HME News

NOV 2017

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/888201

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 14 of 34

Providers SuperCare Health makes it work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Study: Oxygen equipment not meeting needs . . . . . . . . . 12 Howard's Medical grows slow and steady . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Apria lends hand to Harvey victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ■ Care Motion seeks to make online shopping easier with technology, says Aaron Cavano. See story this page. Briefs Norco expands footprint BOISE, Idaho – Norco has acquired Freedom Medical Supply in Yakima, Wash., a strate- gic addition to its existing business in cen- tral Washington. Norco assumed owner- ship of Freedom Medical Supply on Oct. 1. "We are excited to have Norco in place lo- cally to provide a wider range of products, services and experience to our valued customers," said Mitch Rose, managing owner of Freedom Medical Supply. "We have the same staff and will continue to provide the best service." Freedom Medi- cal Supply is a family owned business that has served Yakima Valley for five years. Its product offering includes CPAP and oxy- gen equipment and supplies. Norco, also a family owned business, has more than 70 locations in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Investment allows StateServ to improve software, expand network TEMPE, Ariz. – StateServ Holdings, a DME provider to hospices and other post-acute care service providers, has received an eq- uity investment from an affiliate of Blue Wolf Capital Partners. The investment will allow StateServ to improve and expand its propri- etary software solution, DMETrack, which provides workflow automation, real-time reporting and analytics to optimize the op- erational, clinical and financial performance of its customers. The company also plans to use the investment to add DME provid- ers to its network. Currently, StateServ has 1,300 DME provider locations, along with 21 company-owned warehouse facilities. CareCentrix, Medullan to develop virtual tools HARTFORD, Conn. – CareCentrix has partnered with Medullan, a digital health firm, to de- velop virtual care tools that connect provid- ers, patients and payers through flexible, mobile technology outside the four walls of the hospital. The alliance marries Medullan's digital expertise and care experience plat- form, VARA, with CareCentrix's HomeBridge technology, according to a press release. Short takes Professional Medical Supply has joined AAHomecare's Corporate Partner pro- gram to support the continued efforts to advocate for the success of HME provid- ers across the country. Professional Medi- cal Supply bills itself as "one source spe- cialists for disposable healthcare supplies and DME equipment"…Chillicothe, Ohio- based Adena Home Care, part of Adena Health System, has received three-year accreditation from the Accreditation Com- mission for Health Care. The accreditation covers home infusion, DME and respirato- ry…Medical Service Company was rec- ognized as a Top Workplace in Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland-based provider was honored for its employee-centric culture. It's the sixth time the company has been recognized. 12 h M e N ew S / N ove M ber 2017 / www.h M e N ew S . C o M By John Andrews, Contributing e ditor COLUMBIA, S.C. – At its heart, home medical equipment is a person- centered business and the best companies, like Columbia, SC- based LifeH2H, never forget it. "Our creed is 'People Serv- ing People,' which is a respon- sibility we feel across our entire platform—fel- low employees, patients, refer- r a l s o u rc e s , payers and our community," said Dewey Roof, president and CEO. "This creed is embodied in everything we do and we are confident the people we interact with are aware of our intentional effort to demonstrate it." While there are many overt obstacles—such as competi- tive bidding and incessant RAC audits—for HME providers to LifeH2H: 'People serving people' overcome, one that doesn't get much attention is the difficul- ties they experience with refer- ral sources. But for LifeH2H, the traditional referral pattern "was at the root of so many problems," Roof said. "It's really a 'domino effect' that sets an HME on an unfair, predetermined path," he said. Some referral sources place heavy compliance demands on the provider without con- sidering the labor and prod- uct costs involved, as well as disregarding whether a patient is qualified or funded, Roof said. "As uncomfortable as it was, we changed who we did business with years ago and only pursued business from those referrals who were willing to have a more mature, logical, and progressive discussion about a much larger picture," he said. "Discussions Hurricane relief A truck loaded with supplies left for Houston Aug. 30, from Lakewood-N.J. based AvaCare Medical, an online medical supply store, which donated thousands of dollars worth of supplies and equipment for flooded nursing home and other victims of devastating Hurricane Harvey. Donations included first aid supplies, gauze, bandages, walkers, adult diapers, wipes, reus- able and disposable underpads, medi- cal gloves, creams, mouthwash and shampoo. Also lending a hand was Phoenix-based Preferred Homecare which donated medical equipment, including wheelchairs and ambulatory aids, to the Rehabilitation Services Volunteer Project in Houston. The equipment will be used in shelters to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey, which flooded the city in August. By Kelly Bothum, Contributing w riter P EOPLE WHO require home oxygen face barriers to adequate equipment, which can result in social isolation and reduced quality of life, according to the results of a first-ever survey to gauge the chal- lenges of supplemental oxygen use from a patient perspective. The American Thoracic Society Nurse Assembly Working Group organized a 60-question survey of patients with lung disease to understand more about problems that can arise in obtaining home oxygen. Patients described strug- gles with insurance cover- age, lugging heavy tanks and worrying about excellence award Making personal connections propels runner-up L I F E H 2 H S e e N e x T PA g e K . Lindell O x y g E n S e e PA g e 1 5 Study: Oxygen patients face many barriers LifeH2H is based in Co L umbia, s .C. By t heres A Fl A herty, m anaging e ditor CLEVELA n D – Care Motion recent- ly launched a virtual shopping assistant to make buying HME easier. "I was looking to automate— I felt like I was on the same call every day," said Aaron Cavano, president of the online retail- er. "There's a pattern to these products and the questions people are asking. Now they get a greater sense of certainty that they are buying the right equipment and it helps us cut down on returns." Customers are asked to enter basic health information, like height and weight, and how they plan to use the equipment. The tool makes equipment rec- ommendations and streamlines the ordering process for every- one, says Cavano. Care Motion launched in 2016 and did about $2,600 in sales in its first month. Fast for- ward a year-and-a-half and the provider now has nine full-time employees and has a target of a quarter of a million in sales each month—not bad for someone whose background is in soft- ware engineering. Care Motion: 'We want to be Amazon of HME' "We have a good handle on the market and we've done a good job hiring people with backgrounds in mobility and HME, especially on the sales team," said Cavano. Care Motion currently offers scooters, wheelchairs, vehicle and patient lifts, oxygen, walk- ers and mobility aids, and plans to add home modification ser- vices in the future, says Cavano. "We want to be a one-stop shop—the amazon.com for HME," he said. "We want to continue to research and find the best equipment out there." Care Motion accepts no Medicare or commercial insur- ance. With the competitive bid- ding program making it more difficult to access DME, and more patients being asked to wait longer or shoulder more of the cost burden, paying cash has become more accepted, says Cavano. Unfortunately, there is still a large percentage of people who can't afford to pay out of pocket for HME. To that end, Care Motion recently set up up third-party financing, and partnered with GoFund- Me to help people create C A R E M o T i o N S e e PA g e 1 5

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of HME News - NOV 2017