Independent HMEs Muscle Up To NCB

TAMPA, Fla.

With national competitive bidding looming, some HME providers are banking on networks to give them the muscle to compete — and to survive.

In December, 35 small- to-medium providers in the Tampa, Fla., area formed Med Trust Tampa Bay LLC, a sister to Med Trust Corp. of Southern Florida, which was organized early last year.

Med Trust Tampa Bay is aggressively preparing for competitive bidding, said Robert M. Arado, the network’s administrator. His company, Caremed Respiratory Services, is spearheading the effort.

“[We are] forging ahead to meet all the requirements to satisfy CMS guidelines for the competitive bid,” Arado said, noting that most of the Med Trust members are accredited. “We are rigorously working with those who are not to get them accredited.”

Arado said he hopes all members of Med Trust will be accredited in four months.

In addition, he said, “we’re asking all members to increase the credit lines with their vendors. We need to come in as a network with big dollars in credit lines … Medicare will see that we are a strong player.”

Without competitive bidding networks for small providers, Arado said, “we’re going to see a fallout of providers that we haven’t ever seen before. We have a better chance as a group than by ourselves.”