Medtrade notes: Separate benefit for complex power wheelchairs

I had already listened to Don Clayback's presentation on creating a new benefit for complex power wheelchairs earlier this month (click here for my story), but I attended his presentation at Medtrade, anyway.

I'm glad I did.

The presentation may have been the same, but because attendees asked different questions, Clayback and other members of the steering committee offered a few new details. Here are a few of those details, plus some observations:

• What products will be included in the benefit? Clayback says committee members will "get down to the code level at some point," but right now, they're looking more at the process, rather than products. They're asking themselves: What are the outcomes we're looking for? Having said that, the new benefit will likely include alternative systems like standers.
• "You're on the right track," said one attendee.
• Will the new benefit affect reimbursement? Committee members plan to address who gets reimbursed and how they get reimbursed, said Gary Gilberti, a committee member and president of NCART. But with "no clear delineation" of the roles between rehab professionals and therapists, it could get messy, pointed out Simon Margolis, a committee member and executive director of NRRTS. The groups need to "work together," he said.
• Part of the presentation was a strongly-worded call to action. "What concerns me the most is you," Margolis said to attendees. "You're not going to like what comes out of the bottom of the hopper unless you've put some feed in at the top." Those who don't participate in the process "can't bitch at us later," he warned.

Liz Beaulieu