One of my readers forwarded an announcement to me about NAIMES and Brightree forming a "strategic alliance" (whatever that is) that will "help providers stay informed about industry legislation and help promote advocacy efforts to better the DME community."
The announcement goes on to say: "Under the partnership, Brightree and NAIMES will work together to develop a series of informational programs to help Brightree’s customer base stay informed about various topics, such as competitive bidding, that have a significant impact on the industry."
I'm all for offering new services to customers, but if these "informational programs" have fees associated with them, and if these "informational programs" are offered to providers who aren't clients of Brightree, then I see the potential for conflict.
The state and regional associations already offer informational programs to help all DMEs stay informed about various topics that have a significant impact on the industry. They work hard to do that. I see partnerships like the Brightree/NAIMES one as potentially undermining the associations and draining off resources that these organizations need. Brightree and NAIMES should be working together to encourage Brightree's customers to join the state and regional associations. Investing in them (most of them) is investing in the industry.
I've complained before about businesses and "service organizations" offering their "informational programs" to all who are willing to pay. Even if the Brightree program is free to its customers, the fact is that the advocacy efforts of the state and regional organizations cost money, and implementing programs that compete with them (directly or indirectly) is, in my mind, a bad move.
I'm probably not going to be a member, either, if this is all an organization has to offer.
A good association keeps its members informed. Most do that. They wade through the masses of information they get from multiple sources, sort the needed info from the useless, and send the good nuggets to members.
A good association offers seminars (live, web, and tele) that inform, educate, and are useful to the attendees. I'm not against sales seminars, mind you, but I don't want or need them on a steady basis. Are sales important? Yes. I need a good sales person (or people) to court referral sources. But do I need (or want) sales-related content every month? No.
What I want -- what I need -- is an organization that tells me what's going on with Medicare and what's going on in my state. I need an association that tells me when it's time to be legislatively active (and what to say while I'm being legislatively active). I need an organization that can answer my questions and help me when I need it (or point me in the direction of a person who can help me if my association can't). I need an association that's going to produce events that I can attend for timely information, instruction, and the opportunity talk face-to-face with my peers.
I want a lot, it seems. But many of the state and regional associations that serve the DME industry do all that and more, even though they're under-funded, under-staffed, and under-appreciated.
In most cases, I'm going to trust that the professional running the association I belong to knows what he or she is doing, and is qualified to select good speakers to talk about topics that will have an impact on my business.
I had one person tell me that he didn't belong to the industry association serving his area. He wasn't a non-member because he couldn't afford it, and he didn't choose to not join because the association wasn't a good one. He didn't join because he benefited from the organization's activities without having to pay. They were doing what they were doing without his money anyhow, right? Why pay for what you're going to get free?
My response was to point out that the associations could do more if they had more support (more members means more dues revenue, which means more money to fund efforts). Associations make up for absent dues revenue by producing educational events. Associations support the industry as a whole, not just their clients, and they need "strategic alliances."
I don't often frown at NAIMES, but in this particular case, I must. Though it's nice that Brightree is working on informational programs for its client base, NAIMES would do well to assist the state and regional associations as strongly and as publicly; no one does industry advocacy better or more diligently than they do (in exchange for very little praise and even less recognition).
Professionals vs. Parasites
There are a few cases where industry associations are not run by professionals. Though these few might fancy themselves as qualified to run an industry association because they used to be in the industry or served on the association's board, the fact is that those individuals are rarely successful, which in turn has a negative impact on the organization itself.
Worse yet are associations run by "consultants."
Consultants are people who borrow your watch and tell you what time it is, and then walk off with the watch. (Robert Townsend)
Some consultants are like the bottom half of a double boiler: They get all heated up but don't know what's cooking. (Anonymous)
A consultant is someone who saves his client almost enough to pay his fee. (Anonymous)
Before any consultants reading my blog go postal on me, let me state for the record that there are some good consultants out there. The good ones come in and accomplish what they said they would (which sometimes means that the good consultant must have super-human powers because we can make some big messes of our businesses).
I was at an event and overheard someone grousing about his association and the person running it. He needed some help with a specific issue, and had turned to his association for similar help in the past, so he went to them again. The problem was, he said, that the association was now run by someone else, who seemed more interested in getting him to pay consulting fees than offering him the help he'd always had from his association in the past.
An association should not be a tool used to get clients for the consultant running it; that's parasitical.
If I need a consultant, I'll hire one after careful research of qualifications and experience. But if I'm a member of an association, I've paid for member services, and I'm going to look to the organization for a certain amount of assistance when I need it. Maybe the answer in the scenario I overheard is for the organization to spell out exactly what services a member is entitled to expect, which would avoid misunderstanding.
Or maybe the answer is to have professional staff, which will head off perceived conflicts of interest.
I'm a firm believer in supporting useful associations. I support them by paying dues and by attending the educational sessions they offer because in doing so I contribute to their survival, which in turn helps my business. The relationship between small business and the association to which that small business belongs is symbiotic.
There are several industry conferences coming up in the next few months. Take a look at what your state or regional association is offering and attend, even if you're not a member. Those events offer a more intimate experience than, say, a Medtrade, and in most cases, the sessions presented are tailored to your environment.
We go forward into an uncertain future, but we don't have to go forward alone or uninformed. Form a partnership with your association today.
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