Archive: January 2008

PHOENIX - There are a bunch of people in Phoenix singing the praises of the John C. Lincoln Better Breathers support group and with good reason. For the past few years, the hospital has used "harmonica therapy" to help patients with COPD and other lung diseases improve their overall health. "It's a supplement to other things: medication compliance, seeing a pulmonologist, a little bit of exercise, things like that," said Mike Clark, who works at the hospital as a registered respiratory therapist....

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Dr. Robert Hoover returned to Cigna Government Services as Jurisdiction C medical director last month, just about two and a half years after he left that position to become Sunrise Medical's senior vice president of global clinical services. "It's an opportunity to come back with a fairly large body of knowledge about how the industry works, and to be able to educate CMS and my medical director colleagues on some of the issues plaguing the medical equipment suppliers out there,"...

It's too soon to say whether CMS's decision to recommend at-home sleep testing will dampen buyers' enthusiasm for sleep labs, say analysts. "You don't want to invest heavily in technology and then have the technology go home," said Bob Leonard, a broker with Pittsburgh-based The Braff Group. "That adds a little uncertainty to the people doing roll ups of sleep labs." Still, interest in sleep is warming up, and at-home sleep testing could benefit CPAP providers, said Bruce Burns, president of Affinity...

LONDON - Clinical trial results show Glaxo's Advair has an edge over Pfizer's Spiriva in treating patients with COPD, Reuters reported Dec. 28. A two-year study of 1,300 patients found both drugs had a similar impact on rate of exacerbations, but patients treated with Advair gained a significant improvement in health status and greater survival benefit than those on Spiriva, according to Glaxo. Results of the first head-to-head study of the two drugs were published in the American Journal of Respiratory...

Not even a fatality kept eight amputees from skydiving Nov. 10 as part of the first Airborne Amputee Skydiving Event hosted by the Amputee and Prosthetic Center in Houston. Thirty amputees signed up for the event, but 22 cancelled after hearing about a death at Skydive Spaceland on the eve of the jump. "They wanted to send a strong message," said Joe Sansone, CEO of the center, which provides artificial limbs to amputees from six locations in Houston. "Life isn't over. Amputees can be just as active." More...

PITTSBURGH - Bayer Diabetes Care issued a recall for certain lots of test strips for exclusive use with the Contour TS Blood Glucose Meter. The strips could skew blood glucose readings and produce test results that are 5% to 17% too high. The recalled strips have lot numbers that begin with WK followed by the characters 7D, 7E, 7F or 7G followed by a series of other numbers and letters. Bottles with 7J through 7M in the third and fourth position in the sequence are not included in the recall. For...

FORT WORTH, Ind. - Industry consultant Ty Bello has come out with a new Web-based tool to help companies conduct quarterly reviews of employee performance for two reasons: First, with mandatory accreditation on the horizon and most accreditors requiring annual employee evaluations, it's a good business opportunity; and second, communicating regularly with employees has never been more important. "The people we have on our team are getting feedback all the time," Bello said. "They have iPods, text...

ATLANTA - A Fox television affiliate in Atlanta recently aired a three-part series on power wheelchair fraud in Georgia. The first segment featured D&D Medical Supplies, which allegedly made a habit of charging Medicare for expensive high-end power wheelchairs when it provided $1,500 scooters. The second focused on how Medicare's crackdown on fraud has created serious access problems. The third featured customers who have noticed discrepancies in their bills. The executive director of the Georgia...

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Home Medical Equipment of New York has carved out space for a showroom at its location here so it can better serve customers who want to pay cash for power mobility devices. The rehab provider hired an ad agency to advertise the showroom in local newspapers and penny savers starting in November. "A lot of people need power wheelchairs and scooters, and just because they don't qualify for Medicare or other insurance, doesn't mean they don't need them," said Bill Tobia, president...

As the HME retail segment continues to expand, providers should be looking for ways to become more sophisticated marketers. To do that requires learning from established experts, says Colette Weil, managing director of Mill Valley, Calif.-based Summit Marketing. HME News: What should providers look for when visiting top non-HME retailers? Colette Weil: Pay special attention to in-store personal sales, advertising techniques, outside and inside merchandising. Shop new retailers who have invested...