Archive: May 2005
SADMERC coding lags for DME
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A landslide of manufacturer coding requests has buried the SADMERC and "as a result, we are unable to respond to certain requests within our typical response time of 90 days," read a notice posted on the contractor's Web site in April. The overflow is due in part to the HIPAA mandate that all insurance carriers use HCPCS codes in billing for DME. The SADMERC has also made coding existing power chairs and scooter models under the new 49 mobility codes a priority before they take...
Hospitals steer a new course: revive slumping profits by turning to DME
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
DAVISON, Mich. -- A generally accepted trend has made an about face, say some industry insiders: Hospitals are making their way back into the home healthcare and durable medical equipment businesses.
While the shift toward shorter hospital stays has created more opportunity for home care providers, hospitals have become burdened by the loss of their cash cow. Changes in the Medicare Modernization Act and among private insurers have also hurt the business to a point where many hospital systems are...
Mail orders no friend to pharmacies
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Marty Mintz, owner of Northern Pharmacy and Medical Equipment, is feeling the pressure as more of his patients switch to mail order prescriptions. Now he, and many pharmacies like him, are looking to DME to bring more people through the door.
Some health plans and employers are requiring patients to order their maintenance medications through mail order pharmacies. The practices leading to this shift have come to the spotlight on a national level -- in the media and the courts --...
States lash out at AAHomecare
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON -- A group of angry state association members from around the country conducted a conference April 28 and gave AAHomecare a tongue lashing, claiming the association has not fought hard enough against competitive bidding.
"There is a lot of dissatisfaction in the way national competitive bidding is being handled," said a member of the Jeresy Association of Medical Equipment Providers (JAMES) who asked not to be identified. "There is a feeling that we have given up too early and surrendered."
At...
Medical Home Products picks up diabetes company
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Medical Home Products, a provider of medical self test kits and diabetic supplies, in April acquired Strictly Diabetics. Paul Mathis, president and CEO, said the acquisition was the first step in a strategy to grow the business through acquisitions and organic expansion along established product lines. It also issued a letter of intent in April to acquire another established DME company in Texas. Medical Home Products is a publicly traded company with headquarters in St....
Medline opens new warehouse
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
MUNDELEIN, Ill. -- Medline is opening its 27th distribution center in Covington, La., a move that will improve the company's reach to 200 HME provider-customers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The privately held company says its HME business is growing by 25% annually, at a much faster clip than the company's overall 15% growth rate. In the last five years, Medline has boosted its total distribution area by three million square feet. In addition to the 27 wholly owned distribution centers,...
Sunrise Medical targets 80% next-day delivery
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
LONGMONT, Colo. -- Sunrise Medical furthered its mission to reach 80% of the U.S. population with standard, next-day shipping by opening a sixth distribution facility in High Point, N.C., this month.
Earlier this year, Sunrise opened a fifth facility in Worcester, Mass. By next year, the company plans to open additional facilities in Orlando (July 2005), Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago (early 2006).
Before the expansion plans got underway, the company shipped 31% of its stock volume on a standard...
HME whistleblowers on the rise, attorney says
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON -- Don't be surprised if you begin to see a steady rise in the number of whistleblower lawsuits in the HME industry, said Jeff Baird, a healthcare attorney with Brown & Fortunato in Amarillo, Texas.
Over the past few months, Baird has seen a marked increase in the number of whistleblower (qui tam) cases from "coast to coast."
He attributed the increase primarily to two factors: 1.) More and more HME employees are aware of fraud and abuse issues; 2.) Attorneys are looking for new markets...
AAH selects MedFORCE for document imaging
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
MONSEY, N.Y. - The HME industry has been crawling towards paperless document management over the past few years, but the principals behind a new agreement between MedFORCE Technologies and AAHomecare hope that it finally touches off a stampede.
The recently inked deal designates MedFORCE as the "document imaging provider of choice" for the national association and offers discounts to 3,000 AAH member locations across the United States.
The MedFORCE Scan system is designed specifically for the...
Managed care drives VGM expansion
May 31, 2005HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa -- The VGM Group is breaking ground this month on a new $5 million, 50,000-square-foot facility that will be used, first and foremost, as a workplace for the company's Homelink managed care division. The Homelink expansion is expected to open VGM's doors to 140 new employees next year, and perhaps 200 more later on. VGM currently employs 400 people and operates out of two facilities, a 40,000 square-foot building built in 1996 and a second 26,000 square-foot building built in 1998-1999....