Archive: November 2011

Had dinner with my friend Kellie last night who, when I went to check my blood sugar, was reminded of her recent frustrations with the health care system. Kellie hadn't been feeling too well. Achy joints, low energy and other vague symptoms that can point to any of a number of diagnoses. Kellie is pretty sure it's Lyme disease, but was referred to an endocrinologist who kept insisting her symptoms might be related to blood sugars. "It's not my blood sugar," she kept arguing. (Kellie eats well, exercises...

WASHINGTON - CMS announced Nov. 30 that it removed ultra lightweight manual wheelchairs, gimbaled ventilator trays, and push activated power assist devices from the standard wheelchair product category for Round 2. Industry stakeholders had worked to have these codes dropped from competitive bidding since the product categories were announced in August. In a bulletin to members, however, Peggy Walker, a billing and reimbursement adviser for The VGM Group's U.S. Rehab, stated that the exclusion...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Provider Chris Rice is no fan of competitive bidding but he says, since it's probably here to stay, the industry needs to be prepared. "There's enough folks trying to dismantle the program, and more power to them," said Rice, director of marketing for Riverside, Calif.-based Diamond Respiratory Care, which won contracts in every category it submitted bids for in Rounds 1 and 1.2. "I am focused on, if we have to live with this, how do we live with it?" In October, he launched...

BALTIMORE - CMS today posted a more detailed timeline for Round 2 of competitive bidding to www.dmecompetitivebid.com. The timeline is as follows: Dec. 5, 2011: Registration for user IDs and passwords begins Dec. 22, 2011: Authorized officials are strongly encouraged to register no later than this date Jan. 12, 2012: Backup authorized officials are strongly encouraged to register no later than this date Jan. 30, 2012: CMS opens 60-day bid window for Round 2 and national mail-order competition Feb....

Below you'll find the HME News TV schedule for the next few months. This latest schedule includes a mix of interviews taped at Medtrade in October and the HME News Business Summit in September, two of the industry's must-attend events. And the interviewees include the likes of Cara Bachenheimer, Seth Johnson and Tyler Wilson, some of the industry's biggest names. Tune in to hear what they have to say about lobbying for an alternative to competitive bidding, fighting bad press and redefining the way...

ATLANTA - Graham-Field (GF) has further cemented its commitment to manufacturing its Patriot Homecare Bed in the United States with two recent investments. Basic American Medical Products, a manufacturer of healthcare beds and a GF Health Products factory brand, has expanded its Fond du Lac, Wis., facility by 40,000 square feet and installed a high-tech fiber optic laser tube cutting system, GF announced last month. “Five to 10 years ago, the big buzz word was outsourcing and we're not convinced...

I thought it was interesting that Theresa mentioned in her blog yesterday how she and her family take a stroll after eating more than usual, but within reason, for Thanksgiving. (I also thought it was interesting that she made fun of me for eating leftover fish for lunch. Yes, some get turned off by the smell of fish reheated in a microwave, but surely, someone as healthy as Theresa would acknowledge the benefits of eating fish for lunch versus any number of things, like frozen entrees—yes,...

Last week, in anticipation of a celebratory dinner (yay, we survived Medtrade), my coworkers were talking about how they weren't going to eat much that day so they could, well, stuff themselves at the restaurant. My suggestion was to eat sensibly all day (they all tend to, for the most part), and then—wait for it—eat sensibly at dinner as well. Needless to say, that went over like fish in an office microwave (I'm looking at you, Editor Liz). But answer me this: Why must a celebration...

WASHINGTON - Expect a bumpy 2012 now that the super committee has failed to come up with a deficit reduction plan, industry stakeholders say. The super committee announced last week that it couldn't agree on a way to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years, triggering automatic cuts slated to go into effect Jan. 1, 2013. Among them: a 2% across-the-board cut to Medicare, which represents, according to reports, a $13 billion blow to HME over 10 years. But industry stakeholders...

BALTIMORE - CMS's assertion that expanding prepay reviews by recovery auditor contractors (RACs) will put an end to its "pay-and-chase" model of collecting improper payments doesn't hold water with HME stakeholders. "You can't say with a straight face say that the RAC audits are a solution to pay and chase," said John Shirvinsky, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers. "It still isn't nipping the problem in the bud." CMS on Jan. 1 will roll out a three-year demonstration...