Archive: January 2007

WASHINGTON - Leaders in the embattled neb-med industry were pleasantly surprised by the latest average sales price figures, which will remain stable for the first quarter of 2007. "I'm happy to hear they had some stability for a change," said Tom Ryan, CEO of Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Homecare Concepts. "This 4% and 5% up and down every quarter was a little bit difficult." Xopenex jumped 9 cents a dose to $3.48 and DuoNeb dropped 3 cents to $1.05. Albuterol barely budged, from 15 to 16 cents. "The...

TAMPA, Fla. - A group of 35 home medical equipment providers in and around Tampa, Fla., have created a network to take advantage of their combined buying power and other economies of scale. Med Trust Tampa Bay is a direct but separate offshoot of Med Trust Corp. of South Florida, which formed in Miami early last year. Approximately 90 HME providers belong to the Miami organization, said Javier Talamo, who spearheaded that group. Like VGM and MED Group--the Coke and Pepsi of HME member-service organizations--Med...

DAVENPORT, Iowa - Genesis Home Medical Equipment's presence spread into Illinois last month, when the company opened a location on the lower level of a physician's office that's adjacent to the Genesis Medical Center-Illini campus. The new Silvis, Ill., location is the company's third. Genesis, an affiliate of Genesis Health Systems, has two locations in Iowa--one in another medical center and one that neighbors a grocery store. "We serve parts of both Iowa and Illinois and, even though there are...

Q. I am a Medicare provider, and I just received a notice of overpayment for claims that have already been paid. What does this mean, and what can I do to prevent CMS from withholding my future payments? A. When you get an overpayment letter, you need to know your rights and act quickly. Overpayments often happen when CMS conducts a post-payment audit and decides that some originally paid claims were not medically necessary. Absent any action by the provider, CMS could recoup payment, and this is...

CLEVELAND - The Riverside Co. acquired Phoenix Medical Resources, a company that rents respiratory equipment to nursing homes, it announced Dec. 21. Earlier in 2006, Riverside, a leveraged buyout firm, acquired and restructured RCS Management, which also rents respiratory equipment to nursing homes. "RCS has continued to perform well and adding a successful company like Phoenix Medical makes it an even stronger enterprise with greater geographic reach and additional customers," said Loren Schlachet,...

WASHINGTON - CMS initiated a national coverage review Dec. 20 on the use of levalbuterol in the treatment of COPD. The move will delay any possible reimbursement cuts to nebulizer medications for at least the first half of 2007. The industry held its collective breath for most of 2006, waiting for a final decision on reimbursement for brand-name drugs Xopenex and DuoNeb at generic rates. Reimbursement for those drugs will now be delayed until CMS releases its national coverage review. "For this...

Lafayette, La. - Carmichael's Infusion Therapy & Medical Equipment has acquired Breath of Life, a home health and oxygen company, the companies announced in December. Breath of Life's operations will move to Carmichael's Lafayette office and Ken Whipp, owner of Breath of Life, will stay on with the company. Carmichael's now has four full-time respiratory therapists. Whipp said the move would allow him to "get back to the clinical side of things." Carmichael's also has locations in Lake Charles and...

Wheelchair suppliers are divided over whether CMS should require ATP evaluations for Medicare beneficiaries in need of certain power wheelchairs. According to the January HME NewsPoll (313 respondents), those who oppose the initiative (55%) said the requirement will present access problems, disqualify too many capable veteran suppliers and ramp up costs in a sector already hard hit by reimbursement reductions. Those in favor (43%) say the initiative is the right thing to do for patients, solves crippling...

BELLE VERNON, Pa. - Beginning April 1, 2008, the rehab industry's going to need a lot more Chris Chovans. That's when CMS will require that an ATP evaluate beneficiaries for certain power mobility devices. It's not quite that clear-cut, though: The ATP can't work for manufacturers or providers, and he must specialize in wheelchair evaluations. Chovan works for himself--he owns Rehab Mobility Specialists in Belle Vernon, Pa.--and he's an OT/ATP whose bread and butter is evaluating patients for wheelchairs. But...

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. - Two regional distributors of support surfaces, specialty beds and bariatric products agreed to merge Dec. 26 to give themselves a national footprint. Currently, the Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based RecoverCare operates in the Northeast and Midwest, while the Tampa, Fla.-based Sten-Barr Medical serves the Southeast and Texas. After they merge, the companies will provide products and service to hospitals, nursing homes and homecare patients nationwide through Sten-Barr's dealer network. The...