In brief: Allegro's 1 millionth sale, NASDAQ targets Lincare

MESA, Ariz. - Allegro Medical has shipped its 1 millionth order, the online provider announced last week. It took Allegro Medical 13 years to reach the milestone. The provider offers everything from latex gloves to wheelchairs at www.allegromedical.com.



Fastrack sweetens the pot 

PLAINVIEW, N.Y. -- Fastrack has a new incentive to help convince providers to convert to its Internet-based software product for HME, respiratory, home infusion pharmacies and home healthcare agencies. The Fastrack Convert to Purchase program allows a provider to start out on the Fastrack Hosted Solution, which offers integrated billing, operational and clinical software. At anytime, the customer can bring the system in-house if they find that method meets their needs better. If the client decides to do that, they will receive a substantial discount on the purchase price, Fastrack President Spencer Kay state in a release last week.



Need a hand with appeals?

FORT LAUDERDALE - The "Medicare Claims Appeals Process Handbook" by Lester Perling, a healthcare attorney with Broad and Cassel, became available March 12. The handbook explains what providers can and can't do, the timeframe for pursuing appeals, where to send information and how to proceed at every level of the process. FMI: Call 1-800-638-8437.



CMS gets social

BALTIMORE - CMS now uses the following social media outlets to get information out: LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/CMSGov), YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/CMSHHSGov) and Twitter (handle: @CMSGov). "CMS continues to break new ground to enhance our Medicare fee-for-service outreach efforts," the agency stated in a release last week.



NASDAQ to Lincare: You're next in line

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The NASDAQ announced last week that Lincare will be one of eight new companies whose securities will be featured in its Q-50 IndexSM. The index tracks the performance of the 50 securities that are next in line to replace the securities currently included in the NASDAQ-100 Index(R).



Lawsuit names National Seating and Mobility

BOSTON - The family of Jeffrey Thompson has filed a lawsuit that seeks $10 million in damages from National Seating & Mobility (NSM), the Associated Press reported last week. The lawsuit claims that NSM's technicians failed to take the 29-year-old quadriplegic out of his wheelchair and disconnect its battery before repairing it, causing him to get pinned under a table when it malfunctioned abruptly and "jumped." Thompson suffered a broken leg, went into "uncontrollable seizures" and died the next day. An NSM spokesman told the AP it would not comment on pending litigation. He did point out, however, that technicians must be RESNA certified and pass a test to work for the provider.