In Brief

The DME MAC medical directors have posted an update to
the PAP LCD with major requirements for coverage of a PAP
device for OSA that pertain to the ordering physician. Read the
complete update on the Jurisdiction C (Cigna)
Web site, along with FAQs from physicians and providers.

Registration has opened for Medtrade Spring, and
producer Nielsen Business Media is offering a special $99 rate for
the mid-year show’s educational conference. With more than
70 sessions, the comprehensive conference, which is coordinated
through the American Association for Homecare and the Medtrade
Educational Advisory Board, will run March 24-26, 2009, at the Las
Vegas Convention Center. For more information, visit www.medtrade.com.

Spearheaded by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association and
Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare, a coalition of consumer and provider groups
is working to develop a consumer-driven survey that will
demonstrate the medical need for high-end complex rehab to
Washington legislators and regulators. In addition to HME
organizations AAHomecare, The Roho Group and Sunrise
Medical, other participating groups include the United Spinal
Association, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, United Cerebral Palsy,
the National Coalition on Disability Rights and the Paralyzed Veterans of
America. AAHomecare reported last week the coalition is
finalizing a 15-question survey to collect data in support of
efforts to improve consumer access to complex rehab. Further
information will be available soon, the association said.

National Government Services Common Electronic Data
Interchange has updated the Approved Vendor List and a list of FAQs
on the CEDI Web site, available on its Resource Materials page.

Have you checked your mail? As part of CMS’ fourth annual
contractor satisfaction survey, 30,000 randomly selected
providers received the 2009 Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction
Survey (MCPSS) on which they can offer opinions on their
Medicare Administrative Contractors. The MACs will be
measured against performance targets as part of their contract
requirements, CMS said. To meet the performance standard, the
contractor’s score for the 2009 MCPSS must fall within a specified
range of the 2008 national mean score. 2008’s survey results for
all contractors, including the DME MACs, was 4.51 on a scale of
1-6.

Brightree, the Duluth, Ga.-based software provider,
announced last week it has acquired C&S Billing
Center , an HME billing service in Antioch, Ill. The
acquisition pairs Brightree’s Internet-hosted SaaS (Software as a
Service) business management application with integrated billing
services from C&S. “This new bundled offering will make the old
billing services model obsolete,” said Dave Cormack, Brightree
president and CEO, in a press release. “No longer will providers need
to fax tons of paper, re-key the same data into multiple systems or
be kept in the dark regarding what has been billed, rejected or
paid.” In addition to the technology/service offering, Brightree
plans to utilize the C&S billing expertise to offer “best
practices” consulting services to customers.

Philips has expanded its Home Healthcare Solutions
business with acquisition of the aerosol therapy business of
Medel SpA, an Italian distributor of nebulizer compressor
systems and other home health products. In a related
transaction, the company also acquired a manufacturing facility in
Guandong, China, for nebulizer compressor systems and operations in
Hong Kong. The businesses have become part of the Respiratory Drug
Delivery, or RDD, business unit within Philips Home Healthcare
Solutions, now headquartered in Murrysville, Pa. “When Philips
acquired Respironics, the company also had a leading respiratory
drug delivery business,” CEO Don Spence said in a release.
“Building upon that strength and fulfilling on our ambition to
expand our high-growth compressor nebulizer systems franchise, we
decided to acquire the aerosol therapy business of Medel which
allows us to better serve the needs of our customers and their
patients who suffer from asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis and other respiratory disorders.”
Financial details of the acquisitions were not disclosed.

To replace the standard telephone tree,VGM Forbin, Waterloo,
Iowa, announced last week it has partnered with CareFlash on a
social networking program for people with disabilities and chronic
medical conditions. Through the contemporary phenomenon,
the partnership offers HME providers another avenue to reach out to
their customers, the member services group said. “Online social
networking has come to people with chronic medical conditions and
disabilities. This will be one of the mega-trends in our country
over the next two years,” said Mike Mallaro, CFO and CIO for The
VGM Group. “As millions of people with disabilities and chronic
conditions gather in a single place, in this case in the virtual
world of social networking, there can’t help but be opportunities
for HME providers. Online social networking creates an intricate
web of possibilities for health care providers. The strategic
partnership with CareFlash is one way VGM can help our members
capitalize on this trend.”

The CEOs of two San Bernardino County, Calif., medical
companies were charged in a seven-count indictment unsealed
Tuesday for their alleged roles in a Medicare fraud scheme
involving unnecessary DME, the U.S. Department of Justice
said. Adekunle Rafiu Shittu, a/k/a Cooley, 54, and Kim Jeanette
Shittu, 45, were charged with billing more than $3.5 million to
Medicare between September 2005 and October 2008 for equipment
including power wheelchairs and hospital beds that was not provided
to patients or that they knew patients did not need. Working
through Kimco Medical Supply in San Bernardino and K&K Medical
Supply in Fontana, the defendants received more than $2 million in
Medicare payments for the equipment. Each defendant faces a maximum
of 55 years in prison and mandatory restitution if found guilty on
all counts.