Archive: November 2004

Seminar: Diabetes Supplies - The Game Has Changed Speaker: David Sommerfeld Time: 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Since our company is only an hour drive from Medtrade this year, we plan on taking advantage of the educational seminars with as many of our staff as possible. Our company is very committed to servicing our diabetes customers. We understand how important the paperwork is to receive and keep Medicare reimbursement. Our focus has primarily been meter, strips and lancets, and we need to be aware of...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Doctor's Choice Medical Equipment paid the price last summer for what appears to be a less than stellar job of due diligence. In late July, the company agreed to pay $1.38 million to settle charges that the HME's previous owner fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid. Doctor's Choice is part of Homecare Supply, which began rolling up a large HME company in the 1990s. Praxair acquired Home Care Supply in June for $245 million. “It must make them sick,” said one...

Listed on the right, in no particular order, are the 10 people whose decisions and actions most influence your business - apart, of course, from your own managerial influence. This was no easy list to compile. We conducted dozens of interviews to make our selections. Ultimately, responsibility for these selections belongs to us. You may argue the relative rank of these individuals, but there's no denying that the HME supplier operates in an industry that's remarkably influenced by politics, and by...

Beat the fly-by- nighters with Asela Cuervo Q. Will accreditation stop fraud and abuse? A. Many HME providers support mandatory compliance with quality standards and accreditation, yet there are others for whom these MMA provisions continue to be controversial, largely for reasons having to do with additional costs and administrative burdens. As well, many providers don't believe it will stop all fraud and abuse. While there is a grain of truth to this argument, putting an end to fraud and abuse...

Providers At the Arizona Medical Equipment Suppliers Association (AZMESA), 3rd annual conference in June, the members voted in a new board of directors. Serving AZMESA for 2004-2005: President: Steven Treinen, Banner Health System; Vice President: Mark Farmer, Southwest Mobility; Secretary: Curt McLees, OrthoRehab; Treasurer: Patti Hartzell, Sierra Medical Supply; Past President: Richard McKee, Dependable Health Services Inc. Voted to the board of directors was Maureen Hanna, Healthcare Reimbursement...

If anyone in the home medical equipment industry knows the identity of “Deep Throat”, the inside source that brought down the Nixon White House, it's Larry Higby. Long before he joined Apria as COO in 1997 (he became CEO in 2001), Higby served as H.R. Haldeman's assistant. Haldeman, of course, served as Nixon's chief of staff and eventually served 18 months in prison for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury in the Watergate cover-up. Deep Throat once referred to Higby as a...

SAN FERNANDO, Calif. - Reggie Rodriguez believes he's one of a new breed of home oxygen providers who by investing in technology can handle vast numbers of patients with minimal employees, trucks and other overhead. Rodriguez started his business, O2 Plus, a year ago by investing heavily in Invacare's Venture HomeFill II transfilling oxygen concentrator, which he uses almost exclusively. He now employs just one driver-tech to service about 200 Medicare oxygen/DME patients spread across three large...

RAYMOND, N.H. - Two former HME Excellence Award winners joined forces Sept. 30 when Apria acquired Lifeplus, arguably New England's premier independent provider. In 2002, Lifeplus won the HME Excellence Award for “Best Home Medical Equipment Company.” The nine-location company was a second runner-up in 2003 for “Best Home Respiratory Provider.” Apria won the award for “Best Home Respiratory Provider, 2002” and was first runner-up in that category last year. “Lifeplus...

WATERLOO, Iowa - Although independent respiratory suppliers fervently believe they can ‘beat the pants off' national suppliers any day of the week, they are as likely to admit that the nationals retain their pants when it comes to marketing. VGM aims to change that. At Medtrade, the trade group of 2,500 suppliers unveiled plans for a respiratory group of 250 suppliers, similar to its rehab component, U.S. Rehab. “Respiratory providers have different needs and issues, and we're here to help...

I just read your HME News editorial (Nov. 2004). It appears to me that the 62% that would vote for Bush are totally uninformed HME providers. It will be interesting to see how many of those providers are left after another four years of Bush. [The] Bush [Administration] is not good for the HME industry. It is not good for America on all the issues. Hopefully, those Bush HME providers will read your paper before the election. The 2004 Election article shows how flippant the Bush administration is...