Tag: Merits Health Products

CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Merits Health Products and its complex rehab division Avid Rehab are one step closer to becoming a one-stop shop for that product category.Merits and Avid have launched a new division called Precision Comfort that manufactures seat backs and cushions.“There really aren't any more independent back and cushion companies out there anymore,” said Chris Blackmore, director of business and product development. “They've all been bought by our competitors. So we had limited...

Cape Coral, Fla.-based Merits Health Products has named Joe McKnight as its western regional sales manager. McKnight has worked for, managed and owned companies in complex rehab technology, DME, and other medical products and services industries since 1977. He currently serves as a board member of NRRTS; is a special interest group co-chair for seating and wheeled mobility for RESNA; and holds other board positions, including positions with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the ALS...

WATERLOO, Iowa - The VGM Group has released the results of a “Delivery Cost Survey” that puts into perspective how costly it is for HME providers to provide patients with the necessary equipment.In New England, for example, providers report that it costs them $22.43 in vehicle costs per delivery and $18 in labor costs per hour, according to the survey. When you take into account the 23.33 miles from business to home and the 31.67 minutes it takes for in-home set up, that's an average...

CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Merits Health Products has signed a contract with Numotion to become the Brentwood, Tenn.-based national complex rehab provider's preferred provider for Group 2 power wheelchairs. The contract covers Merits' full line of Group 2 power wheelchairs, including its popular Vision series and its new tilt-only Vision Ultra. “We are excited about this contract and happy to be partnering with one of the nation's top providers,” said Chris Blackmore, vice president of sales...

CAPE CORAL, Fla. - The stairlift market, one dominated by a few long-time players, now has a new player: Merits Health Products.Merits Health has launched a home access division called Pilot and its first product offering is a straight stairlift. It has been manufacturing a similar product for other companies for 19 years.“So we're not new to this market or this product line,” said Chris Blackmore, national director of business and product development for Merits Health. “But at...

With reimbursement dollars drying up for standard power chairs under Medicare, it's no surprise that the category is becoming more retail-oriented in scope for mobility providers. Meanwhile, the scooter business—which has been a strong retail category for years—continues to expand and augment its product offerings.Charting the decline of third-party provision for standard power wheelchairs, Chris Blackmore notes that “the number of providers willing and able to provide standard...

CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Since the release of the Vector at the beginning of October, business for Avid Rehab's first entry into the complex power wheelchair market has been strong.It's been so strong, that Avid, a division of Merits Health Products, is in the process of building a separate assembly and warehouse facility that will be dedicated entirely to the Vector and future Avid products.The exciting part about the Vector's success is that it's come on the heels of an intentionally “soft”...

YARMOUTH, Maine - With two new entrants into the complex rehab market in that many years, what's the big draw for manufacturers like Shoprider and Merits Health Products?There's the obvious reason, say industry watchers: Complex rehab wheelchairs are not part of Medicare's competitive bidding program, which has doled out double-digit decreases in reimbursement to other products, including consumer mobility.But there are other reasons, too, including the downfall of The Scooter Store in 2013, says...

Editor's note: Next week HME News looks at why the complex rehab market is attracting new entrants like Merits Health Products and Shoprider.CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Merits Health Products is vying for a spot in the increasingly competitive complex rehab market.The manufacturer, which makes and sells a complex rehab wheelchair for the overseas market but is best known for its consumer mobility products, plans to launch its first complex rehab wheelchair for the U.S. market in July.“The previous management...