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HOMECARE CHAMP Kam Yuricich on building relationships

Published in HME State Associations on June 28, 2023

This interview was originally featured in HME News

HME NEWS: When AAHomecare named you this year’s Homecare Champion, the association cited your work securing relief for providers in Ohio and Indiana through funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, among other accomplishments. What’s the secret to your success?

Kam Yuricich: I can say, wholeheartedly, that my biggest takeaway from years of doing this is the importance of relationship building. It’s rapport with government officials as trusted, reliable partners in building a strong HME benefit that has them listening to what we have to say, increasing credibility for our industry. A huge hurdle we have as a health care provider in the continuum of care is that we represent 1% or 2% of the overall spend, so you lean on those relationships to get attention and affect positive change in a very busy world.

HME: What are some of the bigger successes you’ve played a part in from your perspective?

Yuricich: I’m super proud of obtaining those ARPA funds for providers in Ohio and Indiana. The opportunity was there through the act, but we had to step up and fight for it. Our OAMES president testified; I testified. It took a long time and incredible persistence to earn that financial relief for our members. While the effort focused on ARPA funds, it was bigger than that. It was planting a flag that HME providers are a critical sector in health care delivery. I’m also super proud of how, in the early days of Medicare’s competitive bidding program and what felt like the height of the fraud and abuse stories, we stepped forward in Ohio to get licensure for HME providers. We wanted to establish consumer protections and professional business practices, in response. We wanted to be able to say, “Here’s what we did, as an industry, to take responsibility.” That proactive approach gained recognition and accountability.

HME: What was your reaction to being named Homecare Champion?

Yuricich: It’s a huge honor but, more so, incredibly humbling, because it’s never just one person that achieves anything. It’s a lot of teamwork. It’s a lot of great leadership by our providers and by my fellow counterparts at state/regional associations. We inspire each other and pick each other up, all so we can keep the needle moving. And we do it because we believe in home care.

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