Archive: July 2004

YARMOUTH - While a number of legislative and regulatory changes are jockeying for HME industry attention, respondents to last month's HME News Poll say nothing will sink the industry faster than national competitive bidding. “The first round of competitive bidding is only the tip of the iceberg, and we all remember what happened to the Titanic!” said Leah Kennedy of Houston, Texas. Competitive bidding dominated the concerns of 44% of 121 respondents who said it should rise to the top...

YARMOUTH, Maine - Trepidation over upcoming cuts to Medicare reimbursement fanned the DME industry's mergers and acquisition activity into a red hot flame through the first six months of 2004, at least in some quarters. “The first six months have probably been the most active six months we've ever had in both size and number of deals,” said Bruce Burns, president of Affinity Ventures in Albuquerque, N.M. On the East Coast, M&A expert Rick Glass, said he brokered more deals through the...

Connectyx & Fastrack team up to fight denial PALM CITY, Fla. - A technology company that makes software to help HME suppliers manage claims denials has signed a marketing alliance with Fastrack Healthcare Systems. Fastrack will offer Connectyx Technologies MRN Manager as an added value service to its customer base. MRN Manager is now completing beta tests with five HME s, and physician groups and will be available to companies in the HME market within the next month. Sunrise grows by 20% LONGMONT,...

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Dr. William C. Dement, a heavyweight in the field of sleep medicine, parted the ropes and stepped into the ring May 8 when he wrote to CMS to support Dr. Terry Davidson's request that CMS open the doors to home-based testing. If the sleep industry has one bonafide marquee name, it's Dement. Long known as the ‘father of sleep medicine' for his pioneering work in the field, the National Sleep Foundation awarded Dement its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. In its...

WESTCHESTER, Ill. - Nearly 1,000 deaths annually could be avoided if drivers suffering from obstructive sleep apnea were treated with CPAP, according to the authors of an article published in the May issue of the journal Sleep. The study reports that OSA-related car crashes cost the country $15.9 billion in 2000. If 70% of those drivers had been compliant with their CPAP therapy - at a cost of $3.18 billion annually - the study's authors conclude that Americans would save $11 billion. The study...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - In what looks like a gigantic legal victory for the HME industry, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled in late June that CMS and the DMERCs can't require a provider to furnish documentation beyond the CMN to prove medical necessity. In his ruling, Judge Lawrence Karlton stated: “While Congress granted the Secretary broad discretion over medical necessity and billing criteria and procedures, it did not do the same regarding medical necessity...

JACKSON, Tenn. - On April 17, in the small, dusty town of Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, enemy insurgents ambushed Army Specialist Greg Allen's convoy. “They were on roof tops and in alleys and firing from windows,” said Allen, 34, who returned home May 27 and back to work at Lincare June 21. “I'm sure I was scared, but you just react.” Prior to being activated on Feb. 10, 2003, the Army reservist supervised drivers and warehouse staff at Lincare's Jackson location, where he's worked...

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Call it the year of the palm pilot. The multi-functional hand-held device, which has recently made waves as the lynch-pin of a popular new oximetry testing program and as a script pad for physicians, is popping up with yet another HME industry application - this time as a compliance monitor for nebulizer medication treatment. In late June, Medical Industries America agreed to start making a new nebulizer that will be electronically compatible with the PC Neb 500, a palm device...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Although located thousands of miles away, Enrique Toro's rehab business almost went down with the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. “After the New York tragedy, I hit the bottom of the barrel in terms of funding,” said Toro, president of KTG. “My funding sources dried up, and to maintain my overhead and employees, I decided to do what I did before, which was retail.” Thanks to his pumped up retail efforts - he began distributing private label...

WASHINGTON - Clinicians, the industry and many in disability groups urged CMS in June to consider revising wheelchair coverage requirements they say “tie their hands” when trying to treat beneficiaries. The contentious “in the home” and “bed or chair confined” requirements for power wheelchair coverage took center stage during a four-hour special open door forum on CMS's effort to revise the clinical coverage criteria for power wheelchairs and scooters. “The...