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
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VOLUME 22 — NUMBER 6 JUNE 2016 $7.00 HME NEWS POLL ■ Inova and Curative boosted ResMed's third quarter growth, says Mick Farrell, president and CEO. See page 20. ■ Product Spotlight: This month we feature sleep therapy products like this IntelliPAP2 AutoAdjust CPAP from Drive|DeVilbiss Healthcare. See page 18. ■ Have you identifi ed overpayments so far this year? See results on page 23. N E W S ■ Round 2 re-compete concerns. PAGE 3 ■ Illinois issues incontinence RFP. PAGE 4 ■ Audit key provides initial results. PAGE 6 T E C H N O L O G Y ■ Patients now expect HME providers to provide them with access to their health data, pending orders, reorder status and more, says Eddy Hsu, chief information offi cer at Bonafi de Management Systems. PAGE 8 D E PA RT M E N T S PROVIDERS ■ OxyMed moves away from Medicare. PAGE 12 ■ QIC demo offers options. PAGE 13 MOBILITY ■ CMS considers codes for PA. PAGE 14 ■ Joint conference rallies around access. PAGE 14 RX & SPECIALTY PROVIDERS ■ DME MACs issue clarifi cation on vents. PAGE 16 ■ Byram pays $9.3M to settle. PAGE 17 VENDORS ■ Inogen sweeps bidding. PAGE 20 ■ Pride expands retail options. PAGE 20 W W W . H M E N E W S . C O M Providers fear worst Invacare leans on subsidiaries like Motion Concepts Starshot Permobil lent a helping hand when Dr. Stephen Hawking visited the U.S. in April. Permobil employees Nathan Rose and Jeremy Satterfi eld met Hawking's security team at Teterboro Airport in the New York City area on April 6 to assist in getting Hawking into a transport van and fol- lowed them back to a hotel. There, they made adjustments to some of the components of his wheelchair to ensure proper fi t and positioning. Hawking was in New York for a press conference for a new project called "Breakthrough Starshot." Hawking, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner make up the board of directors for the $100 million project, which seeks to send tiny "nanocraft" to explore Apha Centauri, the nearest star system. ON CUBA: 'THERE'S NO ONE THERE YET' Medicare slashes provider numbers DIABETES O U T O F S TAT E S E E PA G E 2 2 M A I L O R D E R S E E PA G E 2 2 BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor ELYRIA, Ohio – Invacare posted fi rst quarter losses in April, but if you look at the company as a "long-term turnaround," you'll see some short-term improve- ments, says top exec Matthew Monaghan. Invacare reported a net loss of BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor F AR-FLUNG CONTRACT suppliers were a signifi cant concern in the original Round 2, but it could be worse in the upcoming re-compete, HME providers say. For hospital beds in the Little Rock, Ark., competitive bidding area, for example, there is only one contract supplier, Camden Medi- cal Supply, with a billing address, not even in the area, but in the state. The rest of the suppliers have addresses in North Caro- lina, Texas and Alabama. "In the original Round 2, there were local com- panies on the list, includ- ing local branches of national companies," said Ted Oury, manager of Diamond Medi- cal Equipment & Supply in Little Rock. BY TRACY ORZEL, Associate Editor YARMOUTH, Maine – As diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba slowly improve, HME providers in Florida are eager to gain a foothold on the isolated island. "Obviously, there's a big interest in doing business in Cuba, especially in Miami, because of the proximity," said Angel Pardo, owner of DMR in Doral. "We could be the main hub for any business transac- tions in Cuba." The demand for HME on the communist island is strong. Cubans live an average of 79 years, and by 2030, almost one-third of them will be over the age of 60, according to the Havana Times. An aging population isn't the only thing working in providers' favor: Right now, it's BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor WASHINGTON – CMS halved the number of contracts it offered in the upcoming national mail-order program for diabe- tes testing supplies and stakeholders say the impact on access to service and products could be "devastating." "For people who have chronic illness, less convenience and fewer companies means less compliance, which equals worse outcomes," said Tom Milam, an industry consultant. "It's a straight $8.6 million for the fi rst quarter of 2016 compared to a net loss of $7.3 million for the same quar- ter last year. It reported net sales of $257.6 mil- lion vs. $289 million. For North America HME, which has been hardest hit by a consent decree with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Inva- care reported net sales of $106.4 million for the first quarter, a 15% decrease compared to the same quarter last year. But, amid the losses, a bright spot, Monaghan s a y s : N e t s a l e s o f m o b i l i t y a n d s e a t - ing products—largely from Invacare subsid- iaries like Motion Con- cepts—increased, help- ing to boost gross profi t margin as a percentage of net sales by 1% in the 'CMS has really done themselves a number this time around' What's behind new strategy? See story page 21 C U B A S E E PA G E 2 2 I N VA C A R E S E E PA G E 2 1 Gary Sheehan M. Monaghan 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