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Archive: June 2007


News

Adorno tries new approach

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - With a new sales-driven business model in its back pocket, Adorno Rogers Technology grew from six to nine locations in May, and it has no plans to stop there. Since late last summer, Adorno has gradually phased out a clinically-driven business model that revolved around staffing its locations with therapists. Now it hires whoever's "the best person for the job," whether he's an ATP, ATS or CRTS, said COO Scott Higley. "It's common sense," said Higley, who left Pride Mobility's...

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Wheels of fortune?

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

Steve Meginniss is an inventor, not a sorcerer, but he may need to conjure up a little magic if he expects the HME industry to fall under the spell of his new $5,000 product, Magic Wheels. In what appears to be one of the most noteworthy innovations to manual wheelchair wheels in a long time, Meginniss has developed an attractive, two-speed wheel that can fit just about any manual wheelchair. (Last fall, Magic Wheels won the Innovation Award at Medtrade.) When in 1:1 ratio, Magic Wheels operate like...

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Strange bedfellows? Think again

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

Day in and day out, ResMed and Respironics fight like crazy for a bigger share of the sleep market. But when it comes to growing that market, the two manufacturers have teamed up. In September 2004, the competitors hired a public relations firm to orchestrate a non-branded campaign aimed at building public awareness of sleep disordered breathing. The results have been impressive: 403 print and online stories, 340 television broadcasts and 642 radio stories. Combined, those stories reached millions...

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Human touch boosts patient compliance

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

By helping to inject the "human element" into the treatment of patients with sleep disordered breathing, providers can tremendously impact how successful the market ultimately becomes, say industry watchers. That human element includes actively promoting the value of CPAPs to physicians, educating the public on the seriousness of obstructive sleep apnea and diligently following up with patients to ensure compliance with their therapies. Bryan Hansel, CEO of Adel, Iowa-based Evo Medical believes that...

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Wheels of fortune?

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

Steve Meginniss is an inventor, not a sorcerer, but he may need to conjure up a little magic if he expects the HME industry to fall under the spell of his new $5,000 product, Magic Wheels. In what appears to be one of the most noteworthy innovations to manual wheelchair wheels in a long time, Meginniss has developed an attractive, two-speed wheel that can fit just about any manual wheelchair. (Last fall, Magic Wheels won the Innovation Award at Medtrade.) When in 1:1 ratio, Magic Wheels operate like...

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Now that's a switch

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

HAMPTON, Va. - Pivoting off the success of its delivery business, Hymark-Cylinders has devised a new exchange program that switches out used cylinders for new ones, bypassing the refurbishment process that has long been common in the oxygen market. Thus far, providers have given the program two thumbs up, say company officials. "It is routine for aluminum cylinders to be hydrostatically tested every five years to make sure they meet the standards before they can be refilled," said Jason Franklin,...

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Fraud and abuse 'pinning us down'

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

WASHINGTON - The big Medicare fraud bust in Miami this spring couldn't have come at a worse time. As the industry fights to scale back competitive bidding, reverse the 36-month cap on oxygen reimbursement and tackle other regulatory and legislative initiatives, "the fraud issue is pinning us down," said one well-placed industry watcher. "It's the No. 1 issue that keeps us from being able to--so far--prevail on the advocacy part of our job," added Jim Walsh, general counsel for The VGM Group. "We...

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Industry eyes hospice with renewed interest

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

Providers of home medical equipment have long looked to managed care companies as a way to decrease their dependency on Medicare, but a small group of providers has quietly taken refuge in another payer: hospice agencies. Most providers shy away from working with hospice agencies, because it means accepting, on average, about one-third of Medicare's reimbursement. Providers who have found ways to make it work, however, report significant growth in the market, especially in the last few years. "When...

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Southern Home: What's the attraction?

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

The phone at Southern Home Medical Equipment, a new HME roll-up, has been ringing off the hook. More than 50 providers seeking an exit strategy have "express(ed) a strong interest in joining the Southern Home team," the company stated in a recent release. So why do so many independents no longer want to go it alone? Here's what Greg Tucker, Southern Home's president and CEO, had to say when HME News caught up with him. HME News: What is it about Southern Home that's generating so much interest? Greg...

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Lawsuit: Stop NCB

June 30, 2007HME News Staff

DALLAS - A group of Medicare beneficiaries and HME providers, with financial help from The VGM Group, filed a lawsuit in a Dallas U.S. District Court June 12 seeking to stop national competitive bidding. "I feel like one, if we don't do it, who will; and two, we're willing and able," said Mike Mallaro, president of VGM's Last Chance for Patient Choice, a nonprofit that lobbies for industry interests. VGM plans to help beneficiaries and providers in Cleveland file a similar lawsuit. Dallas and Cleveland...

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