ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 4, 2012—On Tuesday, Sept. 11, Tammy Zelenko, CEO of AdvaCare Home Services in Pittsburgh, will represent the American Association for Homecare as she testifies before the Small Business Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology.
HomeCare News
BALTIMORE, Md., Sept. 7, 2012—One potentially significant element of the Medicare ecosystem is the Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN), a tool for informing beneficiaries about anticipated future services that the program may not cover. ABNs can be significant for innovators because they help sketch the limits of patient financial responsibility for new types of health care services.
ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 5, 2012—As has been reported, Rep. Tom Price, M.D. (R-Ga.) has agreed to introduce a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to replace the Medicare bidding program with the Market Pricing Program (MPP). This is an important step forward in stopping the current bidding program and replacing it with a market-based system that will not interfere with patients’ access to home medical equipment and services.
NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2012—United Spinal will present two free webinars for those living with disabilities and their caregivers. Its membership division, National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA), will host the webinars this September that will focus on ways to discover a healthy and active lifestyle and how to overcome the challenges of chronic health issues such as spinal cord injury (SCI), MS, polio, ALS or spina bifida.
MIAMI, Aug. 24, 2012—According to Rob Brant, board president of the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America (AMEPA): Medicare has finally released utilization records for Round 1 of their bidding program in home medical equipment and it did not take a Freedom of Information Act request or act of Congress to attain the records. Ironically, Medicare has included the 2011 allowable units with a corresponding list of HCPCS codes as part of the Round 1 Recompete Worksheets.
AUGUSTA, Ga., Aug. 29, 2012—According to competitive bidding implementation contractor Palmetto GBA, the first in a series of educational webcasts for the Round 1 recompete of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program is now available on its website.
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2012—Celsya, Inc., announces the launch of their newly designed website CelsyaLife (www.celsyalife.com), a free and secure communication platform for seniors 55 and older. CelsyaLife provides an easy way for seniors to connect with family and friends and offers tools for a healthy and safer lifestyle.
MIAMI, August 28, 2012—Independent Living Systems, LLC (ILS), a national leader in providing innovative long-term care, care management, post discharge and nutrition services to the elderly, dual eligible and special needs populations, announces that its Health Risk Assessment (HRA) offering has received certification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Health Information Product (HIP) in the category of Health Assessment.
ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 29, 2021—In last minute changes to the Medicare Power Mobility Demonstration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has accepted AAHomecare’s recommendations that allow physicians to use a clinical medical necessity template when documenting the face-to-face exam with a Medicare beneficiary.
ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 27, 2012—Months of discussion with Congressman Tom Price (R-Ga.) involving both the American Association for Homecare and the Georgia Association of Medical Equipment Services (GAMES) culminated last week in Dr. Price’s signaling his support for the Market Pricing Program (MPP) and his willingness to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives.
ELYRIA, Ohio, Aug. 29, 2010—Invacare will have a number of innovative products on display at Medtrade in Atlanta this October including the HomeFill DS Oxygen System, the Perfecto2 DS Concentrator, the Pronto Air Personal Transporter, the MyOn Wheelchair and the Versair Back.
MANSFIELD, Mass., Aug. 22, 2012—Covidien, a leading global provider of health-care products, has updated its web-based patient and caregiver education resource to offer valuable information in four new clinical categories. The website, www.patientcare-edu.com, provides resources for addressing common care needs in acute, non-acute and homecare settings.
WATERLOO, Iowa , Aug. 30, 2012—This year’s VGM Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament raised $69,423.35 for North Star Community Services, a Waterloo-based agency that assists people with disabilities who want to live and work in their communities. www.vgm.com.
BOSTON, Aug. 23, 2012—With the cost of living in a nursing home averaging a staggering $100,000 per year, more individuals prefer to age in their homes as long as safely possible, resulting in a pent up demand for accessibility solutions for the home. Using a patented, low-cost modular metal ramp system, Amramp has developed affordable products and services to make living at home possible for the mobility-challenged.
WATERLOO, Iowa, Aug. 17, 2012—Key Iowa legislators met with executives of the VGM Group, Inc., to discuss contacting the White House and CMS about competitive bidding and related issues. Among the guests at VGM CEO Van Miller’s home Aug. 15 was Sen.
ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 22, 2012—AAHomecare continues to challenge the product category composition for the competitive bidding recompete for the nine initial areas, specifically focused on the practicality of bidding external infusion pumps.
ELYRIA, Ohio, Aug. 16, 2012—Invacare Corporation has launched a website devoted to its brand promise of Making Life’s Experiences Possible™. The website will be located at www.invacareconnects.com. The website will house information on Invacare’s sponsorships, events, community efforts and real life stories of Making Life’s Experiences Possible from across the company’s global locations and divisions.
WESTMINSTER, Colo., Aug. 21, 2012—Consistent and effective patient follow-up is one of the perennial challenges that face HME providers in the United States. While reimbursement for home oxygen has been reduced significantly in the past few years, the need for consistent follow-up has not.
WHITSETT, N.C., Aug. 8, 2012—medi, headquartered in Bayreuth, Germany, and a leading global player in the health-care market, has acquired San Diego-based CircAid, expanding its compression therapy division to offer compression therapy garments to help patients throughout the world feel better every day.
BALTIMORE, Aug. 21, 2012—According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) was established to provide independent guidance and expert advice to CMS on specific clinical topics. The MEDCAC is used to supplement CMS’ internal expertise and to allow an unbiased and current deliberation of state of the art technology and science.