Archive: October 2010

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Lincare announced Oct. 1 that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per common share. The dividend was payable on Oct. 29, 2010 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on Oct. 15, 2010...In other news, Lincare announced in September the elections of Ellen Zane and Angela Bryant to its board of directors. Zane is president and CEO of Tufts Medical Center and Bryant served as Lincare's general counsel from 1999 through 2004. A new HME player? CORAL...

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Enos Home Oxygen and Medical Supply is on the fast track to serving most of New England from its two locations in New Bedford and North Easton, Mass. Earlier this year, Enos Home Oxygen began serving parts of Connecticut, and early next year, it's on to New Hampshire. "We're increasing our service area, but we're not opening new branches yet," said Jon Enos, vice president of Enos Home Oxygen. "But demand may require us to do that in the future." In 2009, Enos Home Oxygen...

Nathan Feltman doesn't believe in standing in place. The corporate attorney spent time in Moscow and Chicago before landing in Indiana, where he spent several years working in economic development, including two years as the state's secretary of commerce. As the new president and chief legal counsel of Indianapolis-based Home Health Depot, Feltman plans to keep moving, albeit in a different way. HME News: Why the career switch? Nathan Feltman: First, the demand for our products and services is...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - What's provider Marcia Togami's secret for dealing with reimbursement cuts? "Everyone cries wolf when it's too late," said Togami, the billing manager for A&R Medical Supply. "We've always just tried to be one year ahead of the game." Take the 36-month cap on Medicare reimbursement for oxygen. Well before the cap went into effect Jan. 1, 2009, A&R Medical began chipping away at the number of tanks it delivers each month as a way to save money. First, it encouraged patients to...

SALIDA, Colo. - Provider Fred Jackson has been spending more time these days hanging around local bars. Providing gases to help them power their taps is an effort to increase his industrial gas business and diversify away from Medicare, he said. "We are just walking in and asking for their business," said Jackson, president of Salida Medical. "We've been selling to a lot of the bars and we plan on expanding to restaurants for their beverage services." Industrial gases are nothing new for the 30-year-old...

ROCKY HILL, Conn. - ATG Rehab has opened two new offices in Washington state, the Rocky Hill, Conn.-based rehab provider announced in September. The offices are headed up by the following assistive technology professionals (ATPs): Stacey Reeser in Lynnwood, and Michelle Marchand and Doug Ekness in Tacoma. The Lynnwood office serves the University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center, Virginia Mason Hospital, Seattle Children's Hospital and school districts. The Tacoma office works closely with...

Physical therapist Jean Minkel believes if clinicians can provide evidence that manual wheelchairs, used over time, can result in injuries--and they can, she says--the agency needs to open up its wallet for power wheelchairs. Here's what Minkel, the featured clinical speaker at CELA in February, told HME News about comparing wheelchairs to shoes. HME News: You work with adults, so you see what happens when a person doesn't get the right wheelchair early on in life. Jean Minkel: The information...

What's consultant Gary Schwantz really into these days? "I just love this idea of every employee as an owner," said Schwantz, who helped rehab provider Doug Westerdahl implement "Open Book Management" principles at Monroe Wheelchair. "There are a lot of ways to do that and this one is very cool." Here's what Schwantz had to say about "Open Book Management," a book by John Case that makes the case for owners sharing certain financial indicators with their employees. On the need for openness in...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Capital Group Holdings has acquired Newbern, Tenn.-based Main Street Pharmacy, it was announced Sept. 24. The pharmacy offers DME, compounding and home infusion services. "The acquisition of Main Street Family Pharmacy provides us with a strong foundation in the health and wellness market and will enable us to pursue additional strategic opportunities," Capital Group Holdings CEO Christopher Galvin said. CPAP use could alter face shape VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Patients...

YARMOUTH, Maine - Despite the challenges of providing mastectomy products and services, women's health providers say the rewards of the job make it worthwhile. Provider Tracey Dettmer recently fitted a customer with her first breast form--10 years after her mastectomy. The reason: She needed a dress for her daughter's wedding. "She came in and it was 98 degrees outside and she had a cardigan sweater on and was all hunched over," said Dettmer, director of sales and marketing for Warren, Mich.-based...