industry

HME

  • A Fresh Approach

    Running a successful HME and attracting referral sources is challenging, but it doesn’t have to be brain surgery. “I think ordering oxygen should be as easy as ordering a pizza,” says Jason Seeley, the 29-year-old vice president of Columbus, Ohio-based DASCO Home Medical Equipment. DASCO runs its HME business on simple philosophies and a youthful spirit that have been parlayed into measurable growth. The company has seven locations throughout Ohio, and the 7,500-square-foot main office in Columbus currently is undergoing an expansion to 16,000 square feet. The company reported more than $10 million in revenue for 2003, and Seeley says that’s a 30 percent increase over sales in 2002, when the sales team he implemented began putting the young man’s business strategy to work. DASCO…
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  • Rotech Signs On with Gentiva Health Services

    Orlando, Fla. Last month, Rotech Healthcare signed an agreement with Melville, N.Y.-based Gentiva Health Services, the nation’s largest home health nursing company, to supply respiratory therapy and DME services to patients. Rotech now has primary preferred provider arrangements in 23 states and shared preferred arrangements in 10 states through Gentiva’s CareCentrix network, which provides managed care organizations with home care services including traditional home nursing, chronic and acute infusion therapies and DME and respiratory equipment. Rotech has also signed a three-year primary preferred provider agreement with Gentiva to provide CPAP devices and related OSA products for CareCentrix patients. Phillip L. Carter, Rotech’s president and CEO, said the company’s annual revenue from these contracts “could well be greater than $25 million as we enter 2005,” and…
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  • Latest HME News

  • Respiratory and Oxygen Products

    CHAD Therapeutics/Oxygen Therapeutic Device Sage S.M.A.R.T. Call 800/423-8870. Web site: www.sagedevice.com Circle 448 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Invacare Corp./Oxygen Filling System HomeFill II Call 800/333-6900. Web site: www.invacare.com Circle 444 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Respironics/Full Face Mask ComfortFull Call 800/345-6443. Web site: www.respironics.com Circle 442 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. ResMed/Accessory Module ResLink Call 800/424-0737. Web site: www.resmed.com Circle 440 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Sunrise Medical/Bi-Level CPAP DeVilbiss 9055D RPM Call 800/333-4000. Web site: www.sunrisemedical.com Circle 437 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Cramer Decker Medical/Oxygen Regulator Brass Core Mini-Regulator Call 877/222-0200. Web site: www.cramerdeckermedical.com Circle 434 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. SeQual Technologies/Bedside Oxygen Concentrator IntegraSeven Call 800/826-4610. Web site: www.sequal.com Circle 435 or visit www.homecaremag.com…
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  • Vladeck Predicts HME Market Will Double by 2020

    The chief concern among many attendees at Medtrade Spring in Las Vegas comes as no surprise. “Getting paid and reimbursement cuts,” said Scot Silber, CEO of Green Valley Drugs Home Health and Physician Sales, Henderson, Nev. “Reimbursement cuts,” said Gary Salazar, rehab technology specialist at Mobility Giver Inc., Huntington Beach, Calif. But the coming 2005 cuts didn’t dampen buying activity at the industry trade show and conference, where approximately 7,000 HME providers, manufacturers and others associated with the home health care industry gathered March 16-18 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Exhibitors and attendees alike said the aisles were busier this year, and Medtrade producers reported a 13 percent increase in attendance from 2003 — a sign, according to some, of continued strong business in…
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  • New Products

    Homecare Products/Telescoping Ramp Platform 5 Call 800/451-1903. Web site: www.homecareproducts.com Circle 499 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Polymap Wireless/Medical Data Transmitter The Polytel System Call 520/747-1811. Web site: www.polymap.net Circle 496 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Drive Medical-Wenzelite/Posterior Safety Roller Nimbo Call 800/706-9255. Web site: www.drivemedical.com Circle 488 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. The Roho Group/Wheelchair Back Support JetStream Pro Call 800/851-3449. Web site: www.therohogroup.com Circle 482 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Supracor/Shower Cushion Stimulite Call 800/787-7226. Web site: www.supracor.com Circle 487 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Harmar Mobility/Wheelchair Carrier Tilt ‘N’ Tote Call 800/833-0478. Web site: www.harmar.com Circle 497 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Graham-Field Health Products/Hand Grip Ortho-Ease Call 800/347-5678. Web site: www.grahamfield.com Circle 489 or visit…
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  • Building on Success

    When Sandra and James Hoskin were leasing a small retail space in front of a Houston hotel in 1987, their landlord evicted them. He was selling the property to a buyer who needed the space. Vowing never to lease again, the co-owners of American Medical Equipment soon began property-hunting. This was the late ’80s, when “real estate wasn’t moving at all,” Sandra recalls. But the stale market ultimately worked to the couple’s advantage when they found a rundown piece of real estate — with enormous potential. “The owner really wanted to get rid of it,” Sandra says, adding that he actually dropped the price $100,000 and was willing to finance the purchase himself. The area had trash on the streets and relatively light traffic, “but…
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  • Professionalism Is Part of Solution

    Just as with regulatory compliance, one of the keys to addressing the new Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) successfully is to address your own internal management systems. Ironically, this is both a key part of the solution and a key part of why we’re in this mess in the first place. Why? The greatest insight I draw from the Medicare reform law is sobering: Congress does not believe that the HME industry has its act together. We cannot discount the fine lobbying work done by the American Association for Homecare and state associations. But Congress appears convinced that those organizations present the voice of only the very best suppliers. Our lawmakers evidently believe that most HME providers do not have their acts…
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  • A Ton of Prevention

    The Medicare Reform Act, otherwise known as the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA), became effective Jan. 1, 2004. Although the reimbursement reductions that affect the home medical equipment industry will become more severe over time, you should not sit idly and wait for the larger cuts to become effective. Rather, it is imperative to begin evaluating your company’s practices to prepare for the bigger changes that are forthcoming. Knowing what to expect will help you make an educated decision about your company’s future direction. Refine Operations Know the facts. Before planning for change, explain Medicare reform to your staff. Identify those changes that are effective immediately and those whose implementation is scheduled for later. For example, we know that fees are frozen…
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  • Look Upon the Doughnut

    The last few months have been trying times, filled with much confusion, with information changing daily, with regulations that we all have difficulty understanding. It seems that the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., are having difficulty in finding a common approach to Medicare, to Medicaid, to Social Security, to a rapidly rising national debt and to resolving our difficulties with terrorists. While the government’s recent actions have had a detrimental effect on the average DME/HME dealer, HHAs and most other health practitioners, this is not the time for sackcloth and ashes. On the contrary, now is when you have to restructure your plans for the future. Throughout this issue of HomeCare, you’ll find lots of suggestions from the experts on how to prepare your business for…
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  • Medtrade Spring Planner

    In the spring, the HME industry’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of … Vegas, baby! Medtrade Spring 2004 gets under way March 16-18, with a host of products you need to see and information you need to know to sail your business safely through challenging times. The expo and buying event offers 75 educational sessions and 450 exhibitors at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show provides an informal opportunity to connect with HME peers and learn the tools necessary to survive the imminent changes brought on by recent Medicare legislation. But Medtrade isn’t all business. On the following pages, you’ll find important schedules and hip post-show activities to help cool your heels after a long day on the show floor. Monorail Step outside the…
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  • Letters to the Editor

    No Tears Here We in the industry do not cry crocodile tears over The Scooter Store’s lamentations (“Scooter Store Lays Off 200,” February 2003). I am sure that the store’s ads have been in no small part responsible for Medicare’s increased scrutiny of power wheelchair claims. The Scooter Store has predicated its business model on the fact that Medicare has not been aggressively auditing providers of power mobility products. Many of us in the industry have been well aware of both Medicare’s regulations regarding the ambulatory status issue and the fact that, quite frankly, many claims for these items have been improperly paid due to “holes” in the DMERCs’ edit/audit systems. When you use phrases such as “we guarantee Medicare coverage, or you pay nothing,”…
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  • Bring It On

    One of the most famous commentaries on the pursuit of happiness came from a group of shaggy rock stars in 1969: “You can’t always get what you want,” The Rolling Stones told us. But not getting what we want is only part of the problem, according to Daniel Gilbert, a psychology professor at Harvard. When it comes to predicting happiness, Gilbert says, “The problem is you can’t always know what you want.” At the heart of Gilbert’s theory is the idea that humans tend to overestimate the impact of events — both good and bad — on their lives. We predict that winning the lottery will solve all of our problems. We predict we’ll never recover from the loss of a job or the end…
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