Archive: December 2005
Healthy balance of supply, demand keeps market hot
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
YARMOUTH, Maine - Despite recent upheavals in the HME industry, quality businesses remain hot acquisition targets.
"At the end of the day, it's a matter of supply and demand, and that balance still favors sellers," said Braff Group associate Bob Leonard. "In spite of the cuts, good quality companies are still bringing pretty robust valuations."
Established companies with a profitable business mix, growth potential and a clean track record with billing and documentation have an edge in the current...
March continues for NCB bill
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - The HME industry by early December added six legislators to the list of co-signers for H.R. 3559, a bill it believes will lessen the blow of national competitive bidding.
With representatives from Massachusetts and other states on board, there are now 55 co-signers, according to AAHomecare.
AAHomecare, state associations and members groups believe 200 co-signers are needed for Congress to act on the Hobson-Tanner bill.
Supporters recharged their efforts in November. The New York Medical...
Scooter Store bankrolls provider's fight with CMS
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
REDDING, Calif. - The Scooter Store has begun bankrolling a California provider who lacks the cash to continue his high-profile fight with CMS over power wheelchair documentation.
In March 2005, a judge ruled that CMS wrongly demanded Maximum Comfort to repay Medicare $600,000 for not supplying additional documentation beyond CMNs for power wheelchair claims. Two months later, Medicare appealed the decision.
"We were down to the nubs when Medicare appealed the decision," said Tom Lambert, president...
OIG pats itself on the back
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - The OIG in early December reported $35.4 billion in healthcare savings and expected recoveries for fiscal year 2005, more than doubling its performance from the previous year.
The office's activities included the exclusion of 3,806 individuals and entities from the Medicare program for fraud and abuse, including DME providers from numerous states. The OIG, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, made the claims in its semi-annual report to Congress.
Broken down, the $35.4...
Long-shot strategy saves provider
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Hato Rey Medical Supplies avoided a sizeable overpayment recently by successfully using a defense that hardly ever leads a provider to victory.
Palmetto GBA notified Hato Rey of a $131,420 overpayment this summer, charging the provider with supplying medically unnecessary power wheelchairs and accessories to 14 beneficiaries. Hato Rey appealed the decision, asserting the equipment was not only medical necessary but also backed by all the right documentation: CMNs, prescriptions,...
CMS, OMB dicker over particulars
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Word on the street is that CMS won't release its national competitive bidding proposal until some time this month.
The Office of Management and Budget, where the proposal is being reviewed, and CMS are "trying to work through issues," but the industry has "no idea" what those issues are, said Seth Johnson, director of government affairs for Pride Mobility.
"We're hearing it could be a quiet December from a competitive bidding standpoint," he said last month.
The industry has been waiting...
Easing your workload with help from HME manufacturers
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
Q. We want to ramp up our efforts to use order tracking and other Web resources offered by manufacturers that we do business with. However, we need to know what's available. Can you help?
A. There is an incredible array of information and services available. Focus on what you need to do. Most top-tier HME manufacturers offer some or all of the following on their sites:
Online catalog: One of the easiest and most common uses of a Web site is a product catalog. A great catalog will display your pricing...
A&D pumps up retail efforts
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
MILPITAS, Calif. - When it comes to packaging blood pressure monitors, A&D Medical has a new take on what consumers desire, and it's not a box "flowered up with happy smiling faces of doctors and other healthcare providers," said Sarah Schiltz, director of marketing.
"These consumers have either recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure or hypertension or they are poorly controlled," Schiltz said. "They are scared and want to have the package reflect ease of use and accuracy."
The company's...
Show your cards
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
Here's something that should be said and rarely is: The HME industry needs to show its hand--not the whole hand, nothing so blatant as a collective average of its profit margin, but at least a reckoning of basic information.
I'm talking about how many days, on average, a hospital bed is in the field. Or a patient lift? A CPAP? An oxygen concentrator? Whether all or most providers actually track this kind of information or not is another story. But savvy providers do. They know. And this kind of information...
PWC amendment creates confusion
December 31, 2005HME News Staff
YARMOUTH, Maine - A political effort to halt CMS's new rule for power mobility devices hardly enjoys unanimous support within the rehab industry. The reason: It would cause too much confusion, say some industry sources.
The interim final rule (IFR), which went into effect Oct. 25, replaces CMNs with prescriptions and physician notes. It also requires physicians to conduct face-to-face examinations and provide suppliers with documentation within 30 days of exams.
But an amendment supported by Pride...