Tag: home oxygen therapy

WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care in a statement today encouraged CMS to reconsider eliminating the CMN for home oxygen therapy.  The CQRC, a coalition of the nation’s largest respiratory providers and manufacturers, says doing that would replace “objective testing ordered by a patient’s physician for the subjective decision-making of Medicare contractors.”  “We are highly supportive of allowing acute patients to receive oxygen...

WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care in a statement today encouraged CMS to reconsider eliminating the CMN for home oxygen therapy. The CQRC, a coalition of the nation’s largest respiratory providers and manufacturers, says doing that would replace “objective testing ordered by a patient’s physician for the subjective decision-making of Medicare contractors.” “We are highly supportive of allowing acute patients to receive oxygen therapy outside...

These were some of the reactions of industry stakeholders to the news of CMS’s proposed national coverage determination for home oxygen therapy: “Groundbreaking.” “We haven’t seen something this major happen in a long time.” “This obliterates everything that we’ve held to be immovable ground for oxygen coverage.”  If you’re like me, when you first saw the news on that Friday before a long holiday weekend (classic CMS move,...

WASHINGTON – CMS’s proposed national coverage determination for home oxygen therapy – its first revision since 1993 – makes “groundbreaking” changes, including expanding access for acute conditions and removing the CMN requirement.  Industry stakeholders say the agency is proposing the changes largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly increased the number of people needing oxygen and exposed issues with the current NCD.  “We...

ORLANDO, Fla. – OxyGo is celebrating helping more than 1 million lives with its lightweight portable oxygen equipment. The company plans to host a series of events throughout the year to share the milestone with its employees and suppliers. First off: A recent socially distanced luncheon for employees, suppliers and members of the community at OxyGo locations across the country. “Being a family business and celebrating this milestone is incredible,” said V.E. Marquard-Schultz, CEO....

WASHINGTON – CMS wants to modify the national coverage determination (NCD) for home use of oxygen to expand patient access to oxygen and oxygen equipment and permit the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to cover their use to treat cluster headaches and other acute conditions, according to a proposed decision memo.  The agency also wants to remove the NCD for home oxygen use to treat cluster headache, ending coverage with evidence development.  The scope of the decision...

BETHESDA, Md. – HeroX, a social network and crowdsourcing platform, has launched the “Air You Wear Challenge” on behalf of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The challenge seeks to develop more portable, easy-to-use options for patients on supplemental oxygen. Patients who use oxygen consistently say oxygen should be lighter and more portable. “This is the perfect opportunity to tap the global network to solve a problem that affects so many people,” said Christian...

Being the recipient of Google Alerts for “oxygen concentrator” is a scary and sad place to be right now.  I have these alerts set up for a number of key terms in the HME industry – think “sleep therapy” and “home infusion” and “AdaptHealth” and “Invacare.” They’re delivered to my email inbox every afternoon.  Recent alerts for “oxygen concentrator” have been almost exclusively related to...

YARMOUTH, Maine – There was a huge government push to help manufacturers ramp up production of ventilators at the start of the pandemic, but that hasn’t been the case for oxygen concentrators, even as they have become increasingly in demand. Major manufacturers of oxygen concentrators say they’re ramping up production as best as they can. Ball Ground, Ga.-based CAIRE has added shifts at its manufacturing facilities and boosted its staff by 30%, helping the company to double its...

NEW YORK – Providers expect high-single digit growth in sleep patient volumes in the next year, according to Needham’s “1Q21 HME Oxygen and Sleep Survey.”  Respondents saw their sleep patient volume increase by only 0.8% in the last 12 months but expect it to grow by 7.6% over the next 12 months, the survey says. These rates are mixed from the prior survey results of 5.5% and 5%, respectively.  Overall, respondents reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has...