CLEVELAND, Ohio — In a series of changes at Medical Service Co., Joel Marx, CEO, has assumed a new role as chairman of the board. He will remain active in the company's decisions while increasing an advocacy role within the HME industry.
John Geller, who has been with the company for 26 years and currently serves as president, will replace Marx as CEO. Darrel Lowery, formerly the organization's vice president of operations, will step into the president's spot.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — HME manufacturer Sizewise said last week it has signed a contract to provide a range of products and services, including its bariatric product line, to CareCentrix and its network of more than 5,000 home health care agencies. Sizewise makes a diversified line of equipment from intelligent bed frames and therapeutic mattresses to mobilization and transport equipment.
ST. LOUIS — Following the announcement Dec. 2 that it had acquired three RehabTech locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin, United Seating & Mobility announced Dec. 9 it has also finalized a deal with Alliance Homecare Equipment to acquire its complex mobility business. Alliance provides oxygen, DME and sleep therapy in the Little Rock, Ark., area.
ATLANTA — In response to the proliferation of smart phones and other portable devices, the company said, GF Health Products has launched an upgraded version of its website (www.grahamfield.com) that includes easier access to product data, order information and account information along with more detailed photographs and descriptions for all products.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Graymark Healthcare announced Dec. 7 it has closed the sale of its ApothecaryRx retail pharmacy business to Walgreens. ApothecaryRx operated 18 pharmacies across five states.
The transaction allows Graymark to focus on its core business of providing comprehensive care for sleep disorders, primarily OSA, the company said in a release.
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — VirtuOx has landed a national contract with United Health Group as an IDTF to perform home sleep testing nationwide. The company delivers the device to the patient's home, supplies instructions and phone support, and provides a diagnosis using its network of sleep physicians.
BALTIMORE and ATLANTA — Baltimore-based health care delivery management business Ankota and software developer CareCentric, Atlanta, announced last week they have formed a strategic alliance that integrates Ankota's technology for managing the delivery of care with CareCentric's capabilities for managing the business side of care.
MATTHEWS, N.C. — With the start date for DMEPOS competitive bidding just weeks away, 356 contract holders in the nine Round 1 competitive bidding areas are ramping up for an influx of customers — and they're doing it in different ways.
SAN FRANCISCO — A majority of American patients support the use of home medical equipment to manage and improve their chronic conditions, according to a survey conducted by GfK Roper for Practice Fusion.
ELYRIA, Ohio — Even as CMS moves resolutely toward the Jan. 1 implementation of DMEPOS competitive bidding, industry stakeholders are uncovering increasingly troubling hard data about some of the project's contract holders.
ARLINGTON, Va. — The American Association for Homecare reported last week there is a growing body of evidence about problems related to the Round 1 rebid of competitive bidding, among them:
AMARILLO, Texas — "As an industry, we have gone down the proverbial rabbit hole into Alice in Wonderland," said health care attorney Jeff Baird of Brown & Fortunato. "We are having to deal with a program — competitive bidding — that is so illogical it defies reason. Justifiably so, suppliers serving the first nine CBAs are scrambling.
CLEVELAND — Chart Industries announced Dec.
LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Apria Healthcare Group has appointed Daniel E. Greenleaf as its new COO, responsible for leading the operations and sales functions of both the home infusion therapy and home respiratory therapy/home medical equipment segments of the company.
Since April 2008, Greenleaf has served as president of Apria's home infusion therapy segment, a position he will continue to hold.
WASHINGTON — President Obama signed legislation Nov. 30 that delays a scheduled 23 percent Medicare pay cut for physicians until Dec. 31. The Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010 replaced the reimbursement cut, which was to take effect Dec. 1, with a 2.2 percent increase.
HINGHAM, Mass. — Based on the results of a widespread prepayment review of oxygen equipment (HCPCS E1390, E0431 and E0439), NHIC, the Jurisdiction A DME MAC, said last week the review will continue.
The review involved 478 services submitted by 91 suppliers, of which 102 (21 percent) were allowed and 376 (79 percent) were denied, resulting in an overall charge denial rate of 71 percent. The majority of the denied claims (55 percent) were for reasons related to documentation.
ST. LOUIS — United Seating & Mobility said last week it has added three RehabTech locations: Fridley, Minn., serving the greater Minneapolis area; Oak Creak, Wis., serving the greater Milwaukee area; and Appleton, Wis.
BALTIMORE — CMS will host its 13th education call on Medicare's fee-for-service implementation of HIPAA Version 5010 and D.0 transaction standards on Wednesday, Dec. 8, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET. The session will focus on provider outreach and education activities and transition-specific testing protocols along with a Q&A session.
CLEVELAND — Joel Marx isn't one to wait and let the ax fall. He's a proactive guy. So the chairman of Medical Service Co., a 60-year-old home medical equipment business based in Cleveland, is leading his company into a new market before competitive bidding gets there.
ELYRIA, Ohio — More than a third of the bid winners in the Round 1 rebid of competitive bidding have "questionable financial foundations," according to a new report from Invacare Corp.
Following its analysis of 359 suppliers awarded contracts by CMS, Invacare found that:
