NRRTS turns up volume

LAGO VISTA, Texas - The National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers (NRRTS) will amplify efforts to market its memberships to Medicaid programs across the country during its annual Leadership Conference in August. Dave Kruse, president of NRRTS, said a major focus of the St. Louis conference would be training members on how to market the membership to other state agencies, à la the Georgia Medicaid program. With 100 out of 600 members showing up for last year's conference, NRRTS expects to amass quite a troupe. "Every year, the agenda changes, and every year, we focus on issues of importance," he said. "This is one of the most important issues right now, and we're taking a proactive approach to it." Late last year, the Georgia Medicaid program revised its DME policy to require that professionals fitting for customized wheelchairs and seating systems be members of NRRTS. Once a member for two years, it recommends they become certified rehabilitation technology suppliers (CRTSs). Since then, rumors have been swirling of which states are considering following in Georgia's footsteps. Kruse, a CRTS at the Milwaukie, Ore.-based Wheelchair Works Inc., confirms Oregon is one of them. Other states rumored to be looking to take the plunge have included South Carolina, North Carolina and Kentucky. "That's where this needs to start - at the state level, and we'll pick up steam from there," Kruse said. "The conference will allow us to get people we don't see regularly on board with this." HME