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
CMS says it won't budge on accessories issue 14 NCART, NRRTS, RESNA plan joint conference 14 Access Day USA debuts at Heartland 14 Scootaround streamlines repairs with DNA 14 ■ ■ Tech specialist Andy Lin says HME companies should consider investing in wearable technology. See story next page. Mobility 14 hMe news / AUGUsT 2015 / www.hMenews.coM Briefs expo spotlights complex rehab WASHINGTON – NCART hosted a "Congres- sional CRT Exposition" on Capitol Hill July 20 to educate lawmakers and their staffs on complex rehab. The expo featured hands-on displays of manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, seating and position- ing products, and other equipment high- lighting how complex rehab is different than DME. Consumers, clinicians, provid- ers, manufacturers and other advocates attended to provide demos and answer questions. Complex rehab stakeholders continue to lobby lawmakers to help them on a number initiatives, including creating a separate beneft for complex rehab, and reversing CMS's decision to apply com- petitive bidding pricing to accessories for complex power wheelchairs. The expo was hosted in conjunction with the United Spinal Association and the National MS Society. nsM makes buy in Denver FRANKLIN, Tenn. – National Seating & Mobil- ity has acquired Denver-based USA Mo- bility, it announced June 4. Employees of USA Mobility, including branch manager Tom Johnson, have joined the NSM Den- ver team. It's the latest in a string of ac- quisitions for NSM since 2013, including, most recently, the November acquisition of the custom seating and mobility business of Indianapolis-based Home Health Depot. The USA Mobility deal closed May 29. wheel:Life publishes accessible travel guide ATLANTA – Wheel:Life, an online commu- nity for wheelchair users worldwide, has published "Discovering: An Accessible US Travel Guide for Wheelchair Users" as an e-book on amazon.com. These accessible travel suggestions were gathered as part of the annual "Get Out & Enjoy Life" pro- gram, a joint educational initiative between Wheel:Life and Sports 'n Spokes Maga- zine. The book culminates a month-long education program and photo contest launched June 1. Wheel:Life was able to publish the book with fnancial support from sponsors like ABC Medical, a pro- vider of urology and incontinence supplies. PMDRX gets representation GLENDALE, Ariz. – PMDRX has signed an exclusive territorial marketing agreement with MSL Associates in Tampa, Fla. MSL, a marketing, sales and logistics company, has representation in 21 states and Puerto Rico. PMDRX is a web-based mobility exam and documentation solution used by prescribing medical practitioners that integrates with mobility providers to ensure compliance. "Thousands of practitioners, including military physicians and facilities, have been successfully using PMDRX for more than 4 years," stated Gary Cox, CEO of PMDRX, in a press release. By Tracy Orzel, associate editor WASHINGTON – CMS has responded to a letter from Congress asking the agency to reverse its decision to apply competitive bid pricing to accessories for complex rehab wheelchairs. The short answer is: "No." "It was a surprise," said Don CMS stands frm on accessories Stakeholders appeal to Congress for technical correction Clayback, executive director of NCART. "We were very encour- aged that 101 members of Con- gress signed on in support of the request. We had a broad mix of Republicans and Democrats, and we also had representation from the key committees." In its response, CMS argues that applying the pricing to all accessories, regardless of the type of base of equipment used, avoids confusion. It also argues that the cost of accessories doesn't vary signifcantly based on the type of base of equipment. Now that CMS has made it clear it won't budge, stakehold- ers are circling back to the key authors of the letter to pursue a legislative fx. "We're working with the three committees of jurisdiction (the House Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means committees, and the Senate Finance Committee) to get what we're characteriz- ing as a technical correction to make sure that the payment is not reduced for complex rehab accessories," said Cara Bachen- heimer, senior vice president of government relations for Invacare. Stakeholders had hoped to get an amendment, which would amount to little more than a paragraph, attached to the 21st Century Cures Act, but the House of Representatives passed the bill July 10 without it. By Tracy Orzel, associate editor ARLINGTON, Va. – Complex rehab stakehold- ers need not worry that their issues will get lost in the shuffle when NCART, NRRTS and RESNA combine conferences next year, organizers say. "We're all in this together," said Wee- sie Walker, NRRT's executive director, who is on the event's planning commit- tee. "Obviously, access to complex rehab is important and it affects all areas of assistive technology." Slated for July 12-15, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Crys- tal City in Arlington, Va., the conference will combine the focuses of NRRTS and NCART's National CRT Conference, which is seating and mobility, with the focus of RESNA's annual conference, Making a joint effort By Tracy Orzel, associate editor S COOTAROuND HOpES to ease travel head- aches for wheelchair and scooter users with its new information sharing program. Scootaround DNA, which the provider is beta testing with members of the unit- Scootaround streamlines repairs ed Spinal Association, allows users to store their equipment information—such as model and serial numbers—on a secure database to help expe- dite repairs when traveling. "Given the complexity of the type of equipment that united Spinal members are traveling with, we felt they were a really good source," said Kerry Ren- aud, president and COO of Scootaround. Should equipment become damaged in transit, united Spinal members will be able to access this essential informa- tion anytime, anywhere, using a phone or the Internet. "passengers don't always have the information at the ready or it isn't prominently displayed on the equipment," said Renaud. "Often, that's a real source of confusion." The program is currently free, but it could become a paid service down the road as Scootaround expands it to other partners and eventually the public. S c o o t a r o u n d , w h i c h By Tracy Orzel, associate editor WATERLOO, Iowa – The first Access Day uSA kicked off June 17 at The VGM Group's Heartland Conference. Developed by Evergreen Life Access, a nonprofit, the nationwide campaign aims to help providers of home modifications promote their services by providing mod- ifications at no cost for people in need. "Not only is it an opportunity for an HME provider to create awareness in their community and do a good deed, but it's also a great way to spread brand Inaugural access event promotes home mods awareness about their own business," said Mike McGill, marketing assistant at VGM. F o r t h e i n a u g u r a l event, nine-year-old Nat- alie Olsen and her fam- ily were chosen to receive new ramps, grab bars and expandable door hinges for their home in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Olsen was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at the age of two. VGM Hot ticket Attendence for this year's annual RESNA conference, held June 10-14 in Denver, Colo., increased by 13% over last year's event. In addition, sponsorship more than doubled. See Q&A; next page. competitve bidding A c c E S S O R I E S S E E N E x t pA g E A c c E S S D Ay S E E pA g E 2 2 S c O O TA R O u N D S E E N E x t pA g E c O N F E R E N c E S E E N E x t pA g E "there's a cross section of people who have historically gone to both conferences. Now they only have to go to one." Christa Miehe