Archive: April 2003
Calif. contemplates $3.6B in cuts
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In trying to deal with California's gigantic $26 billion to $35 billion budget deficit, state bureaucrats have laid siege to the Medicaid budget, looking for savings under every rock.
“I feel like a member of the Iraqi army right now,” said Bob Achermann, executive director of California Association of Medical Product Suppliers (CAMPS). “It's a bad year. The deficit is staggering and it's is probably going to get worse because the economy is not improving...
Medicare relaxes regs governing when docs can prescribe neb meds
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
COLUMBIA, S.C. — In what's being called a “shocking” reversal by one vendor, Medicare no longer requires physicians to document that a meter dose inhaler (MDI) was considered prior to prescribing a nebulizer and nebulizer med.
Language was recently removed from the Nebulizer Local Medical Review Policy (LMRP) which stated that an MDI must be considered before a physician can issue nebulizer medication. The change will go into effect April 1, 2003 and effects all four Medicare regions....
Legal
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
No more MDI litmus test for nebs
With Lisa Smith
Q: I've heard that nebulizer drug claims are being audited and overpayments are being assessed on the basis of a lack of documentation that the physician tried / considered a metered dose inhaler (MDI) prior to prescribing a nebulizer. What can my company do to avoid such an overpayment?
A: Hopefully, recent changes made by the DMERCs will eliminate your concern. Effective April 1, 2003, the Nebulizer Medical Policy has been revised to remove the...
Audit
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
HOUSTON — If Terry Hull isn't the largest provider of home ventilators to pediatric patients in southeast Texas, he doesn't know who is.
Terry's Respiratory Care, which opened for business in December 2000 and just added a new location in Beaumont, services 100 home ventilator patients, about 70 of those children and infants.
“I have a gravitational pull to children,” Hull said. “The biggest pay off is the satisfaction I receive when we pull off a successful discharge and...
AAH calls IBM, but its e-CMN still just a gleam
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — AAHomecare is hiring a division of IBM to act as a consultant in the development of its e-CMN initiative. IBM's first task will be to review the work that's been done so far, according to Asela Cuervo, senior vice president of government relations at AAHomecare.
To date, under the auspices of an AAHomecare-designated task force, information technology leaders at Apria and Rotech have written a white paper that would blueprint an e-CMN's back-end. IBM will also look at...
Softgoods
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
Chattanooga Group
Chattanooga Group's new TheraTherm is a digital electric moist heating pad designed for the convenience of home use. The digital moist heating pad provides temporary relief from pain associated with muscle spasm and inflammation caused by strain and tension. TheraTherm Digital Moist Heating Pad is easier to use than the other electric heating pads on the market due to its unique digital hand control. Many other brands require continuous contact with a spring-loaded switch to generate...
Briefs
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
Florida pharmacy enters rehab
DELAND, Fla. —Â Orange Belt Pharmacy threw back its shoulders last month and walked confidently into the realm of custom rehab and seating. Until recently, the $10 million RX/HME stayed away from high-end custom rehab, but last fall it hired one full time rehab professional and added another this winter. Since September, Orange Belt's rehab business has jumped from $30,000 to $100,000 a month, said CEO Bob Rowland.
MiCASSA offers long term care options
With...
Briefs
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
Kerr Drug movesin to medical equipment
RALEIGH, N.C. —Â The Kerr Drug chain, which operates numerous locations in North and South Carolina, has debuted a Healthy Living department in one of it locations here, and will include the concept in the six or seven new stores it has planned for this year. Among other things, the department features diabetic shoes and supplies, compression hosiery, women's health, back and neck, muscle therapy, home health care, durable medical equipment, weight...
Vent cuts hurt Florida providers business
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
ORANGE PARK, Fla. — It's a sad day when a company has to turn away business due to no fault of its own. But dwindling Medicaid reimbursement coupled with increased insurance costs has forced Chris Horne, president of Advanced Home Respiratory, to do just that.
“This is a small part of home care,” Horne said regarding his ventilator business. “You have to be able to make money to keep going and we can't keep taking these incredible risks. You could lose your agency.”
While...
The Big One
April 30, 2003HME News Staff
The home medical equipment industry has a big problem. It's got a great hypothesis: home medical equipment is cost-effective and patient-preferred, but when the rubber meets the road (i.e. when a legislator is about to vote yea or nay, when administrators look for cost-saving opportunities) the industry really can't prove it.
The inability to marshal persuasive data to support the hypothesis became all too frustrating in March when Medicare's trustees reported to Congress that durable medical expenditures...