VGM & Associates Sales Brochure

DISCOVER THE VALUE OF VGM

BE PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER

Part of Something Bigger

VGM was founded on the premise that personal connections create growth and opportunity. Today, our relationships and entrepreneurial spirit continue to allow us to add services, resources, and programs to help your business operate more efficiently now and in the future. We simplify your everyday, so you can focus on providing the care and service your patients and customers deserve.

We’ve structured our member communities so that you can belong to one or more based on your specific business within the markets you serve. Our most successful members take full advantage of the opportunities that are at their fingertips as part of the VGM community. It’s kind of like a gym membership. If you don’t use it, you can’t capitalize on the results you are investing in. From peer-to-peer networking, expert business consulting, educational webinars, and business resource libraries to vendor partner promotions and a vehicle for your voice to be heard in government relations, we’ve got you covered.

When you’re part of VGM, you are Part of Something Bigger. You are with real people who understand what you do and connect you to custom solutions that help your unique business grow. Membership with one or more communities gives you and your business access to:

Value-Added Network With Innovative Products and Solutions

VGM’s team anticipates future needs of its members and figures out a way to offer that product or service internally or through a vendor partner. From manufacturers to patients, VGM connects those with products or services to those who need them. As a VGM member, you have the opportunity to get great deals on products and services you or your business can use. We are dedicated to connecting you with our wide variety of vendor partners who can offer solutions for all of your business needs.

Expertise to Guide the Way

The experts leading our communities truly care. They maintain professional credentials, so they know where the industry is headed and how to get there.

Key Growth Opportunities and Leads

In today’s constantly changing environment, we must work smarter. VGM industry leaders know our members’ markets inside and out, including trends, outlook, and opportunities for adjacent business expansion.

Exclusive Access to Members-Only Portal

One of the many benefits of being a VGM member is having exclusive access to resources you need to help your business succeed, including information on our participating vendor partners, events, webinars, peer-to-peer discussion boards, podcasts, forms, documents, exclusive content, and our quarterly playbooks.

We are all happy to have and welcome you to VGM—where you are Part of Something Bigger.

Our Communities

HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

Established in 1986, VGM & Associates is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive member service organization for post-acute care. Today, our membership includes nearly 80% of HME providers throughout the United States. With a combined 150 years of DMEPOS experience and regional “know how,” VGM provides each member with a dedicated account manager. From navigating VGM’s labyrinth of services and membership communities to understanding the national and regional industry landscape, your account manager’s top priority is seeing your business succeed.

www.vgm.com

RESPIRATORY

We’ve organized respiratory DME into several programs, each with its own full line of offerings, such as business resources, profitability calculators, billing tips, policies and procedures, and much more to ensure members succeed no matter what equipment they provide. Our programs include:

• Oxygen equipment

• Sleep therapy

• Noninvasive and invasive ventilation equipment

• Trach supplies

• Nebulizers/airway clearance

• Pediatric services

www.vgm.com/respiratory

COMPLEX REHAB

U.S. Rehab is a membership network of complex rehab providers. Our membership encompasses more than 1,300 rehab locations that provide quality, custom-fit complex rehab equipment. As a member service organization, our mission is to foster lasting relationships that help our members and vendor partners build alliances for strong business. We strive to assist our complex rehab partners with services that allow them to operate more efficiently and increase profitability.

www.usrehab.com

Ted Metcalf

Tyler Mahncke

Boone Lockard

ORTHOTICS AND PROSTHETICS

HOME MODIFICATIONS

The Orthotic and Prosthetic Group of America (OPGA) works to advance the orthotic and prosthetic profession—and help you advance within it. OPGA is the largest community of O&P practices and supplier partners in the nation.

Representing nearly 1,300 locations, OPGA offers services and programs that help each member operate more efficiently and increase profitability.

www.opga.com

WOMEN’S HEALTH

Essentially Women is a community for providers catering to mastectomy, compression, mother/baby, and women’s health. We foster lasting relationships that help our more than 750 members and vendor partners build alliances and strong business. And we provide the resources members need to lower costs, maximize revenue, operate more efficiently, and expand business operations.

Essentially Women also offers Lily, a program focused on supporting mothers and babies. Lily is a program that offers products, services, and solutions to help you support women in all stages of motherhood. Everything from pregnancy to new mom and beyond.

www.essentiallywomen.com

The VGM Live at Home community helps certified accessible home modification providers and contractors transform homes for independent, safe living.

VGM Live at Home’s mission is to build a best-in-class membership group that will help provide seniors and mobility-impaired individuals across the country with safe homes, giving them the independence and quality of life they deserve.

www.vgmliveathome.com

WOUND CARE

VGM Wound Care—it’s more than skin deep. With VGM Wound Care, you will have the resources to offer your patients to aid in their skin health and wound care regardless of the area of wound care you are in. VGM Wound Care will assist you in the areas of negative pressure wound therapy, support surfaces, nutritional products, compression therapy, wound care dressings, ostomy, and diabetic supplies. A wound care manual, an online resource center, dedicated experts, education, reimbursement guidance, and a turnkey solution for your business are perks of the VGM Wound Care program.

www.vgm.com/woundcare

Emily Harken

Heather Trumm

Jim Greatorex

Wound Care

Nikki Jensen

Emily Harken

Adam Miller

Denise Doyle

The Value of Belonging

$2,150

It’s not easy to put a price tag on the true value of a VGM membership. As a VGM member, you gain access to a marketplace that’s designed to make it easy for you to run your business—not only day to day but with strategic planning for the future.

We continually invest in experts who understand and have years of experience in the HME, complex rehab, women’s health, orthotics and prosthetics, and home modifications industries, among other emerging industries. They are dedicated to researching and understanding market dynamics to give YOU a competitive advantage and help you exceed profitability goals and service levels for patients and their families.

Because we don’t line item every service, feature, or expert you utilize, or even every peer connection you make within our network (which we know first-hand can be invaluable), there isn’t a monthly number calculated that proves the true impact of membership on your business and employees. However, illustrated above is a conservative example of what a single-community member might access in an average month of membership. As you can see, on average, VGM members are realizing over eight times the value of the actual membership dues they are paying. Of course, this only multiplies if you are a member of more than one community. Joining and staying part of VGM is a no-brainer for your business, especially as it grows and the industry changes.

Sleep Services Program

OUTREACH EARLY AND OFTEN

The VGM Sleep Services Program is the industry leading virtual set-up and PAP Compliance Program. Each patient is assigned a patient care coordinator to manage their therapy journey. Patients also have access to a patient portal. This simplifies the entire patient-engagement process, including communication, management of educational materials, and coaching. The result is a program that can help your business save money, better manage patients, and increase its compliance rate. That means healthier patients and happier referral sources.

John Carter Boone Lockard

Billing, Audit, and Compliance Consulting

The experts at VGM are dedicated to ensuring you get to focus on doing what you do best—caring for your clients. Our reimbursement services are designed to help you avoid the unexpected so you can keep growing your business.

BILLING AND REIMBURSEMENT

Resident reimbursement experts work to ensure you get paid correctly and on time. The reimbursement team helps VGM members review the coverage criteria and documentation requirements for your industry that may turn up in audits. Members have access to our team of experts who have a vast knowledge of the industry, policies and procedures about billing, reimbursement, documentation, and more.

AUDIT AND COMPLIANCE

The team of consultants at The van Halem Group offers a full array of reactive and proactive reimbursement and HIPAA compliance support solutions that protect your business from unnecessary and unexpected scrutiny. They’ll help you navigate the complex regulatory issues related to submitting claims, responding to audits, and filing appeals while avoiding violations of federal and state laws, as well as other payer policies and requirements. They also assist with provider enrollment issues and PDAC coding. www.vanhalemgroup.com

Wayne van Halem

Kit Shellhouse

Kelly Grahovac

Dan Fedor Ronda Buhrmester Contact for CRT Contact for HME

Training, Development, and Networking

In the healthcare industry, information comes in fast—and change is a constant. Belonging to VGM enables you to stay up to date on the latest industry trends and best practices, access experts, and network with your peers.

WHERE COMMUNITY MEETS OPPORTUNITY IN THE HEARTLAND

We believe we create opportunities for ourselves and others when we come together. That’s why each of our membership communities hosts its own educational and networking events with special peer-to-peer groups throughout the year. But nothing exemplifies this concept more than our annual Heartland Conference. This event brings members, vendors, and industry experts together in VGM’s hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, for educational sessions where you can earn CEUs, as well as a host of networking events so you can learn from your peers. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience you can’t afford to miss.

www.vgmheartland.com

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

VGM is ever-present at all industry events and state association meetings, and even takes experts on the road so all members can take advantage of education and networking opportunities. Examples of other opportunities include, but are certainly not limited to:

• Power and Manual Wheelchair Tech Training (U.S. Rehab)

• Reimbursement Master Program (U.S. Rehab)

• Seating and Mobility Master Program (U.S. Rehab)

• Assistive Technology Training Program (ATTP) (U.S. Rehab)

• Billing & Reimbursement Seminars (U.S. Rehab and VGM)

• Building Opportunities Summit (VGM Live at Home)

• Building Opportunities Field Tech Summit (VGM Live at Home)

• Certified Environmental Access Consultant (C.E.A.C.) (VGM Live at Home)

• Master Certified Environmental Access Consultant (C.E.A.C.) Certification (VGM Live at Home)

• Home Safety Assessment Consultant (HSAC) (VGM Live at Home)

• ABC and BOC Mastectomy Training (Essentially Women)

Members also gain access to extensive resource libraries, FAQ documents, business documents, playbooks, power lunch round tables, workshops, member-only networking events, and a host of webinars.

www.vgm.com/events

Legislative and Regulatory Influence

VGM GOVERNMENT RELATIONS CHAMPIONING CHANGE IN THE DMEPOS INDUSTRY

VGM Government Relations is here to be the Champion of Change for the DMEPOS industry. Our team stays up to date on everything happening in DMEPOS legislation, so we can be your first and only stop for information. We help educate members on how to navigate the legislative landscape. We advocate to make sure that everyone’s voices get heard in the industry. And we make sure everyone is well informed on industry rules and regulations. Find out everything that VGM Government Relations can do for you at www.vgmgov.com.

People for Quality Care (PFQC) is an advocacy organization working to ensure patients have access to the quality home medical equipment and services they need. Our goal is to educate and engage patients who are impacted by poor healthcare policies and their caregivers. We share their stories with policymakers, and we advocate for the legislation and regulations that help elevate their quality of life. Visit the People for Quality Care Facebook Page.

VGM also provides a referral service for patients traveling or relocating. Freedom Link is here to locate HME providers to assist patients with all of their medical equipment traveling needs. Free up your time by referring your patients to us to get the medical equipment they need during travel. Our staff connects patients to VGM members throughout the country. www.vgm.com/services/patient-travel • 866-693-3012

John Gallagher Mike Isaacson

Kim Cuce

Ronda Buhrmester Craig Douglas

Miranda Gerdes

VGM FORBIN IT SERVICES

You got into business to help enhance the lives of your customers and clients, not to deal with IT hang ups and cybersecurity issues. That’s where we come in. VGM Forbin offers four pillars of IT services to cover all your IT needs.

Managed Service

Augment your IT staff with personalized support, maintenance, and ongoing support focused on keeping your team productive and operations running smoothly. Don’t wait for something to break in order to fix it—prevent IT issues from ever happening with Managed IT.

Risk Assessment and Compliance

VGM Forbin performs in-depth risk assessments in accordance with HIPAA, SOC, PCI, and other industry standards such as WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Once the assessment is complete, we can ensure you comply with industry standards and maintain that compliance.

Disaster Recovery

What if the worst happens? You won’t have to worry about downtime, losing records, or a negative impact on your bottom line when trouble comes your way. VGM Forbin’s risk assessments are also a great tool to determine a disaster recovery plan that fits your business’s specific needs.

Remote Work Solutions

The best companies communicate better than anyone else. We help you set up internal and external channels to level up your communication, productivity, and collaboration. With the Microsoft 365 Suite through VGM Forbin, you get access to shared Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Microsoft Teams messenger, Outlook email, and more!

www.forbin.com/it-services

Capture more of your market or break into a new one with data and marketing services available from VGM

DATA AND LEAD GENERATION

VGM Market Data provides members exclusive access to the largest and most comprehensive DME claims database in the country, helping you maximize referral sources and identify new growth opportunities.

Their new data visualization tool combines data analysis and sales enablement into a single map, accessible anywhere via desktop, mobile, or tablet.

Upgraded features allow you to:

• Find and value potential new markets by product volume

• Gain laser-like market intelligence on high volume physicians by product

• Quantify your market potential with state- or county-based market share analysis

• Analyze commercial reimbursement rates to find valuable contract negotiating opportunities

www.vgmmarketdata.com • 844-236-4022

MARKETING SERVICES

VGM’s Off the Shelf (OTS) print marketing program delivers a costeffective way to promote your products and services with highquality, professionally designed print pieces. With a wide range of guides, handbooks, flyers, and inserts to choose from, OTS offers customizable marketing solutions at special member prices.

Visit www.vgm.com/services/ots/ to learn more.

VGM Forbin takes a holistic approach to helping your online presence. As the web and tech division of VGM, we develop comprehensive digital marketing campaigns that direct potential customers to an excellent website experience. Our digital marketing services—social media, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, and reputation management—are relentlessly focused on increasing loyalty and building new business. The websites we build not only drive business goals but also have the tools to improve your business efficiency with product orders, form submissions, and more. With extensive experience in the healthcare industry, we make sure that all healthcare websites meet HIPAA and WCAG compliance. To put it simply, we make it easier for you to attract and manage leads so you can do more of what you love: helping your customers.

www.forbin.com

Strategic Imaging is a one-stop shop for all your marketing needs. Strategic Imaging is dedicated to relevant marketing through personalized direct mail. Let Strategic Imaging help you get a better response rate with their topquality variable data and variable image printing. They combine years of printing expertise and state-of-the-art digital imaging with data management and programming specialists for target marketing and direct mail campaigns. In addition to your printed materials, Strategic Imaging also proudly offers custom branding products. They feature an exclusive online catalog of apparel and promotional items to help you with every aspect of your marketing and brand identity.

Two Rivers Marketing is a fully integrated B2B marketing agency. Their breadth of experience and the depth of integrated marketing services they offer give them more insight. They get up to speed quickly, because they’ve been there before. As a global B2B marketing agency, they have a head start on solving your most perplexing branding, content, or channel marketing challenges — giving you the most immediate return on your B2B marketing investment.

www.tworiversmarketing.com

www.strategic-imaging.com

INSURANCE, BONDS, AND RISK MANAGEMENT

VGM INSURANCE

VGM Insurance has been a recognized leader for over 30 years in providing liability insurance and bond solutions to post-acute healthcare providers nationwide. Our full-line coverages are specifically designed for your unique business needs, and we offer the most competitive rates in the industry.

Our team of experts also works with you to help proactively manage your risk, and our in-house claims team and legal counsel are available to support, guide, and defend you in the event of a claim.

www.vgminsurance.com

FULFILLMENT

ORDER FULFILLMENT SERVICES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR BOTTOM LINE

A reliable order fulfillment partner should be the silent, yet critical, catalyst to the success of your CPAP machine and CPAP resupply business. As your partner, VGM Fulfillment is responsible for the key operations of order fulfillment: picking, packing, shipping, and inventory management. With a network of four fulfillment centers, nearly 3,000 SKUs in stock, and over six million packages sent each year, most packages reach their destination within three business days.

We focus and excel on our core competencies while you execute excellence in yours – taking care of patients.

www.vgmfulfillment.com

Preferred choice of over 1,400 providers

Servicing all

50 states

PAYER NETWORK ACCESS

HOMELINK connects you to more than 2,000 payers nationwide. Whether you’re an HME, DME, O&P, dental, hearing, transportation, therapy, or home health provider, HOMELINK has a payer network to help gain access to more referrals and grow your business.

By joining the HOMELINK network, you gain access to referrals from HOMELINK’s primary referral sources:

• Physicians’ offices

• Hospital discharge planners

• Insurance case managers and other providers

• And the patient

HOMELINK can also help you retain referrals for out-of-network patients

by converting them to in-network opportunities.

www.vgmhomelink.com

EDUCATION & CONSULTANTS

CEUS, COMPLIANCE SOLUTIONS, AND VIRTUAL CONNECTIONS

When you choose VGM Education, you’re investing in a complete educational experience. Serving the home medical equipment (HME), long-term care, and home health industries, we offer over 1,000 online courses where you can earn CEUs and easily track and assign learning. We also offer virtual

convention hosting, custom coursework for your team, anti-infection medication tracking solutions, and more! Check out www.vgmeducation.com for more information.