News providers can use

WATERLOO, Iowa--U.S. Rehab, a division of The VGM Group, has launched a new quarterly newsletter for its members with the motto “Keep it simple, keep it current.” “I think the entire industry needs to read more about what's going on; they just don't have the time,” said Jerry Keiderling, president of U.S. Rehab. “Our goal when we started this was to not only educate them, but also keep it simple.” The inaugural issue of the U.S. Rehab Industry Update was e-mailed and mailed to roughly 400 providers in August. The three- to four-page newsletter covers clinical justifications for rehab equipment, billing and reimbursement updates, technical repair tips and other industry issues, as well as guest articles contributed by vendors and members. Peggy Walker, a U.S. Rehab billing and reimbursement adviser, and Elizabeth Cole, the group's director of clinical rehab services, will also submit regular articles. Staying on top of the latest news and policy updates can be difficult for busy providers, but U.S. Rehab plans to summarize industry issues to give providers news they can use, Cole said. “More and more funding agencies are requiring hard data to justify the need for equipment, so one of my plans is, if there's a journal article that will help the supplier justify the need for something, to do a little abstract on that,” Cole said. The hope is providers will share the newsletter with referral sources, therapists and case managers, Cole said. “We're trying to put a variety of information in there that will help a variety of different people involved in prescribing DME,” Cole said.