Tag: power wheelchairs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - LUCI wants its new hardware and software platform to serve as a “catalyst” for further innovation in the power wheelchair market.The company in June launched its first product, also named LUCI, a platform that prevents wheelchair users from running into objects, alerts them to tipping danger, and protects them from steps and drop-offs.“We saw the potential to serve as a catalyst for the industry,” said Barry Dean, CEO and founder. “It would have been...

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...

WASHINGTON - Medicare could save millions if it sought legislation to shift from a lump-sum purchase option to a monthly rental payment for all power mobility devices, according to a report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) published in May. In January 2011, Medicare eliminated the lump-sum purchase option for standard power wheelchairs, a move that saved $86 million from 2011 to 2014, according to the OIG. If legislation were in place to also eliminate this option for scooters and complex...

ANTIOCH, Tenn. - Max Mobility has created a new position, SmartDrive Educator, and has named Devon Doebele, the Florida territory manager for MSL Associates, to fill it. He will oversee the strategic direction, expansion and education of the company's SmartDrive wheelchair power assist technology, working with manufacturers like Easystand, Ki Mobility, Roho and TiLite. Doebele will be a member of the company's executive team and report to President Mark Richter.

EXETER, Pa. - Pride Mobility Products is investing $2 million in a new facility in Pontotoc, Miss., according to the Memphis Business Journal. The move will create 150 jobs, the journal reports. Pride Mobility will build its new facility in a building that formerly housed a manufacturing operation for Genesis Furniture, according to the journal. “We're privileged to draw from such a dedicated local workforce, where the success of our venture will extend not just to the employees but to their...

WASHINGTON - Orbit Medical and its partial successor, Rehab Medical, have agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle allegations that it altered and forged physician prescriptions and supporting documentation for power wheelchairs and accessories, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.Orbit Medical says it fully cooperated and offered full transparency during the DOJ's four-year investigation.“We are relieved to close this chapter and move forward growing our business,” the company...

YARMOUTH, Maine - CMS's PMD demo is set to arrive in 12 new states in just a few weeks and, for the most part, providers are welcoming it with open arms.“One of our primary vendors is doing some education on it,” said James Rogers, CEO of Phoenix Rehab and Mobility in Hixson, Tenn., one of the states being added to the demo. “The feedback we've received from them is this has been a positive development in the industry and should help out as far as the audits.”The demo, which...

WASHINGTON - The devil's in the details, and the lack of details in CMS's proposal to implement bundled monthly payments for standard manual and power wheelchairs has stakeholders on edge.“There are so many more questions that this proposal raises than it answers, and that should probably be more troubling than anything else,” said Cara Bachenheimer, senior vice president of government relations for Invacare.CMS states in a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on July 11: “We...

INDIANAPOLIS - The claim error rate for Group 2 power wheelchairs without power seating options was 87.7% between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to National Government Services (NGS), the Jurisdiction B DME MAC. Of 389 claims filed, 48 were paid in full, with the rest fully or partially denied. The most common reasons for denials: face-to-face documentation failed to prove a manual wheelchair wouldn't meet the beneficiary's needs in the home, the beneficiary had a significant mobility limitation...

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in a False Claims Act lawsuit against Orbit Medical and Jake Kilgore for allegedly altering and forging physician prescriptions and supporting documentation for power wheelchairs and accessories.On Oct. 23, 2013, a federal grand jury in Utah indicted Kilgore, former vice president and sales manager, on three counts of healthcare fraud, three counts of false statements related to health care and three counts of wire fraud.“The government...