Tag: Joe Lewarski
Respiratory market emerges from ‘whiplash’
January 31, 2023John Andrews
The respiratory market has undergone a series of shifts over the past two-and-a-half years, due to the pandemic and other issues, like supply chain disruptions. But now it appears that external forces have waned, creating a more stable environment for providers, respiratory manufacturers say.
Jim Worrell, chief commercial officer for Pinellas Park, Fla.-based Quality Biomedical, called the past couple of years “a roller coaster ride” as the industry continues to emerge...
Lewarski elected to ARCF board
June 2, 2017HME News Staff
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. - Joe Lewarski has been elected to the board of directors of the American Respiratory Care Foundation. Lewarski, vice president of global respiratory and sleep for Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, is a registered respiratory therapist and fellow of the American Association for Respiratory Care. He has also served multiple terms on the AAHomecare board of directors and he was awarded the association's Homecare Champion Award in 2011. Lewarski was also awarded the Invacare Award...
People: Joe Lewarski
April 7, 2017HME News Staff
Joseph Lewarski, vice president of Global Respiratory and Sleep for Drive DeVilbiss, will speak at the American Association for Respiratory Care's 70th Anniversary Conference at the Dittrick Museum of Medical History April 22. He will discuss the history and evolution of home respiratory care, the impact that reimbursement challenges have on the delivery of care, the current status of respiratory homecare, therapists' current challenges and the future of homecare respiratory therapy.
Changing healthcare models: What's the impact on home care?
February 24, 2017Guest Commentary
The Affordable Care Act: Has there been such major health policy reform in the United States since the 1965 passing of the Social Security Amendments? A goal of the ACA is changing payment models based on the belief the current healthcare payment model is broken. It has been suggested the core of the problem is the fee-for-service system, which opponents argue promotes high utilization without appropriate accountability for cost, quality and outcomes.The ACA intends to shift away from a reactive,...
Lewarski joins Drive-DeVilbiss team
July 15, 2015HME News Staff
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. - Joseph Lewarski has joined DeVilbiss Healthcare as vice president of global respiratory and sleep categories, Drive Medical announced July 14. DeVilbiss is a subsidiary of Drive. In his role, Lewarski will work with the company's global sales and product management teams to grow the categories. Lewarski has more than 30 years of experience in health care, including seven years with Invacare. “This is an exciting time to be joining the Drive-DeVilbiss team,”...
Outcomes study: COPD patients wanted
June 19, 2015Tracy Orzel
Industry stakeholders hope a new COPD study will lend weight to its argument that education improves patient compliance and outcomes.
AAHomecare and the American Association for Respiratory Care are recruiting HME providers and oxygen patients to participate in the Peer-Led O2 Infoline for Patient and Caregivers study, funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
“Hopefully the study highlights the fact that we're not a commodity,” said Peter Rankin, manager of...
Embrace 'rapid maturity' of oxygen market
June 20, 2014John Andrews
Whether an oxygen provider won the second round of Medicare competitive bidding or not, the results are the same: a dramatic restructuring of the oxygen business model is necessary for continued viability in the category, market experts say.
With reimbursement cuts of 45%, it is a new era of austerity that requires wringing every dollar out of every transaction, says Scott Wilkinson, executive vice president of sales at Goleta, Calif.-based Inogen.
“Forty-five percent is a hefty...
Medtrade: Competitive bidding is on everyone's lips
November 16, 2010Mike Moran
I flew from Maine to Atlanta Sunday night to get ready for Medtrade, which starts at 10 am this morning. From all I've heard and seen so far, the industry's biggest trade show looks like it will be a bit bigger than last year. That makes sense because if the industry does not come together in times like these, it never will. The show always produces a few surprises, but the one thing I know for sure is that the topic of conversation on everyone's lips will be competitive bidding.
The...
'Seniors fear nursing homes more than death'
September 3, 2010Mike Moran
Dr. Steve Landers of the Cleveland Clinic said something very interesting this week at Invacare's annual Media Day. He called home care "futuristic."
That's not something you hear everyday, especially with Medicare and other payers cutting reimbursement right and left, and refusing, for the most part, to recognize the important role home care plays in keeping patients happy, healthy and out of more expensive institutional care settings. Heck, CMS seems intent on blasting HME back to the stone age.
Media...
What? Are you kidding me? This ain't no therapy session, pal
December 17, 2009Mike Moran
You know what I hate? I hate to write something for HME News and then for some reason never publish it. Occasionally, and this really burns me, I'll interview someone for a half hour, get some great information and use it as the basis for a story, only to have the person call me up a while later and say: "All that stuff we talked about earlier, that's just between you and me. Don't write a story. Okay?"
When that happens, I'm like, "What? Are you serious? Listen you knucklehead: I didn't spend...