Archive: January 2007
Takin' care of business
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
PHOENIX - Arizona Mobility Products watched about 100 wheelchair-accessible minivans and full-sized conversion vans drive off its lot in 2006, more than twice the number in 2005.
President Mark Roberts chalks up AMP's successful year to the baby boomer generation's desire to "keep moving" and the company's ability to treat people with respect.
"In the auto industry, everyone's worried about giving customers prices and then the customers going elsewhere, and it becomes a Chinese auction," he said....
Southern rolls out new HME roll-up
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
Independent providers in the Southeast who no longer want to go it alone in an increasingly competitive HME world have a new option.
Southern Home Medical Equipment, a publicly traded company in Spartanburg, S.C., has begun rolling up independents, giving them the resources they need to compete but allowing them to maintain their autonomy, company officials say.
"We had been thinking about how to compete, and we realized we needed to not only grow but grow quickly," said Dennis Nowak, a respiratory...
'We're still in a good industry'
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. -- Rumors in the HME industry spread like wildfire. Just ask Drive Medical's CEO Harvey Diamond, who listens to the rumors but takes them with a grain of salt. For several months now, he's heard the rumor that Drive's in financial trouble. "I kind of chuckle," Diamond said in early January. "If Drive was in bad shape we wouldn't be doing acquisitions. Anyone in financial trouble doesn't announce acquisitions." Indeed, the company acquired Lifestyle Mobility Aids early last fall,...
Sleep lab harnesses high-tech solutions
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
MIDDLETOWN, Del. - An East Coast sleep company has figured out a way to keep up with skyrocketing demand. In the past two years, Sleepcare Centers has ramped up its technology, created a paperless system and developed its own in-house software to treat sleep apnea.
In December, the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based company opened its 41st location in Middletown, Del., continuing a nine-year tradition of growth.
Sleepcare operates 30 hospital-owned sleep labs and 11 standalone sites in Connecticut, Pennsylvania,...
NCART calls fee schedule 'pricing floor'
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - NCART launched a campaign in late December to educate state Medicaid directors on the danger of further reducing Medicare's new fee schedule for power mobility devices.
It's not unusual for Medicaid programs to pay only a percentage of what Medicare pays. If that becomes the case here, access to appropriate technology will be threatened, sources said.
"The Medicare fee schedule is really the rock bottom of what providers of complex rehab and technology can deal with," said Sharon Hildebrandt,...
Infusion company buys 02 provider
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
Lafayette, La. - Carmichael's Infusion Therapy & Medical Equipment has acquired Breath of Life, a home health and oxygen company, the companies announced in December. Breath of Life's operations will move to Carmichael's Lafayette office and Ken Whipp, owner of Breath of Life, will stay on with the company. Carmichael's now has four full-time respiratory therapists. Whipp said the move would allow him to "get back to the clinical side of things." Carmichael's also has locations in Lake Charles and...
NSM taps new exec
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sandi Schwartz first combined her desire to serve others and take charge at age 10, when she was named a Girl Scouts troupe leader. She hasn't looked back since, mapping out a career for herself in health care. She started off as a clinician but worked her way through the ranks to managerial and then executive-level positions at several large healthcare-related companies. Now that she's the new COO at National Seating & Mobility, Schwartz plans to continue what she began many years...
Providers enjoy their 'quiet' state
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - When Paula Finamore-Gallucci, a Rhode Island provider, attends board meetings for the New England Medical Equipment Dealers association, she often knocks on wood.
"I hear what other states are going through, and I don't want any of it coming our way," said Finamore-Gallucci, NEMED's Rhode Island chairwoman. "You know, when you live in an area like New England, ideas can catch on from one state to another."
Unlike in neighboring states, the Medicaid program's a relatively smooth...
Providers fear HMOs will follow gov't lead
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Even though the first year of Medicare's plan to transfer ownership of home oxygen equipment to beneficiaries after 36 months has come and gone, providers still aren't sure whether private payers will follow in the government's footsteps.
Some providers believe it's only a matter of time--"Private payers always follow Medicare," says Dan DeSimone, CEO of Continued Care of Long Island in Farmingdale, N.Y.--while other providers believe private payers know better.
"They've gone to ownership...
Hospital laptop lost or stolen
January 31, 2007HME News Staff
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - When a laptop containing patient information went missing from the respiratory therapy department of a hospital recently, providers were reminded of the need for safeguarding patient data.
The computer--which was password protected--was either lost or stolen from Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Ind. The hospital notified affected patients December 23 that their private information, including social security numbers, was at risk.
Healthcare providers who acquire large amounts...