OWINGS MILLS, Md. (March 7, 2014)—The Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC) won a Stevie Award for Sales and Customer Service in the Best Use of Technology in Customer Service category. This was the second consecutive year BOC was honored with a Stevie Award. Winners were announced Friday, Feb. 21 at the eighth annual Stevie Awards ceremony in Las Vegas.

LAKE WALES, Fla. (March 5, 2014)—3B/BMC, announced the integration of voice recognition and patient auto-dialing within iCodeConnect, 3B Medical's cloud based patient management portal. Obtaining sleep compliance data for reimbursement is a major challenge for DME providers. Modems create costs and logistical problems in the inventory and movement of modems. SD Cards also are not ideal as they require physically transporting the SD card. 3B Medical's iCode is the solution.

MUNDELEIN, Ill. (March 3, 2014)—Medline Industries, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of medical and surgical supplies, will open a new state-of-the-art distribution center in Lincoln County, N.C., in early 2015, the company announced.

LAS VEGAS (March 3, 2014)—Judges named the winners of the Innovative HME Retail Product Awards last week. The biannual awards, sponsored by HomeCare magazine, honor HME products that are particularly suited for retail sale. “There were some really impressive and innovative entries this year,” said Jim Greatorex, owner, Black Bear Medical, Portland, Maine, and a member of the judging panel. “We had lots of discussion about each entry. To pick the top six, we really had to get nitpicky.

WASHINGTON (March 5, 2014)—President Obama released his 2015 budget this week and, as expected, provisions targeting DME were included. Two of the prominent provisions suggest using Medicare bid rates for Medicaid reimbursement to save money, and implementing prior authorization as a means of fighting fraud. AAHomecare has strongly opposed the Medicaid proposal for a number of years and has successfully kept it from going into effect.

(Feb. 27, 2014)—According to modernhealthcare.com, providers, payers and claims clearinghouses can look for no relief from the looming, Oct. 1 compliance deadline for the nationwide conversion to the ICD-10 family of diagnostic and procedural codes, the head of the CMS said Thursday, Feb. 27. But some case-by-case exemptions will be made for providers having a tough time meeting their Stage 2 meaningful-use targets, she said.

BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 24, 2014)—According to a CMS Fact Sheet released on Feb. 24, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will seek public comment as it moves toward nationwide implementation of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program.

WASHINGTON (Feb. 26, 2014)—Because of the contract cycle, Feb. 21 was the last day a recovery auditor contractor (RAC) could send a post-payment additional documentation request (ADR) to providers. However, CMS has extended the current contracts through Dec.

LAS VEGAS (Feb. 24, 2014)—Above all, exhibitors and providers view Medtrade Spring as an opportunity to discover solutions. However, if you don’t attend, you’ll never know. “It’s our job to fashion the best possible show that we can,” says Kevin Gaffney, group show director, Medtrade. “But we can’t help if you’re not here.