Archive: March 2005

BALTIMORE — Industry leaders breathed a sigh of relief last month when CMS showed resolve in developing quality standards designed to prevent fly-by-night HMEs from participating in the 2007 competitive bidding program. “If we don't have standards, the bottom will fall out,” said Cara Bachenheimer, Invacare's vice president of government relations. “You will have people who are not committed to the business come in and low ball, and that will drive the prices artificially...

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 requires CMS to adopt and implement quality standards that HME providers must comply with if they wish to seek reimbursement from Medicare for DME products and services. Timelines and final requirements are still vague at this time. The standards are only now being developed and won't be ready for public comment until late summer, with adoption targeted for the fall of 2005. CMS then has one year to designate and approve one or more independent accrediting...

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The Inogen One portable concentrator now has its own K code and providers can use it for billing starting April 1. Inogen officials see the new K0671 code designation as a victory for new generation oxygen systems because CMS has validated the company's portable oxygen technology. "This is great news, especially for providers," said CEO Kathy Odell. "Credit should be given to each of the DMERCs and the SADMERC who demonstrated a willingness to evaluate an emerging oxygen...

The cartoon [appearing in the April HME News print issue] is no joke. Take a look at the article on page six in which Rep. Dave Hobson of Ohio “lectures” HME industry boosters for their failure to change the name of the game. Anybody who's lobbied against competitive bidding has likely felt uncomfortable with the nomenclature. Indeed, how can any red-blooded American argue against the notion of competition? It's anathema to our identity as a people. And yet for years, that's exactly...

DUBLIN, Ohio -- The HME industry has fallen short in its efforts to prevent the phrase "competitive bidding" from become a fixture in the vocabulary of Washington lawmakers, according to industry supporter Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio. "Hobson has lectured us on that," said Kam Yuricich, executive director of the Ohio Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers. "Even in his efforts to educate his colleagues on that issue, we are already at a disadvantage when you start the conversation with 'competitive...

I'm very pleased to announce a brand new conference, the HME Business Summit, presented by HME News. This event is unlike anything else in the HME industry. Developed by HME News as an outgrowth of our State of the Industry White Paper, the Summit will organize and present data in an entirely new way and show you how to use that data to increase your profits. The HME Business Summit will take place in Chicago, September 11-13. Registration is limited and we've allowed plenty of time for networking,...

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Joking that he's "not retired, just tired," former MED Group president David Miller is doing anything but sitting in a rocking chair after 34 years at MED. If things go according to plan, MED's second largest stockholder will be the next mayor of Lubbock in 2006 . "I've tossed my hat in the ring," he said about the non-partisan mayoral election for the town of about 200,000. Miller also is busy developing Spirit Ranch, a Christian retreat for men on a several hundred-acre plot near...

ROCHESTER, N.H. -- Talk about a captive audience for your marketing efforts. In addition to TV and print advertising, Lakeside Mobility & Scooter now displays its services and products on a poster-size billboard attached to the inside of handicapped restroom stalls. "They can't go anyplace for one, two or three minutes so we figured it was the perfect place for us to advertise," said Bernie Hamann, who owns Lakeside Mobility. "We've been in stores and shopping malls and people have come up and...

WATERLOO, Iowa — The VGM Group takes exception to a recent report by industry consultant Wallace Weeks that predicts national HMEs will eventually control 75% of the market. “That is a flip flop of today and isn't supported by the facts,” said VGM CFO Mike Mallaro When it comes to home medical equipment, Weeks neglected to address two critical factors, Mallaro said. First, HME isn't like other industries and doesn't reap the same economies of scale. Larger providers may be able...

LOS ANGELES — In its “opening salvo” to step up prosecution of healthcare fraud in southern California, the U.S. attorney's office here has accused Pacific Care Medical Supply of bilking Medicare out of $2.4 million over the past five years, much of it in phony power chair claims. Since the new unit formed in February, it has grown to four full-time attorneys. The unit's head, Assistant U.S. Attorney Consuelo Woodhead, said she hopes to eventually have six attorneys working full...