Archive: August 2002
Internet
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
ELYRIA, Ohio - While companies selling Internet solutions to HME companies have largely drowned since the Internet bubble burst two years ago, one of the "solutions" they tried to float as a solution Invacare is now launching.
In June, the manufacturer announced that it would offer a turn-key, Web site development package through a partnership it's struck with 50 Below, a development and marketing company in Duluth, Minn. For $1,860, 50 Below is building, customizing and maintaining transactional...
Cardinal helps pharmacies keep mobility business
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Cardinal Home Healthcare has launched a mobility fulfillment program, Rehab Plus+, that will enable its 3,600 independent pharmacy customers to provide scooters, lift chairs, wheelchairs and other DME.
The distribution program, managed by Product Pros, is an extension of Cardinal's Home Health Care Place program. About 25% of Cardinal's pharmacy customers provide some home health equipment.
Rehab Plus+ lets pharmacists, who would otherwise send referrals away, keep the business...
August NewsPoll
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
Should HMEs meet a new, higher standard of credentialing before they are allowed to participate in the Medicare program?
Yes - 68%
No - 23%
What higher standard should HME providers be subject to?
Surety Bond - 8
Accreditation - 28
State Licensure - 34
Federal Licensure - 15
Clinical Association Membership - 17
Additional CEU Procurement - 21
Other - 3
Respondents picked more than one.
"It is time that the DME industry sheds its image of fraud and abuse. The reputable providers must push in unison...
14 million Americans may have undiagnosed COPD
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
ATLANTA — About 14 million Americans may have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and not even know it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last month.
Ten million adults were listed as diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2000. Of those, about 1.5 million adults visited emergency rooms due to COPD-related conditions, 726,000 were hospitalized and 119,000 died, according to the CDC
In addition, data from a large government study — the...
Option Care buys $17M home infusion pharmacy
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
BUFFALO, Ill. — Option Care's July acquisition of a $17-million home infusion pharmacy in Minneapolis is the largest in a string of acquisitions the company has made in the past year and a half. Raj Rai, Option Care's president and CEO, said the acquisition of Allina Hospitals & Clinics' home infusion pharmacy translates into 1,500 new patients for the company. The acquisition is the fourth time in 18 months that Option Care has take over a hospital's home infusion pharmacy....
Texas HMEs battle huge Medicaid cuts
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
AUSTIN — In trying to stave off a proposal for Medicaid competitive bidding, state providers have identified $6.7 million in savings that Texas could reap by eliminating waste and inappropriate use in its DME program. The question is: Are those savings enough, given the state wants to cut $18 million from its $92 million DME budget?
"In the final analysis, the industry is not going to be able to stop them from doing what they choose to do," said Ron Kieschnik of Houston-based Seating Profiles....
FAMES: 'Keeping our fingers crossed'
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services (FAMES) still awaits a decision from an administrative law judge on its lawsuit to stop competitive bidding for Medicaid.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed," said Joan Cross, president of FAMES and co-owner of C&C Homecare in Bradenton, Fla. "We've got a lot of nervous people out there."
At press time, Cross said she expected Judge John G. Van Laningham to file a decision on the association's lawsuit by the end of...
Medicare: Who needs the headache?
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
(Editor's note: As the industry battles to beat back competitive bidding, HME News will profile from time to time providers who, for whatever reason, don't fear the reimbursement cut.)
TUCSON, Ariz. - Gerald Long suspects he could triple or even quadruple his income if he accepted Medicare assignment or did business with other insurers. But, he said, who needs the headache?
"Everyone I've known over the last 18 years who is small and has gotten into Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance are out...
Rehab
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — In 1992, Mike Ballard, then an investment banker, witnessed the wizardry of a rehab technology specialist (RTS) for the first time. Ballard had been hired as a consultant by an HME business having cash flow problems. He visited the business and saw an RTS fit a child who had mild cerebral palsy with a wheelchair.
"It was like 100 Christmas mornings wrapped up in one moment," he said. "It was one of the most emotional experiences I've ever seen."
Spellbound, Ballard began...
Question & Answer
August 31, 2002HME News Staff
Non-profit donates used wheelchairs
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Last month, the executive director of Wheels for Humanity, David Richard, returned from back-to-back trips to Thailand and the Philippines. In the two third-world countries, he and his team helped deliver some 300 new and refurbished wheelchairs. Wheels for Humanity, a small, non-profit organization based here, will repeat this mission roughly 18 times in a year. Hugh Shellenberger, Wheels for Humanity's chief operating officer, spoke...