Scooter Store Formalizes New Home Care Division

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — The Scooter Store announced this morning it has set up a new home care
equipment division.

The new division “formalizes a team that has been operating for
many months, building a business plan, negotiating third-party
relationships and providing manual wheelchairs, walkers, patient
lifts, nebulizers, hospital beds, support surfaces and accessories
in targeted markets for insurance reimbursement,” according to a
release.

The division will operate out of the company’s New Braunfels,
Texas, headquarters to leverage infrastructure and processes
including customer intake, compliance management, revenue cycle
management, and distribution and service capabilities.

Initially, the division will concentrate on targeted markets
with a “select portfolio” of HME, but eventually will expand to all
of the giant provider’s locations, now at 59 retail stores, with a
range of products. The company also has ecommerce and direct sales
organizations that sell some home care-related items.

In 2007, The Scooter Store entered the complex rehab market with
its Alliance Seating and Mobility division, which has grown to more
than 80 Assistive Technology Professionals (ATPs).

The new home care equipment division is a natural progression,
the company said.

“This is an important milestone, and it positions our company to
eventually serve customers in many new ways and participate in a
larger continuum of care,” said Doug Harrison, The Scooter Store’s
founder, chairman and CEO.

Chris Bailey has been tapped as vice president of the new
division. A Licensed Vocational Nurse, Bailey joined The Scooter
Store in 1999 and has held VP-level leadership positions since
2006.

Last month, the company said it was changing its
messaging approach to consumers and planned to launch a
campaign that would “capture the imagination of our target audience
and allow medical professionals and other stakeholders to fully
value The Scooter Store contributions to the health care
system.”