BARBOURSVILLE, W.V. – As I reflect on 2019 and start planning for 2020, I cannot help but think; “Why do I bother planning?” CMS, MCOs, and all other insurance companies make planning a futile effort.
My thoughts then shifted to; “How as an industry can we be much more effective with our lobbying?”
I know we are all super busy, but with the return of bidding we should all be very concerned. Then it hit me and I wondered why we had not done it sooner—TWITTER!
The whole political world lives and breathes in the Twitter sphere, including our President, Seema Verma, and CMS/HHS have their own Twitter page. A handful of us already use it to express our views to Seema Verma and CMS. Providers like Larry Hoye of OK, Tyler Riddle of GA, Gary Sheehan of MA, and Jason Jones of AL to name a few.
I think we need a catchy #hashtag and we need to figure out how to “Trend” or go “Viral” on Twitter. We need to always tag our members of Congress on every post. I am bipartisan mad at all of them over the bids and audits, so I think we need to make sure they all hear about it. They always say when we visit them they are never hearing any issues, so let’s make sure they hear them.
Just this week, Seema Verma wanted tax payers to reimburse her for stolen jewelry and $325 moisturizer. Really? All this while we cannot get paid for life sustaining oxygen at a fair rate. I appreciate the work of VGM and AAHomecare, but they cannot do it alone without all of us getting engaged.
The politicians love their Twitter, and it only takes minutes out of your day to post something. We all have tons of stories to tell, so why aren’t we telling them? This is a free way with minimal time invested. We need everyone to help with this battle.
The 2020 GOAL #1 for HME providers should be to post on Twitter daily. Perhaps Gary Sheehan will be our Twitter Guru and come up with a good hashtag and tell us how to trend and go viral. So let’s get Tweeting!
Regina Gillispie, RRT, is CEO and owner of Best Home Medical, Barboursville and Nitro, West Virginia.
