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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Mobility Briefs Numotion expands North Carolina presence BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Numotion has acquired the rehab division of CVC Home Medical in Wilmington, N.C., it announced in August. The move allows Numotion to expand its reach in the eastern part of the state. CVC has served the Wilmington and Morehead City area for more than 20 years, according to a press release. "We are excited about expanding in North Carolina," said Mike Swinford, CEO, Numotion. "We are always looking for ways to better serve customers and provide them with innovative mobil- ity solutions. This acquisition will provide the disabled community in eastern North Carolina with greater access to mobility resources, products and services." CVC's rehab employees will be integrated into Numotion's Wilmington location. In April, Numotion acquired Horn's Medical Supply in Athens, Texas. NSM tapped to distribute WHILL wheelchair NASHVILLE, Tenn. – National Seating & Mo- bility will be the exclusive national distribu- tor for WHILL's Model M power wheelchair, the companies announced July 24. NSM's national distribution channel and expert clinical field team "vastly increase" the Model M's service area in the complex re- hab and access industries, according to a press release. "We're excited to have NSM's clinical experts providing product evaluations on the Model M, ensuring the chair fits and meets the versatile needs of their clients," said WHILL CEO Satoshi Sugie in the release. The Model M will be available through NSM and AccessNSM branches nationwide. WHILL* received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Model M last year, paving the way for doctors to prescribe the wheelchair as a medical device. WHILL also offers the Model A for cash sale. Mod- el M keeps the four-wheel drive, patented all-direction wheels and sleek design of the Model A, but also offers customizable features like arm and back supports, and ankle huggers. Lifeway Mobility buys Total Access of New England HARTFORD, Conn. – Lifeway Mobility, an ac- cessibility solutions company based here, has acquired Total Access of New England. Total Access will operate as Lifeway Mobility from a new office near Westborough, Mass., and continue to serve the Greater Boston area. Dan Martin, owner of Total Access, will join Lifeway as vice president and will be re- sponsible for the Massachusetts operation. Martin, a certified aging in place specialist, founded Total Access seven years ago in response to requests for access solutions for homes and businesses. Lifeway Mobil- ity serves Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was formed* by Paul Ber- gantino, formerly of Numotion. ■ Louis Tenenbaum leads new group trying to raise awareness for senior accessible housing. See story below. 18 HME NEWS / SE p TEM b E r 2017 / WWW . HMENEWS . C o M Stakeholders 'pick up pace' for manuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Separate benefit bill on CBO's desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 NSM believes employees are 'growth engine' . . . . . . . . . 18 'Get Out and Enjoy Life' goes live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Separate benefit back in play Group sets off movement for mods MAKING THE CASE NSM strives to be 'employer of choice' 'Get out' and live Sports 'n Spokes has teamed up with the Spina Bifida Association and Cure Medical to host this year's "Get Out & Enjoy Life" event. Now in its seventh year, the GOEL event kicked off Aug. 1 with a photo contest. As part of the contest, the social media pages of Sports 'n Spokes, the Spina Bifida Association and Cure Medical will feature a daily listing of accessible vacation spots, outdoor programs and other events. This year's theme is "travel everywhere your heart desires to go regardless of your paralysis." By Liz Beau L ieu, e ditor WASHINGTON – Legislation to cre- ate a separate benefit for com- plex rehab is on the radar of the Congressional Budget Office, says NCART Executive Direc- tor Don Clayback. The offices of Reps. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., and Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who introduced H.R. 750, the "Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Tech- By Liz Beau L ieu, e ditor WASHINGTON – A bill in the House of Representatives that would give seniors a $30,000 tax cred- it for modifying their homes to help them age in place now has some firepower behind it. A new group called Homes- Renewed has been created, in part, to help raise awareness for the "Senior Accessible Housing Act," which was introduced* in late March by Reps. Char- lie Crist, D-Fla., and Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine. "H.R. 1780 is a starting place to make this a national issue," said Louis Tenenbaum, founder of HomesRenewed and a long- By Liz Beau L ieu, e ditor oN po TENTIAL NEE d "We're going to have 8.3 million people over 80 in 2030," said Jim Greatorex, vice presi- dent of Accessible Home Improvement of America, a division of the VGM Group, "and we have homes for less than half of them that they can be safe in and live in and thrive in in their senior years." oN po TENTIAL SA v IN g S "For 75% of people over 65 who go to the ER, the cause of their visit is a slip or fall, something home modifications can help prevent," Greatorex said. By Liz Beau L ieu, e ditor N ATIONAL S EATING & Mobility's recent annu- al Seating Symposium kicked off with 73 new ATPs in attendance and closed out with a concert by country singer-songwriter John Rich. It's all par for the course for a company pursing excellence in employment and a best-in- class culture. "We're working hard on new training programs for employees and just our over- all relationship with them, including the benefits we offer," said Bill Mixon, CEO and president. "We're try- ing to create an environment nology Act of 2017," on Jan. 30, have been pushing for a "score" from the CBO. "The bill is there, it's on their desk and it's in their to-be-done pile," he said. In late July, H.R. 750 had 77 co-sponsors. A previous bill in the House drew support from 172 co-sponsors, and a com- panion bill in the Senate drew 19 co-sponsors. Clayback says stakeholders met with the CBO in late 2016 and they communicated again more recently. "It's safe to say there is a dia- logue going on around this leg- islation," he said. "How soon will it have a score? That will be influenced by other factors, like healthcare reform efforts, but at least it's being looked at." S t a k e h o l d e r s a r e a l s o "regrouping" and working on getting a Senate companion bill re-introduced, Clayback says. "We have a commitment from Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.," he said. "Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., given his prominence, is not really lead- ing bills any more, but he's still supporting it, and we're talking to other members." Clayback says a score from the CBO, a near-requirement for a bill's movement, would be a nice boost. "There's always been that request with past bills, but it would be a first," he said. hme time aging-in-place expert, speaker and advocate. HomesRenewed organized a face-to-face meeting in Wash- ington, D.C., in June and a conference call last week to start developing a strategy for "driving policy and private investment to house an aging America." The first goal of the group is bringing together the vari- ous industries that offer aging in place products and services, including HME, building and technology, Tenenbaum says. "They're all working very dili- gently to create this market for their products and services that CEO Bill Mixon knows 'employees are our growth engine' where we're the employer of choice in the complex rehab market." In addition to employment and culture, clinical choice rounded out the areas of focus for the conference, which had the theme "Journey to Excellence." C l i n i - c a l c h o i c e , Mixon says, e m p o w e r s NSM's ATPs t o m a k e t h e i r o w n d e c i s i o n s a b o u t w h a t products and technologies they provide to clients. "They're professionals, so we don't dictate that," he said. "They make that decision N S M S y M p O S i u M S E E N E x T p A G E H O M E M O d S S E E N E x T p A G E M A k I N G T h E C A S E S E E N E x T p A G E Bill Mixon Jim Greatorex