RALEIGH, N.C.—State and national durable medical equipment (DME) advocates have helped secure a $3.2 million increase for HME in North Carolina, the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) announced. 

AAHomecare credited the Atlantic Coast Medical Equipment Services Association (ACMESA) and strong relationships developed with North Carolina Medicaid officials and members of the state legislature for making the win possible.  

AAHomecare, Georgia Association worked together to organize lobby days and ensure Medicaid care management organization pays full fee schedule.

ATLANTA—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) and the Georgia Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers (GAMES) recently secured a rate floor for durable medical equipment (DME) using regulatory authority, AAHomecare announced. Laura Williard, vice president of payer relations for AAHomecare and state legislative chair for GAMES, worked closely with Peachtree Government Relations and helped organize two lobby days in the state to educate government officials on reimbursement cha

WASHINGTON—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) and VGM are partnering on a new virtual advocacy event to bolster awareness and support for active Medicare reimbursement legislation as Congress enters final legislative weeks of the year. The Virtual Hill Day, set for Nov. 13, will reinforce the virtual advocacy effort from just a few weeks ago with a focus on reaching targeted members on committees of jurisdiction for federal healthcare finance issues. 

The University of Pittsburgh grant supports clinicians with post-doctoral fellowships to advance their careers in assistive technology practice, research and policy.

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania—The University of Pittsburgh Rehabilitation Science and Technology Department has received a five-year grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research to support clinicians with post-doctoral fellowships to advance their careers in assistive technology practice, research and policy.

Survey findings will help guide Association’s comprehensive strategic planning process

AAHomecare has opened its strategic priorities survey and seeks from input all areas of the home medical equipment sector (HME). The survey is designed to capture perspectives from HME suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, service providers to the HME industry and HME association executives. It will remain open through May 12.

Preference for post-acute care (PAC) interoperability up from 74% in 2021, 60% in 2019

Nearly every U.S. hospital and physician entity is more likely to refer patients to a post-acute care (PAC) provider that can support electronic data exchange, according to the latest leading independent survey on interoperability, commissioned by Brightree and MatrixCare, wholly owned subsidiaries of ResMed.

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pennsylvania—ECRI, a nonprofit organization focused on technology evaluation and safety in health care, said that the nation's most pressing health technology safety issue for 2023 is gaps with recalls of home medical equipment (HME).

"Recall notices for home-use products often do not reach users, placing patients at serious risk of harm," the organization said in its new report, "Top 10 Health Technology Hazards."