In times like these...

The global economy has been a disaster for the last 8 months, with far too many stories and too much coverage about the trials and tribulations of the domestic economy, and enough hair-brained theses about the cause to make your head spin. One idea that has gained some traction is the idea that healthcare is insulated from the overall slowdown and immune to the overall macro-economic conditions.

There is ample evidence to shoot holes in this theorem but I think it most simple to think about it this way; with waves of job losses already reverberating through the system many people tied into the employer based system are without their healthcare insurance. Many more people have seen their plans shift to high deductible/high co-payment plans over the last five years, thus conditions they would be treated for in normal economic circumstances get put-off as they conserve money, look to outperform at work, and generally tolerate your everyday bumps, bruises and maladies. It’s not an intellectual stretch to assume (and hospitals have presented data on this) that individuals are in the mind-set of postponing anything which could be thought of as a “discretionary” healthcare purchase.

The trickle down to that is there are less patients discharging for us to take care of. But much more damaging to our case have been two recently enacted federal policies; one a 9.5% reimbursement cut to five product categories and another capping the reimbursement for oxygen patients after 36 months of services. Our responsibility to service patients does not end after 36 months; rather we are now expected to provide these services for free. Services such as; 24x7 emergency coverage, clinical guidance, etc $0.

My MasterCard commercial for this; “One night in the emergency room $4,000, oxygen services after 36 months $0, short-sighted health policy, Priceless.”

So what do we, Cape Medical Supply, do to combat all these cuts, changes, and modifications? We look inside to aggressively root out waste and work as hard as we possibly can to provide the highest level of service and care possible. It is precisely times like these when people who provide SERVICE have the amazing opportunity to demonstrate huge differentiation between themselves and their competitors.

We continue to believe these legislative issues are not the way forward for our healthcare system – but we don’t sit and pout about it…we see opportunities today to expand upon the same message we have been delivering for over 32 years – we provide better service. As other providers cut service levels to patients, we stand at the ready to work with them and their healthcare professionals, to provide the highest levels of service and care possible.

We are service providers…part of the service we deliver includes the exchange of equipment – but the essence of who we are is tied up in the service we provide, the sense of urgency we display, and our ability to go above and beyond, day in and day out.

So, in uncertain times like these, when there are few things, even institutions, you can depend on, Cape Medical Supply stands at the ready to provide the highest levels of service and care possible. We think it’s more important than ever to do so and we take great pride in doing so.

Last week we launched a new website, in two weeks we will open a new location, in three weeks we find out if we have won the “Best Home Medical Equipment Company” award, a national award for excellence…the pace of activity here is high, the energy is incredible, and the dedication to excellence is something we all take great pride in. I grant that these are challenging times, very much so, but I submit that it is precisely these challenging times that allow the best of the best to prove themselves…we look forward to doing so; one delivery, one service call, and one person at a time.