Golden Technologies of Old Forge, Pa., last week launched its newest power chair in the Golden line, the Alanté Sport. The chair has a two-tone shroud design, easy access to batteries and a full-size captain’s seat.
HomeCare News
After a positive review in the Wall Street Journal, Telcare Inc., a small start-up company in Bethesda, Md., reaped lots of collateral publicity last week about its cellular-enabled blood glucose monitor. The company says the meter, scheduled for release late this year, uses wireless technology to transmit readings to a private online database, which can be accessed by the user, doctor or caregiver. It charts results to show trends and can be accessed with an iPhone app.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced last week the release of modifications to the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code set. Changes have been posted to the HCPCS website and are effective on the date indicated on the update.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies announced an agreement last week to enter into a joint venture to bring Medicaid managed care and services to Florida beginning in mid-2012. The joint venture will be called Florida True Health Inc. Companies will share in the startup costs, financial risk and risk-based capital, among other business practices.
Health Net Inc. announced last week that it will sell its Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug business to CVS Caremark for $160 million. Health Net said the business has about 400,000 members nationwide, and brings in about $490 million in annual revenue. The deal is scheduled to close during the second quarter, but must be approved by antitrust regulators, the company said.
Aetna Inc. is selling four of its most popular wellness kits at Best Buy "health technology" departments in three of its suburban Chicago stores. The two companies recently announced the that the pilot program will sell Aetna's online modules for fitness, weight management, smoking cessation and stress management that are part of its "My Resources for Living Well" product line.
UnitedHealth Group announced last week strategic partnerships with three health technology companies that offer mobile products and services for consumers. The partners are CareSpeak Communications, Lose It! and Fitbit. They develop consumer-friendly technology such as smartphones and other mobile devices.
New standards for electronic funds transfers in health care will save up to $4.5 billion in administrative costs for doctors and hospitals, private health plans, states and other government health plans over the next ten years, according to estimates published last week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made three announcements last week for Round 2 and national mail-order competitions of the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program.
It’s important for HME providers to ask their representatives and senators to support the Market Pricing Program (MPP) during this congressional recess, AAHomecare says.
HME spending hit $7.5 billion in 2010, which represents no growth compared to the previous year, according to an analysis of CMS data by the American Association for Homecare.
Today is the target deadline for backup authorized officials (BAOs) to register for Round 2 and national mail-order competitions of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) competitive bidding program. Medicare "strongly advises" that BAOs register by today.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced recently the release of modifications to the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code set. Changes have been posted to the HCPCS website and are effective on the date indicated on the update.
An educational webcast for the national mail-order competition of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program is available on the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor website .
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated its agenda for the Home Health, Hospice & DME/Quality Open Door Forum, scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 11, from 2-3 p.m. ET. Items will include Home Health Grouper; Competitive Bidding Announcement and Update; Hospice Quality Reporting Announcement; Home Health Oasis Update; Home Health CAHPS Update; and Home Health Billing Update. The forum will be in an audio-only web streaming format, and registration is now open.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted six FAQ items about the Medicare fee-for-service announcement on Dec. 14, 2011, regarding the 90-day discretionary enforcement period for noncompliant HIPAA covered entities. The FAQs can be found on the CMS website
A whistleblower lawsuit and federal attorneys are accusing a national hospice company of improperly cycling patients through nursing homes and hospice to maximize profits from Medicare. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for North Alabama against AseraCare, a hospice company based in Fort Smith, Ark., with operations in 19 states.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a YouTube video slideshow and podcasts from the Nov. 17 National Provider Call on “ICD-10 Implementation Strategies and Planning.” It is available on the CMS YouTube Channel. The podcasts are available on the CMS website.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General is seeking recommendations to help develop new or revised safe harbors from the federal anti-kickback laws. The notice was published in the Dec. 29 Federal Register and also seeks comments for developing new OIG Special Fraud Alerts, which give guidance to providers. Deadline for comments is Feb. 27.
A federal district court has issued preliminary injunctions stopping California's Department of Health Care Services from implementing 10 percent rate cuts to nursing facilities within hospitals and to pharmacies that participate in the Medi-Cal program. The orders were issued Dec. 28 by Judge Christina A. Snyder of the U.S. District Court for Central California.