HME News is the monthly business newspaper for home medical equipment providers. This controlled circulation publication reaches 17,100 home medical equipment services providers, including traditional HME dealers & suppliers, hospital- and pharmacy-o
Issue link: https://hme.epubxp.com/i/542639
VOLUME 21 — NUMBER 8 AUGUST 2015 $7.00 HME NEWS POLL ■ Drive Medical is "excited" about transfi ll, says Mitch Yoel. See page 20. ■ Product Spotlight: This month we feature incontinence, skin care and wound care products like the Merits Bed Series from Merits Health Products. See page 18. ■ Have you stopped fi ling as many appeals due to the ALJ backlog? If so, how do you handle denied claims? See results on page 23. N E W S ■ Stakeholders wait on bill. PAGE 3 ■ Bid lawsuit inches forward. PAGE 3 ■ AAHomecare makes it personal. PAGE 3 ■ Poll: Medicaid cuts add up. PAGE 3 C O M M E N TA RY ■ Providers incorporating electronic technology reduce their risk and liability relative to audits, improve patient care and outcomes, and improve delivery turnaround, says Gary Cox. PAGE 6 D E PA RT M E N T S PROVIDERS ■ PHM sees opportunity. PAGE 11 ■ Reporter's notebook: Twitter. PAGE11 MOBILITY ■ CMS stands fi rm. PAGE 14 ■ CRT groups join forces. PAGE 14 RX & SPECIALTY PROVIDERS ■ Bid study rallies stakeholders. PAGE 16 ■ NHIA pushes back on ASP. PAGE 16 VENDORS ■ Special report on oxygen. PAGE 20 ■ Roscoe puts retail on the map. PAGE 20 W W W . H M E N E W S . C O M Juggling act for industry Drive buys DeVilbiss Mum's the word on AHP sale LIBERATOR COMES UNDER SCRUTINY Access Day For the inaugural Access Day USA, nine-year-old Natalie Olsen and her family were chosen to receive new ramps, grab bars and expandable door hinges for their home in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Olsen was diagnosed with spinal muscu- lar atrophy at the age of two. The VGM Group donated and installed the equipment. See story page 14. Bidding, prior auths, accessories all in play J U G G L E S E E PA G E 4 BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor I N D U S T RY S TA K E H O L D E R S are pushing hard on multi- ple fronts with a nearly fi ve- week summer recess looming in August. The top priority: drafting lan- guage that would delay the Jan. 1 expansion of competitive bid pricing nationwide, something AAHomecare has been working on with Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. "The key is what it's going to BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. – With eight acquisitions in a one-year span, including DeVilbiss Healthcare in July, Drive Medical is unarguably the most active manufacturer in the HME industry right now. Drive Medical's acquisition of DeVilbiss Health- care, its largest yet, gives the company a solid platform in the respiratory and sleep markets. BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor STUART, Fla. – A Department of Jus- tice investigation into Liberator Medical could cast a long shadow over the company, say healthcare attorneys. Government investigations can remain open for years, potential- ly impacting the mail-order sup- plier in many ways, says attorney Neil Caesar. BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – It has been radio silence since word got out six months ago that American HomePatient is reportedly court- ing buyers, analysts say. "I haven't heard of live interest in any of the nationals," said Rick Glass, president of Steven Richards & Associates. The Deal, a publication that offers news and analysis about mergers and acquisitions, report- ed in December that AHP had retained Jefferies & Co. to explore a sale. AHP was acquired by Highland Capital Management in 2010 in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. Typical- ly, PE fi rms hang onto investments for fi ve to seven years, say analysts. If the provider, which serves more than 1 million patients annually through 250 locations, is indeed on the market, it could be that it can't fi nd a buyer. "If I were a PE fi rm I'd be saying, 'Do I want to be a big player in this market when Blackstone can't get out of it?'" said Don Davis, presi- dent of Duckridge Advisors. In November, The Blackstone cost and how do we pay for that?" said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of the a s s o c i a t i o n . "From a grass- r o o t s s t a n d - point, provid- ers need to let (lawmakers) know, if they are in a rural area, what this means for their business." To that end, AAHomecare is partnering with The VGM Group on a study of the impact of com- petitive bidding so providers have hard data to back up their arguments. The study focuses on access to oxygen in the original Round 1 bidding areas and will be con- ducted by an academic research group that recently did a similar study for diabetes supplies, says VGM's John Gallagher. "We already know the data "It costs a lot in legal expenses, but also in investment potential and other opportunities," said Caesar, president of the Health Law Center. "Reputation in the marketplace can suffer simply from the fact of investigation." Liberator is the subject of a whistleblower complaint alleging it has violated the False Claims Act by engaging in illegal kickback Company is strongly fi nanced, aggressive but sensible, and making waves overseas F O R S A L E S E E PA G E 1 2 L I B E R AT O R S E E PA G E 1 7 D R I V E M E D I C A L S E E PA G E 2 2 Jeff Schwartz Tom Ryan T H E B U S I N E S S N E W S P A P E R F O R H O M E M E D I C A L E Q U I P M E N T P R O V I D E R S