Consider OxySafe a seat belt
By Liz Beaulieu, Editor
Updated Fri March 22, 2013
WESTLAKE, Ohio - Applied Home Healthcare Equipment believes a new amendment to the ISO standard for oxygen concentrators will be the push that shoves providers to adopt OxySafe.
The amendment requires a “flow stop” device in the tubing connecting a concentrator to a nasal cannula to help mitigate the acceleration of fires. That's exactly what OxySafe does.
“We're getting a lot of calls from providers,” said Victoria Marquard, general counsel and compliance officer. “Things seem to be speeding up.”
Even though the American National Standards Institute hasn't approved the amendment Applied Home Healthcare Equipment believes it's only a matter of time before organizations and payers start adopting it.
To date, OxySafe has had the most traction with providers who cater to private insurers and the Veterans Administration, Marquard says.
Marquard acknowledges that OxySafe is an added expense, but she points out that 1.) the price has come down in the past few years to $3 to $4; and 2.) it's a selling point with referral sources.
As for critics of the amendment, who fear it will only encourage oxygen patients to think it's safe to smoke, Marquard respectfully disagrees.
“When seat belts came out, some people thought, 'People are going to drive their cars recklessly,'” she said. “But just because I have a seat belt doesn't mean I'm going to drive recklessly.”
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