Packer Perspective: How U.S. Rehab Can Help Your Business Succeed

Published in Complex Rehab on February 07, 2020

"Whether you think you can or think you can’t---you are right." Henry Ford

U.S. Rehab continues to work in the industry to help the independent provider of any size stay competitive in the industry. We have set our plan for 2020 and are working towards making the rehab industry, as a whole, one of the top patient-centered industries in health care. How are we going to do that and make each of our 400-plus members successful? We are working in the legislative arena, the outcomes arena, the training arena, and the program-enhancement arena. 

What does that mean to you as a provider, to our manufacturers who partner with U.S. Rehab, and even to those who do not partner with U.S. Rehab? It is an “all-in” mentality that we have. All the work that we do is to help benefit the industry, but it is also to give you an advantage as a member by helping you with the findings and cost-savings that we can identify and help you implement. 

1. Legislative Efforts. We continue to work with NCART, RESNA, NRRTS, and AA Homecare. We have supported the key market interests to make sure they are not overlooked by the D.C. insiders. We worked extensively for the legislation regarding accessories on manual wheelchairs and the separate benefit category for CRT. We will continue to support funding for standing, cushion, and back issues. We continue to see audits as a top priority through our internal teams to make sure you receive the help that you may need. This in itself has become one of our pillars to make our members feel comfortable. We are here to help and be your voice. There will be times when we reach out to you in our emails when action is necessary on a piece of legislation, so be sure to keep an eye out for these alerts. Thank you so much to those who have taken action in the past and for those who will take action in the future.
2. Outcomes. We continue to support the outcomes and value-based health care that is on the horizon in our industry. We still have the only scientifically-proven data collection survey in the rehab market for providers and patients after their stay in a hospital or assisted living is finished. We are still collecting this survey data and currently have over 6,000 pieces of time one data. This data shows that an ATP is a must for involvement in our industry, and that is going to give us the legs to move the separate benefit category legislation. We continue to collect data and publish articles through scholars at universities that are well-known for their CRT knowledge. With these items being published, we will have more success in Washington and more information to make sure we are included in future conversations for sharing in outcomes-based payment systems. We will not see a decrease in our payment, but it is our hope we will see a level playing field due to data analysis and scientific paper interpretation to show how data is driving better outcomes in the CRT arena. 
3. Training. We continue to move forward with ATP and technician training as we have in the past.  We have invested in programs that are finished in order to train your employees at a high level to give you the proper advantage in the future. These programs will help your employees operate at a higher level of efficiency, along with providing certificates for achievement to have a better understanding of who at your company has completed these programs that build up their knowledge and value as an employee. We are having tech training classes all over the country again this year, and we will also be supplementing ATP training in some areas to help promote the continued need for more professionals in the market. We are under way with one of our great providers in developing a pilot, market-based program for a training model. We have worked on this for over three years and it is becoming a much bigger reality than ever before. 
4. Program Enhancement. We have developed many programs in our tool chest and are always enhancing them for the benefit of our membership and their business positions. These programs include education for techs, ATPs, as well and sales and business training. We have the outcomes focus, as well as a program we are continuing to support and develop. We also have some great vendor programs that we would love to give you more information about. We continue to look for new programs, so if you are interested in giving us feedback and ideas, please let us know. We are always open to your input and guidance on what will help you become better and give you more advantages for your business. 

It is my pleasure to serve this membership as the president. I am always working for you and your success, so please let me know if you have ideas that may be important to our future as an industry. I am always ready and willing to listen to any of your ideas for our industry. 

Greg Packer 

President, U.S. Rehab 

Greg.Packer@usrehab.com 

(800) 987-7342