Archive: March 2008
Rotech hangs by a thread
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
ORLANDO - The NASDAQ hasn't given up on Rotech Healthcare—yet. On Feb. 21, the NASDAQ approved Rotech's application to transfer from the stock market's Global Market to Capital Market listing, according to a Feb. 25 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The provider began listing on the Capital Market, under the same symbol (ROHI), Feb. 27. The Capital Market has less restrictive continued listing requirements, including a $1 minimum bid price requirement. The NASDAQ notified Rotech on...
Excellence flows from top to bottom
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
The overarching philosophy at Valley Home Care is to “focus on clinical and service excellence and the rest will take of itself.” As demonstrated by two consecutive first runner-up titles in the HME category of the HME Excellence Awards, that approach seems to work very well for them.
Whether it's with patient care, referral source relations, retail operations or customer service, the Valley team emphasizes quality and excellence above all, said Michael Wade, director of marketing and...
New ‘superstore’ targets HSA dollars
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - An “online superstore,” www.hsafsa.com, debuts March 31 that features only over-the-counter drugs and home medical equipment eligible for coverage through Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs). According to a release: “No other online drugstore offers this type of service. While other online drugstores may have HSA/FSA categories, HSA-FSA Superstore is the first of its kind to offer only HSA/FSA eligible items. This allows...
‘This is flawed in so many ways’
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Three economists who spoke at AAHomecare's Legislative Conference last month could not have been more clear: National competitive bidding, in its current form, is a boondoggle and doomed to failure.
“When there are fewer people to compete with, prices go up,” said Brian O'Roark, an assistant professor of economics at Robert Morris University. “This is the pattern that happens time and time again.”
O'Roark co-authored “The Impact of Competitive Bidding on...
Don’t do us any favors
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
When has The Scooter Store ever done anything in the best interests of our industry, as opposed to disguising their actions in a misguided and pathetic attempt to further their own agenda? Is there anyone who has never seen through their charades?
Sure, they'll contend that everything they're doing is in the best interest of the entire industry. Just listen to Mr. Harrison's explanation for their recent letter to Congress—a letter that included information that ran counter to the industry's...
Scooter Store keeps on giving
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - The Scooter Store continues to donate power wheelchairs as part of its “Gift of Mobility” program. In February alone, the provider donated a power wheelchair to William Wilson, 80, who suffers from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; David Harrison, 59, who suffers from permanent brain damage; and Ruby Pittman, who is 110 years old.
‘Rock and Roll’
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
In mid-March, Amanda Overmyer, a 23-year-old respiratory therapy nurse, was one of 11 final contestants for American Idol. Overmyer worked at Lincare's Kokomo, Ind., branch before wowing judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and voters with her Janis Joplin-esque voice. Jackson dubbed Overmyer, who rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the “Rock and Roll nurse.” Her musical influences: Joplin, Bob Seger, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and Guns n' Roses. HME
Contracts for three products up for grabs
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
POCATELLO, Idaho - The state hit providers with a triple whammy in January, when it put out requests for bids for mail order contracts to provide diabetes, enteral nutrition and incontinence products to the state's Medicaid patients. The state plans to award three-year contracts to one bidder in each category.
“We believe it's in violation of state law,” said Mike Calcaterra, president of the Big Sky Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers. “Idaho Medicaid rules provide for patient...
Provider moves sleep business into the bedroom
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
WAUKESHA, Wis. - If patients can't—or won't—get themselves into a clinic for a sleep study, Jill Spellman stands ready to bring testing to them.
The president of Oxygen One launched Sleep Apnea Solutions as a separate business last June.
“I wanted to offer people an option to have an affordable sleep test, simply done, in their own home,” said Spellman. “Sometimes, a patient will have had a prescription for a sleep study for six months. When asked why they haven't gone,...
Rooting for Taco
March 31, 2008HME News Staff
BECKLEY, West Va. - Here's a story you don't come across too often, courtesy of the Register-Herald in Beckley, West Va. Billie Lewis takes her 20-year-old Chihuahua named Taco with her on home medical equipment deliveries. Taco becomes sick with congestive heart failure. Lewis' employer, Patient's Choice, provides Taco with an oxygen concentrator to help him breathe easier. Lewis tapes the oxygen tube to a box and places the box over Taco's bed. Lewis told the newspaper: “He sleeps with his...