NCART seeks updated financials

WASHINGTON - A lot has changed in the complex rehab market in the last nearly 10 years—that's why NCART is looking to update its National CRT Provider Financial Survey.

NCART announced Aug. 24 that it was looking for complex rehab providers to participate in the confidential survey, a follow-up to a similar survey conducted in 2008.

“As we look to get additional benefits for the CRT side of the market, we need updated information to advocate effectively,” said Don Clayback, executive director of NCART.

This time, NCART has tapped the Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., to conduct the survey. Raj Murthy, Ph.D., an associate professor of marketing, will supervise the process. The Simon Business School at the University of Rochester, also in Rochester, conducted the pervious study.

Clayback expects to use the survey results to back the industry's argument that complex rehab is a high expense, low profit margin business, one that it says needs to be protected from the protracted reimbursement reductions impacting other areas of the DMEPOS benefit.

“We're really trying to tell the story behind those two points,” he said.

The previous study showed that, on average, 49% of a complex rehab company's dollars went toward paying for equipment and 46% went toward paying for expenses, leaving 5% before taxes for profit. In this area, Clayback expects similar data this year.

“Over the years, providers have managed this better, by cutting costs and working with manufacturers on better pricing, but there's a limit to that, without compromising quality and service,” he said.

Where the two studies may differ, however, is in the sizes of the companies that makeup the market. In the 2008 study, small companies with annual revenues of less than $5 million represented 53% of the market, with companies in the $5 million to $10 million range representing 42% and those in the $10 million and up range representing 5%.

The complex rehab market has since gone through significant consolidation, driven by national providers Numotion and National Seating & Mobility, and a string of business closures— trends that will likely skew this year's numbers toward the higher end of the market, Clayback says.

RIT, which seeks data for calendar year/fiscal year 2016, plans to collect data throughout September and release a report by the end of October, Clayback says. For more information and to register for the survey, go here.