industry

HME

  • Searching for Peace in Rehab

    Advances in medicine and technology, and the demographics of an aging population provide unprecedented opportunities for growth in the rehab industry. But rather than enjoying the ride, there is dissent in the air. Over the years, the word rehab has been used to describe the mobility products and assistive technology market of the home medical equipment services industry as if it were one product segment. It is not. In fact, three distinct market segments that fall under the rehab label. And, not only do these segments not look like each other, they don’t much like each other. Standard Products The standard rehab products market segment includes walkers, canes, crutches, standard wheelchairs and other items that are used to rehabilitate individuals who are recovering from strokes,…
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  • Connaughton Explains Decision to Resign as AAHomecare President

    Alexandria, Va. After serving three years as the public face of the Ameri-can Association for Homecare, Tom Connaughton March 21 announced he will resign as president of the association, effective mid June, 2003. “This decision is indeed a bitter sweet one,” Connaughton told HomeCare. “I have loved working with this industry and with my staff, and I believe very strongly in the importance of this industry. However, an opportunity has arisen in a company that I have represented in the past, and, at this time in my career, it’s something that I want to do.” In his new position — at the helm of a medical manufacturer’s Washington office — Connaughton likely will not address home care issues, he said. Cook Group, based in Bloomingon,…
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  • Latest HME News

  • New Products

    Editor’s Choice: The Sunrise Medical Standard Wheelchair Line Guardian Easy Care Wheelchair Family Call 888/333-2572. Web site: www.sunrisemedical.com Circle 500 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Manufacturer’s Note: “In speaking with our customers, we were often asked to provide a line of standard wheelchairs that offered industry compatibility at a competitive cost. Our new line of Guardian Easy Care wheelchairs provides our customers with an excellent alternative to many of the current standard wheelchairs on the market. Our customers now will be able to offer their clients a variety of manual mobility products unequaled in the industry. Whether our customers need a cost-competitive, industry-compatible wheelchair such as the Guardian Easy Care or a highly innovative lightweight product such as the Quickie Ti Titanium, we will…
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  • OIG Warns: No Telemarketing

    Washington For the second time this year, the U.S. Office of Inspector General has posted a special fraud alert concerning telemarketing and durable medical
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  • What About Service?

    Perhaps more than ever before, home medical equipment providers face issues that present direct challenges to their business success. Competitive bidding,
    Read More →: What About Service?

  • Provider News Wire

    Financials: Apria Reports Annual Earnings: For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002, Apria Healthcare of Lake Forest, Calif. reported a net income of
    Read More →: Provider News Wire

  • Luck or Pluck?

    American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect. The home medical equipment industry
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  • Top Products of 2002

    Each year, HomeCare publishes advertising and editorial copy about hundreds of home health care products. We also process thousands of reader requests for more information about these products. The results are in for 2002, and our readers’ choices — the top 25 products they asked to learn more about — appear in this edition of HomeCareXtra. The No. 1 item of interest in the magazine’s pages last year was AirSep’s portable oxygen concentrator, the LifeStyle, a product that also made the list for 2001. If you’re not among those who inquired about this product, here’s your chance to give it a second look. Echoing market trends, ambulatory aids, sleep products and bath safety products were of special interest to our readers. But their picks also…
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  • Is Retail the Answer?

    When you are fed up with the burden of working with Medicare, Medicaid and other third party payers, where do you turn? For many home medical equipment companies, retail is the answer. The idea of collecting cash up front is wonderful compared to completing the documentation required for third-party billing. For some, cash collections may mean meeting payroll. Moreover, it is far easier to train a retail clerk than to train a biller and a collector. So, why doesn’t everyone add retail to the business mix? From a practical perspective, many people do not turn to retail because the retail business is more difficult to operate than it appears. Why? Not only must retail salespeople have professional and courteous appearances, they also must be able…
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  • Balancing Act

    Last year, the four durable medical equipment regional carriers issued supplier-manual updates requiring home medical equipment suppliers, in certain circumstances such as pre-and post-pay audits, to submit physician progress notes to substantiate medical necessity for a particular claim. Then, in December, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in its certificate of medical necessity submission to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, reported “suppliers and physicians will complete these [CMN] forms and as needed supply additional routine supporting documentation necessary to process claims.” To put it plainly, CMS and the DMERCs have placed the burden on DME suppliers to provide to the DMERCs copies of physician progress notes to determine whether the medical necessity criteria were met for a particular claim. The CMN…
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  • National News Wire

    Regulatory: CMS Publishes Contractor Standards: The Baltimore-based Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Feb. 25 published an announcement in the Federal Register, describing the criteria whereby Medicare will evaluate its durable medical equipment regional carriers during 2003. “The results of [these] evaluations are considered whenever we enter into, renew or terminate a … DMEPOS regional carrier contract or take other contract actions,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote. Although the proposed standards — which include criteria for claims processing, customer service and fiscal responsibility — took effect March 3, CMS will accept comments on the standards until March 31. More information about these standards is available at www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a030228c.html, under the CMS heading. FDA Publishes Device User-Fee Rates: The Feb. 28 Federal Register included…
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  • New Products

    Editor’s Choice: The Quantum Rehab Vibe Power Chair Rear-Wheel-Drive Power Wheelchair Call 800/800-8586. Web site: www.quantumrehab.com. Circle 500 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Altimate Medical/Stander Accessories XL Accessories for Ovation Strap Stand Call 800/342-8968. Web site: www.easystand.com. Circle 499 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. TiLite/Lightweight Wheelchair Evo Call 800/545-2266. Web site: www.tilite.com. Circle 498 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Camp Healthcare/Diabetic Sock DynaSock Call 800/492-1088. Web site: www.camphealthcare.com. Circle 497 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Johnson & Johnson/Independence Technology/Manual Assist Wheelchair iGlide Call 866/202-4475. Web site: www.iglidenow.com. Circle 496 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. KCI/Wound Dressings Round Foam and Thin Foam Dressings Call 888/275-4524. Web site: www.woundvac.com. Circle 495 or visit www.homecaremag.com for company information. Invacare/Walker Blue-Release Walker Call 800/333-6900….
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