Skip to Content

Archive: April 2012


On the Move

The mystery of the antique wheelchair

April 30, 2012Elizabeth Deprey

  NRRTS member Wayne Smith came across an antique wicker back wheelchair recently.   Wayne is now on the hunt for more info and maybe someone who could help him track the wheelchair's travels before it was found in southern Oregon. Medstar's Gerry Dickerson thinks it might be Civil War era. Another source told Wayne the manufacturer might be Gendron, and it might be from around 1940. Anyone who might have some clues for him, please feel free to leave a comment here...

Home Medical Equipment (HME), National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers (NRRTS), Wheelchair


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Mobility

New emphasis on patient release forms for complex rehab

April 27, 2012Elizabeth Deprey

YARMOUTH, Maine - If complex rehab providers want to help preserve access to equipment and services for Medicaid recipients, they need to do a better job getting patients to sign release forms, industry stakeholders say.NCART'S Medicaid Committee has been working to challenge denials and overturn negative policies in various states, but without release forms, its efforts often hit a wall."That's been our biggest issue," said Rita Hostak, an executive committee member for NCART and vice president...

Complex Rehab, Medicaid


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Vendors

Invacare briefs shareholders on FDA, earnings

April 27, 2012Liz Beaulieu, Editor

ELYRIA, Ohio - Invacare expects to engage a third-party to audit its compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations in the fourth quarter of this year, company officials said during a conference call this week to discuss first quarter earnings.Invacare and the FDA still haven't finalized an agreement to address the agency's concerns at the company's corporate headquarters and wheelchair manufacturing facility here, but the company has been working toward a resolution since, at...

Invacare, ResMed


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

On the Move

Dangerous acronyms

April 27, 2012Elizabeth Deprey

We're heading toward the final stretch of Friday afternoon here at HME News World HQ, and I thought I'd share a little story with you guys to perk you up to make it to the finish line. Back in the olden days, when I first started at HME News (last April) Liz asked me to write some story for the mobility section and to talk to Simon Margolis from NRRTS. I nodded my head, walked back to my cube, and promptly forgot who I was supposed to contact. However, I did remember the organization, so I hopped...

Friday, Funny, HME News


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

News

Update: Nichole Medical vs. TriCenturion

April 27, 2012Liz Beaulieu, Editor

PHILADELPHIA - Dominic Rotella, the former HME provider who won an audit on appeal and who is now suing TriCenturion, the CMS contractor that conducted the audit, for $10 million in damages had his day in court April 20.In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District here, Rotella's attorney, David Hollar, argued that Nichole Medical Equipment & Supply was driven out of business by TriCenturion's “unlawful” audit and, therefore, deserves damages. When asked by one of the three judges...

Home Medical Equipment (HME), tricenturion


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

News

'We have a lot of work ahead of us,' CMS says

April 27, 2012HME News Staff

WASHINGTON - Medicare should remain solvent in the short-term, but its future is still unknown, according to the annual Medicare Trustees Report released last week.Medicare is expected to remain solvent until 2024, the same year shown in last year's report.“The Trustees Report tells us that while Medicare is stable for now, we have a lot of work ahead of us to guarantee its future,” stated Acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner in a press release.In 2011, Medicare covered 48.7 million...

Medicare


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

News

Legislative update: Hot seat, PR machine and caught on camera

April 27, 2012Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

WASHINGTON - It looks like Medicare fraudsters have moved on from home medical equipment.At a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on April 24, Health and Human Services Inspector General told lawmakers that efforts to push fraud out of the HME have been successful. Now in the hot seat: home health and community mental health."In the past, we've been more of the focus, with (lawmakers) asking questions about DME," said Stacey Harms, manager of government affairs for AAHomecare, who attended...

AAHomecare, Competitive Bidding, Home Medical Equipment (HME), People for Quality Care


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

News

In brief: CMS finalizes NPI policy, Drive builds web stores

April 27, 2012HME News Staff

WASHINGTON - CMS last week published a final rule in the Federal Register that requires all HME providers to include their National Provider Identifier (NPI) on 1.) all applications to enroll in Medicare and Medicaid programs and 2.) all claims for payment submitted under Medicare and Medicaid programs. The rule also requires physicians and other professionals who are permitted to order and certify covered items and services for Medicare beneficiaries to be enrolled in the program; and mandates document...

Apria, CMS, Home Medical Equipment (HME), Provider, VGM Group


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Mobility

RESNA backs up ultralight wheelchairs

April 26, 2012Elizabeth Deprey

ARLINGTON, Va. - A fully-customizable ultralight manual wheelchair can prevent injuries and pain, and improve functionality, according to a new RESNA position paper. The "RESNA Position on the Application of Ultralight Manual Wheelchairs," released April 18, combines research with current best clinical practices to support the use of customizable ultralight manual wheelchairs. "There are ultralight wheelchairs that are being produced that are not customizable," said Andrea Van Hook, RESNA communications...

HME News, Home Medical Equipment (HME), Mobility, RESNA, Wheelchair


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Providers

Home Health Depot adds 2,500 patients

April 25, 2012Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

INDIANAPOLIS - Home Health Depot continues its growth spurt with the acquisition of RCS Management's respiratory business, it announced April 24.The deal gives Home Health Depot about 2,500 new patients.“We are committed to being the most responsive respiratory and sleep therapy equipment company in the Midwest," stated Nathan Feltman, president of Home Health Depot, in a release.Home Health Depot has seen its respiratory business grow over the past several years, which it credits to investments...

CPAP, Home health depot, Home Medical Equipment (HME), respiratory equipment, Sleep Therapy


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon