industry

HME

  • Not Giving Up

    In a market driven by price and fierce competition, it seems unlikely that manufacturers of manual wheelchairs would be interested in improving current products and developing new ones. Fortunately for providers and end-users, manufacturers — while cognizant of the restraints placed on them — continue to look forward, envisioning better products that provide greater independence to end-users. Mike Serhan, vice president of Dr. K Healthcare Products, says manufacturers who are in the market for the “long-term” must differentiate themselves from others through innovation, faster response times and a commitment to serving their providers. As Serhan and others know, competition among home medical equipment providers is increasing, and cost is the best bargaining chip for some providers. “Smart providers understand quality, reliability and service, but they…
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  • GAO Paints Grim Medicare Picture

    Washington The nation’s two largest health insurers — Medicare and Medicaid — are in dire straits, in part because the government pays too much for Part B equipment and services, according to a Jan. 30 report from the U.S. General Accounting Office. Pointing to disparities between what Medicare pays for medical equipment and what other government agencies and private insurers pay, the report argues the need for a more-flexible reimbursement structure. “To lower unreasonably high payment rates, [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services today] must follow a lengthy and complicated regulatory process for making payment adjustments,” the GAO said. But that process will change as of Feb. 11, 2003, when a rule outlining CMS’ expedited payment-adjustment authority — the “inherent reasonableness” rule — becomes…
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  • Latest HME News

  • Study: Players Prone to Sleep Apnea

    London, Ontario, Canada Although the National Football League’s season has ended, sleep may not come easily for some weary players, according to a recent report from researchers at the University of Western Ontario. Experts typically associate sleep apnea with middle-aged men, but the disorder may be present among young, physically fit men, too, said Charles George, lead author of an article that appeared last month in The New England Journal of Medicine. George based this conclusion on a study of more than 300 professional football players from eight NFL teams. Compared to men of similar size and age, these football players were nearly five times more likely to have sleep apnea. Fourteen percent of the study’s participants experienced sleep-disordered breathing, and that percentage jumped to…
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  • Senate Omnibus Bill Does Not Mention HME

    Washington Home medical equipment providers breathed a sigh of relief Jan. 24, after the U.S. Senate passed a $390 billion omnibus budget package that did not include HME competitive bidding. The omnibus package consists of 11 appropriations bills that address almost every government function for the 2003 fiscal year. Responding to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s request, the package delayed a 4.4 percent Medicare physician reimbursement cut, slated to take effect this year, and brought reimbursements for rural and small urban hospitals in line with reimbursements for large urban hospitals. The Senate’s package also included a 5 percent rural home health add-on for a six-month period, ending Sept. 30, 2003. “The current 10 percent rural add-on is scheduled to expire April 1, 2003, if…
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  • IR 101

    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dec. 13, 2002, issued a long-awaited interim final rule concerning the application of “inherent reasonableness” to certain Medicare Part B items and services. This expedited IR authority could have an immediate and potentially devastating impact on home medical equipment providers, because the durable medical equipment regional carriers now have the ability to reduce payments for durable medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics at a faster pace. Effective Feb. 11, 2003, the regulations explain the process whereby CMS and Medicare carriers — including the DMERCs — will reduce or increase payment amounts when the federal government believes the existing payment amounts are either grossly excessive or grossly deficient. CMS issued the rule as an “interim final rule,” because the agency…
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  • Why Bother?

    Welcome back to Compliance University! Today we apply fresh, new perspectives to The Question They Dare Not Ask: “Why should I bother?” In December, I established the premise that any home medical equipment provider without a working regulatory compliance program is, in effect, deciding that there is no need to bother with compliance. This phenomenon certainly is not limited to HME providers. Medical groups, ancillary service providers, long-term-care organizations and even hospitals continue to operate without compliance programs in place. Last time, I presented six reasons to bother with a compliance plan, focusing on staying out of trouble with the government. While these reasons certainly are important, too often they are the only issues that providers consider. In fact, there are at least 12 additional…
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  • Congressional Outlook

    With the prospect of war on the horizon, it is hard to be excited about watching what will unfold domestically in 2003. Nonetheless, a major part of our population will be focusing intently on Washington as President Bush attempts to address both domestic issues and international crises while initiating his own re-election campaign. The President’s Jan. 28 State of the Union address was one of the more interesting that I have witnessed. It was full of surprises — initiatives for developing a hydrogen-powered car, assisting those suffering from addiction and providing medicines to AIDS victims in Africa — balanced with strong and determined words about the situation in Iraq. The President seemed to say that the United States would provide compassionate assistance to those in…
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  • Medicare’s Saviors?

    Like eager boy scouts who offer to usher an elderly woman across the street, federal lawmakers are lining up to guide Medicare into the 21st Century. The Democrats are reporting that, while the elderly woman would like to have help with her grocery bag, she otherwise is “just fine, thank you.” Republicans are insisting that, without substantial help, the elderly woman might never make it across the street. Both parties are promising to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, but Republicans say that radical reform must accompany any such benefit. Away from the glare of television-camera lights, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle admit that budget cuts are inevitable. If history has taught the home medical equipment industry anything, it is that Congress…
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  • Don’t Worry, It’s Cool

    When I broke my neck in an automobile accident, I quickly realized that being separated from the physical world changed the way many people communicated with me. Most people are apprehensive at the thought of offending disabled people by acting inappropriately. What do I do? What do I say? Maybe I should just ignore them… Take my advice: Treat people, with or without a disability, with a little courtesy, respect and some common sense. To follow are a few examples: I am not a “shut-in.” Nor am I wheelchair-bound or confined to a wheelchair. I simply am a wheelchair user, and I do get out. The word “handicap” derives from an old English term meaning “cap in hand,” which signifies a beggar. No one wants…
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  • Straight Talk

    To mark its 25th anniversary, HomeCare magazine honored six individuals who have provided distinguished service to the home medical equipment industry.
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  • Mirror, Mirror

    Happy 2003!
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  • Powering Back

    It may be the New Year, but 2003 is shaping up to be the same old story for the power wheelchair market, with some new twists. The market for power wheelchairs
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