Archive: August 2005
Rotech bolsters its clinical oversight
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Rotech Healthcare has reshuffled the company's clinical oversight. Last month, the company promoted Greg Spratt to chief clinical officer last month. Spratt will be responsible for oversight of all aspects of Rotech's clinical programs, including the operation of PulmoDose Pharmacy and Sleep Central. Spratt has been with Rotech for 18 years and most recently served as the company's national clinical director. The company has hired Nick Macmillan to fill that position. Macmillan has...
DMERCs miss key PWC policy deadline, what now?
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON -- Debate within CMS and the DMERCs over new rules governing wheelchair utilization could delay Medicare's effort to implement new wheelchair codes, allowables and documentation requirements on Jan. 1, 2005.
The key word here is could. On Aug. 1, the DMERCs were scheduled to issue a draft local coverage determination for power and manual wheelchairs. The LCD covers all facets of Medicare's policy for mobility assistive equipment (POVs, manual and power wheelchairs) -- coding, coverage...
I-Flow signs 10 new managed care contracts
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. -- I-Flow announced in July that its subsidiary, InfuSystem, a provider of ambulatory infusion management services, had signed 10 new managed care contracts. The contracts represent more than 10 million lives nationally. InfuSystem's services enable oncologists to manage the delivery of chemotherapy for patients while monitoring their progress without the need for the patient to stay in a hospital setting.
CMS readies new wheelchair allowables
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON -- CMS is scheduled to release allowables for Medicare's 49 new wheelchair codes in mid October or, at the latest, November. The codes are scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2006. Before CMS releases the allowables, AAHomecare plans to issue a report that suggests ways to change how CMS calculates new fees, a methodology called gap filing, which often underprices products. Once the study comes out, AAH will present it to legislators and CMS officials. "CMS has acknowledged that there...
Apria settles whistleblower suit
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
LAKE FOREST, Calif. -- Apria avoided a potential $9 billion penalty when it agreed to a preliminary agreement last month to pay the U.S. government $17.6 million to settle two whistleblower lawsuits. The settlement, together with legal fees and other related costs, will total $20 million, the company stated in a release. That's much less -- to say the least -- than the $9 billion extrapolated penalty, based on 300 claims, the feds said the company could be liable for in 2001. Under the settlement,...
Salida brings in big guns for profit
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
SALIDA, Colo. -- Paintball guns next to concentrators and walkers may not make the most sense, or even appeal to the same demographic, but for Salida Medical & Respiratory it has been a match made in retail heaven.
Salida Medical, a full service HME with an extensive showroom in Colorado, has been making more room for its booming paintball product line.
"Everyone comes in and says 'We don't understand why you have paintball if you are a medical store, and I joke that we are creating the injury...
New O2 reg excites providers
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON -- After years of waiting, HME suppliers are excited about a recent ruling by the Federal Aviation Administration that paves the way for respiratory patients to travel onboard commercial airlines with portable oxygen concentrators.
"We've been following this ruling for a while, and we're very excited about it," said Jill Spellman, president of Oxygen One in Waukesha, Wis., and a registered respiratory therapist. "We've been waiting for it. We have to and want to embrace this ruling."
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WHB designs private label breast form
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
CYPRESS, Texas -- Unhappy with other breast forms on the market, Women's Health Boutique founder Vicki Jones put her art and design background to the test and developed a new breast prosthesis available now through the franchise's private label.
The final product, Silicone Lite, is a moldable, natural-looking non-custom prosthesis that is lightweight and more adaptable for its wearers, Jones said.
"My goal was to design a prosthesis that was moldable enough that the bra would change the shape of...
Scooter Store sees promise in 2Q sales
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas -- After years of FBI investigations, lawsuits and slumping sales, the Scooter Store found one reason to celebrate in mid-July -- a 19% increase in second quarter business over the first quarter.
That increase translated into more than 11,500 power wheelchair sales during the those three months, and a 50% increase in private pay business over the first quarter, according to the New Braunfels' newspaper, the Herald-Zeitung, on July 15.
Part of the increase can be attributed to...
Invacare cuts jobs and costs
August 31, 2005HME News Staff
ELYRIA, Ohio -- Invacare laid off 36 people at corporate headquarters last month, the first wave of a series that will push 230 Invacare employees from the ranks as the company barges ahead with new cost-cutting measures. The initial round of layoffs included Susan Elder, a 10-year veteran of the company's marketing team.
In addition to the layoffs and a shift in its freight policy for customers, Invacare plans to shave $9 million in costs over the second half of the year by manufacturing more in...