Archive: December 2001
Medicare
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Suppliers of diabetic shoes are predicting their sales could increase significantly in the wake of a decision by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand foot care coverage for some beneficiaries with diabetes.
CMS announced recently that beneficiaries suffering from diabetic peripheral neuropathy with loss of protective sensation (LOPS) may now receive two foot exams per year, providing they haven't seen a foot care professional for some other reason. Medicare...
HMEvolution
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
It appears that the home medical equipment industry has reached a crossroads in its evolution - a juncture where HME providers face a decision of going one way or another to avoid hitting an abutment.
Industry navigators say the fork in the economic road branches out in two distinct and different flanks: one way points to the more familiar durable medical equipment or "bent metal" business; the other leads to uncharted territory in the clinical, or "white lab coat" field.
Traditional DME - beds,...
HMEs predict Olympics won't boost biz too much
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
SALT LAKE CITY - When it comes to adding business during the Winter Olympics here next month, don't look for home medical equipment providers to break any world records.
"It'll be fun, but I don't think there will be disruption for the HME community or opportunity," said Joe Sansone, president of Pediatric Services of America, in Norcross, Ga.
Located just a pole vault or so outside Atlanta, Sansone experienced the 1996 summer Olympics first hand. So did Hayward Woodward, owner of the Medicine...
Suppliers pass on ADMC
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
YARMOUTH, Maine - It appears rehab suppliers are not taking full advantage of the advanced determination for Medicare coverage (ADMC) that the DMERCs are now accepting and processing for certain custom wheelchairs. Doug Westerdahl, owner of Monroe Wheelchair in New York, said his company has its own internal system for determining Medicare coverage, and it doesn't foresee ever using the ADMC. Other suppliers hadn't even heard of the ADMC. There were questions, from the get go, whether the ADMC would...
RTs earn seat on AARC board
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -Â Respiratory therapists working in home care now, for the first time ever, have a seat on the board of the American Association of Respiratory Care. Home care, which is one of a handful of specialty sections within the clinician-based organization, earned a seat at the board by being one of the two top specialty sections that sustained memberships of more than 1,000.
Last year, the homecare section could claim more than 1,000 members, but two other specialty sections had...
Home sleep studies still under scrutiny
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Although Medicare has finally recognized the hypopnea as a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea, thus opening the door to more CPAP business, the prognosis for diagnosing or identifying sleep apnea in the home is still sketchy.
Currently, several leading physician-based associations, which more or less set the marching orders for clinical practices, are examining the viability of identifying sleep apnea in the home. The study, now conducted by the American Thoracic Society, the...
HMOs not improving services, GAO report states
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Congressional auditors slammed the HMO industry last month, claiming the insurers did little to improve Medicare services despite millions in additional funding last year.
The GAO report stated that initially most healthcare plans said "some or all" of the additional money would be used to enhance benefits. Only about 29% improved benefits, the report found.
Lawmakers had hoped the money would lure health plans back to areas where service had been discontinued, but the GAO report said...
Reimbursement
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
SNFing out coverage for DME
WITH NANCY BURMA
Q. How can a supplier tell if the patient's residence is a skilled or intermediate care facility, or other classification where DME might or might not be covered?
A. This is one of the toughest areas for an HME supplier to receive a clear-cut answer. According to Medicare definition, a Skilled Nursing Facility is a "facility which primarily provides inpatient skilled nursing care and related services to patients who require medical nursing, or rehabilitative...
RDI's Powell sentenced to federal prison
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
MOBILE, Ala. -Â Richard Powell, a pioneer in the distribution of nebulizer medications to the home healthcare market, was sentenced to one year and a day in a minimum security federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical in 1997 and 1998 (See HME News story, Aug. 15, 2001).
Respiratory Druggist, Inc., a mail order pharmacy founded by Powell, was also sentenced to five years probation, which effectively puts the company out of business. Additionally,...
'Saks Fifth Avenue' of mail order uncorks TV ads
December 31, 2001HME News Staff
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A company that considers itself the Saks Fifth Avenue of the mail order medical supplies industry hopes its first national TV advertising campaign will help boost the $32 million in revenues it earned last year to an even more impressive $45 million this year.
Not bad, considering Diabetes Supply of USA was started just seven years ago with two employees servicing 100 patients. Today, the company's 120 employees serve 30,000 patients, 75% of which have Medicare as their insurance...