Archive: September 2009
'We're not just a business'
September 30, 2009HME News Staff
FREEPORT, Ill. - When Freeport Home Medical Equipment in August offered a program to help seniors with their balance, they figured 30 would sign up.
They got more than 100.
Hosting such a program is just one of the many ways the provider has knit itself into the fabric of the local community, said company founder Carolyn Sluiter.
"The more we can help the community, the more it's going to grow our business," she said. "We all care and we all want to be involved."
It's a philosophy that has served...
Respiratory provider lands on elite list
September 30, 2009HME News Staff
When it comes to home medical equipment providers, Extrakare is in a class by itself.
The five-year-old company, which has grown 834.6% since 2004, recently turned up on Inc. magazine's 2009 list of America's 500 fastest-growing private businesses. Extrakare placed 271st on the list. That made the company the 25th fastest-growing private healthcare business in America and the 8th fastest-growing private business in Atlanta. While some specialty pharmacy and home nursing companies appeared on the...
Webb Medical Systems: Success one customer at a time
September 30, 2009John Andrews
As is the case with many modern HME companies, the roots of Webb Medical Systems are in retail pharmacy.
Sharon Webb's parents founded Reading Medical in 1971 as a corner drug store and a decade later she stepped in to expand it. A marketing professional, Sharon sensed the potential of durable medical equipment in the early 1980s, and together with her husband Dick grew the company into a comprehensive rehab and mobility business with a strong retail component that now anchors a shopping plaza in...
Obesity drives bariatric market
September 30, 2009John Andrews
As has been the case for several years now, America's obesity epidemic continues to warrant the manufacturing of thicker, stronger, heavy-duty medical equipment. This means there is more opportunity than ever for HME providers who want to pursue this specialty market.
Statistics provided by Exeter, Pa.-based Pride Mobility illustrate the extent of the obesity problem: More than one-third of U.S. adults are classified as clinically obese (more than 72 million people) and obesity in adults has reportedly...
Frank Margulis: Don't make my mistakes
September 30, 2009Amanda Estes
Like most HME providers, Frank Margulis thought he understood the rules. Then he was charged with obstructing a Medicare audit. In 2005, he was sentenced to five months in a federal prison camp and five months of house arrest. Now a free man, Margulis will share his story during his Medtrade session, “Avoiding Legal Landmines: Lessons Learned the Hard Way.”
HME News: What was the basis of the lawsuit?
Frank Margulis: When we gathered CMNs for a routine audit, we noticed that only the...
Frank Margulis: Don't make my mistakes
September 30, 2009Amanda Estes
Like most HME providers, Frank Margulis thought he understood the rules. Then he was charged with obstructing a Medicare audit. In 2005, he was sentenced to five months in a federal prison camp and five months of house arrest. Now a free man, Margulis will share his story during his Medtrade session, “Avoiding Legal Landmines: Lessons Learned the Hard Way.”
HME News: What was the basis of the lawsuit?
Frank Margulis: When we gathered CMNs for a routine audit, we noticed that only the...
StrongArm Cane vs. 'Frankenstein'
September 30, 2009Mike Moran
EVANSTON, Ill. - When it comes to durable medical equipment, there's nothing more basic than the common cane (except maybe a tongue depressor). You can present it in different colors. Put on a fancy carved handle. Gussy it up with decals and printed patterns. But a cane is a cane.
Right?
Wrong, says Mike Adams, president and chief technical officer for StrongArm Mobility, which recently signed a distribution agreement for its StrongArm canes with Mabis DMI Healthcare.
"We've been...
Briefs: Kay's key to success
September 30, 2009HME News Staff
Kay's key to success
PLAINVIEW, N.Y. - Fastrack Healthcare Systems has unveiled a suite of new products with one goal in mind: to help HME providers improve productivity and do more with less, said President Spencer Kay. "It is not going to be easy to control the prices that providers can charge, but they can control operating costs," he said. "One way to do that is to keep down the number of people you need to hire and to make existing employees more productive." To that end, the new offerings...
Investors target wound therapy
September 30, 2009Mike Moran
RADNOR, Pa. - The market for regular and bariatric wound care products just got a little more interesting thanks to a trio of private equity investors with deep pockets.
The three companies--Aurora Capital Group, Hollywood Capital and Moelis Capital Partners--joined forces recently to merge RecoverCare and MedaStat, creating a wound care distributor with revenues approaching $200 million, said Hollywood Capital's Chairman Mark Bidner, who will serve as the new company's CEO.
The combined company...
'Aggressive' office requires HME compliance programs
September 30, 2009HME News Staff
ALBANY, N.Y. - New York in October became the first state in the country to require that HME providers have compliance programs in place.
The state put providers on notice in July that, if they bill Medicaid for $500,000 or more annually, they had 90 days to comply with the requirement.
"I welcome it to the extent that it helps to root out fraud and abuse," said Greg LoPresti, COO of Upstate HomeCare in Clinton, N.Y., who has had a compliance program in place for years. "Because that gives everyone...