Issue: Saint Francis Medical Center’s Home Medical Equipment had struggled with its durable medical equipment (DME) provider for years, leaving a gap in customer service that was difficult to fill. The department working under a subcontractor relationship with a large national DME company to provide home medical equipment to Saint Francis patients and were concerned that the patients was not receiving the best equipment or support possible from this subcontractor. The decision had been made to transition patients to equipment from a local independent provider that vowed excellent service – meaning patients would need to have all new oxygen equipment installed in their homes by the local provider and the old equipment picked up by the national provider. Communication of this transition was likely going to be confusing to patients, involve highly detailed conversations regarding equipment and billing, and was politically sensitive in the community.
Strategy: Develop a strategic crisis management plan before, during and after the transition. Talking points and communications are created to guide leaders in severing relationships with the current provider, help customer service reps explain the transition to clients, convey details to referring physicians and discharge planners, and customize messages to internal and external audiences.
Results: Employees and leaders were well prepared to answer difficult questions about the impact to current and future patients. Over the course of four weeks, 448 home oxygen patients were transitioned to the new provider with no breaks in service and no major communications issues.
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