turn the key, ask yourself: ‘Did I just treat that person the way I would treat my grandmother?If you say ‘yes,' well, thanks, you did a great job.And if you didn't, well, get out and go back and take care of them."
Ultimately, it was that care for patients that prompted Deary to contact Schwarz about the oxygen cap.
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This is bigger than reimbursement," Deary says."It is about patient safety.And we have a responsibility to hold [Congress] to task and correct their error."
Deary says he would seek a legislator's help again if need be.
"We have a responsibility as providers to help patients we have the honor to serve," he says.
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