Archive: October 2002
Another vendor creates politics job
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Count Permobil as the latest home medical equipment vendor to acknowledge the need for more political efforts at Medicare and Medicaid. The company announced last month that it had hired Darren Jernigan as its director of government affairs, a first for the manufacturer of high-end rehab products.
Like Pride Mobility Products and the VGM Group, which recently created new executive positions for government relations, Permobil said the threat of competitive bidding was at the top...
Who will fix the iBOT chair?
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Although most people in the rehab industry have been focusing on sales when speculating how the iBOT stair-climbing/standing power chair will fit into the DME world (see article on Page 1), another S-word may be just as critical: Service.
"There may indeed be a place for a standing and stair-climbing chair like this, but that means a lot of moving parts," noted Tim Barrett, operations manager at Rehab Design in Louisville, Ky. "One of the problems with even just standing...
Rehab needs standards
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
YARMOUTH, Maine — Various groups have been working to establish accreditation standards specific to rehab, most notably the Accreditation Commission for Home Care (ACHC), which unveiled its version at Medtrade, and AAHomecare's Re/hab and Assistive Technology Council (RATC).
According to leaders and experts in the industry, the need to expand accreditation options is critical.
In fact, according to Gary Gilberti, president of Chesapeake Rehab Equipment in Baltimore, the need outweighs any...
Standards
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
WASHINGTON — The 'gotcha' culture that sparked an exodus of HME providers from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health-care organizations (JCAHO) in recent years may be on the verge of extinction.
JCAHO last month announced a complete re-engineering of the way it goes about accrediting healthcare organizations, including HME providers. Russ Massaro, MD, vice president of accreditation operations at JCAHO, said the changes are the most significant at JCAHO since 1994.
"It's a 180-degree...
Four senators oppose comp. bidding
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
WASHINGTON — The HME industry's lobbying efforts paid off big-time last month when four U.S. Senators made public their opposition to competitive bidding in a letters to Senators Baucus and Grassley.
Baucus and Grassley authored a piece of legislation that would authorize CMS to roll out competitive bidding nationwide in metropolitan statistical areas with populations greater than 500,000.
"It would be unwise to rush to implement a national program, in light of the fact that CMS has instituted...
US&M first to meet new standards
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
FLORISSANT, Mo. — Most of the rehab world got its first peek at the new rehab-specific accreditation standards of the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) in late October with the unveiling of the ACHC rehab accreditation manual at Medtrade.
United Seating & Mobility (US&M), however, got up close and personal with those standards this summer, achieving accreditation status from ACHC in August.
"When we started the process, we were using the old standards that were more generally...
Fary's national respiratory award sustains Apria's momentum
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
Lightning has struck twice for the resurgent Apria Healthcare. In the same month, the company cinched first place in the Respiratory category of the HME Excellence Awards, and a key executive won acclaim from the American Respiratory Care Foundation.
The ARCF is a branch of the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC).
Because Apria's HME Excellence accolades are covered on page 4, it is Bob Fary, corporate director of respiratory services, who merits the attention in this space. The seemingly...
Meet the best of the best
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
ATLANTA — A national, a regional and an independent provider of home healthcare each took home first place honors in the HME Excellence Awards, sponsored by HME News, AAHomecare and Medtrade.
Apria Healthcare, a 480-branch provider based in Costa Mesa, Calif., won Best Home Respiratory Provider. Lifeplus, a regional provider from Raymond, N.H., was named the Best Home Medical Equipment Provider. And Hudson Home Health, an independent from Newington, Conn., was selected as the Best Rehab Technology...
Briefs
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
Major Chicagoland HME acquires 500 O2 patients
MELROSE PARK, Ill. —Ultra Care acquired the business assets of Oxysound, a Fox River Grove, Ill., company providing respiratory and other home medical services in the far northwestern region of the Chicagoland area. This merger of operations and resources will enhance the combined company's ability to provide a full range of home health care products and services to an expanded market. The acquisition will nearly double Ultra Care's oxygen business...
Keeping neb-meds on a tether
October 31, 2002HME News Staff
Building profits in nebulizer medications takes a a pharmacy. No secret there. Don't have one? Got to get one. In the meantime, strategies do exist to help you refer out the medical side of the respiratory HME equation without sticking your head in the sand and without giving away your business to others. A key to successfully referring patients to pharmaceutical operations—and to planning for your own pharmacy operation down the road—is knowing how many patients you have, said Marcus...