Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/59015
■ Provider Meir Tsinman shares his insights on the pros and cons of daily deals for web-based companies. See story below. FBI raids Pacific Pulmonary ......................... 1 A&E Medical 'retails it up'. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mike Kuller sells his company to Lincare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Premier Homecare donates $17,000 ................. 21 Providers WWW.HMENEWS.COM / APRIL 2012 / HME NEWS 19 BRIEFS Univita buys All-Med Services of Florida SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Univita Health has ac- quired All-Med Services of Florida, it was announced March 5. It should be a good fit for Univita, whose model of coordinating and managing care for health plans mirrors that of the 25-year-old All-Med. The Miami Lakes-based All-Med provides integrated homecare services, including nursing, home infusion, durable medical equipment and respiratory services. The deal brings about 1 million new patients to Univita, for a total of more than 5 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Citycare Medical chases VA accounts WASHINGTON – Citycare Medical Supplier announced in February that it would ap- ply for a GSA Schedule 65 to actively pursue federal contracts. The provider of home oxygen therapy and durable medical equipment says it's motivated by the con- tinued needs of returning veterans. "For a small business, the opportunity to ser- vice government and VA accounts opens up significantly more markets throughout the country," stated John Thompson, vice president, in a release. Special Needs at Sea certification recognized DAVINA BEACH, Fla. – The Cruise Lines In- ternational Association (CLIA) announced in late February that it would accept the Special Needs Group's Certified Accessi- ble Travel Advocate certification for credit. Provider Andrew Garnett, president of the Special Needs Group and owner of Spe- cial Needs at Sea, which provides DME for travelers, created the program to ensure travel agents were equipped to help those with special needs travel. Since its cre- ation in November 2011, nearly 400 travel agents have taken Garnett's course. Fresh Aire Respiratory holds grand opening COLUMBIA, S.C. – Fresh Aire Respiratory cel- ebrated its grand opening March 1 with a ribbon cutting and hors d'oeuvres. Fresh Aire Respiratory offers home medical equip- ment, oximetry, oxygen therapy, nebulizers and CPAP. Short takes New Bedford, Mass.-based Enos Home Oxygen opened its third location in Seekonk, the provider tweeted in Febru- ary. Enos also has a location in Easton… New Berlin, Wis.-based Home Care Medi- cal was accredited by the Joint Commis- sion for its West Bend location…Grimms Medical Supplies was burglarized at some point during the weekend of Feb. 18-20. About $2,200 in cash was reported stolen from its St. Charles, Ill., location...Princeton, Ill.-based Perry Home Medical has been named a Quality Respiratory Care Provider by the American Association for Respira- tory Care. e-commerce By the hour, the day or the week, what's the big deal? BY ELIZABETH DEPREY, Associate Editor D AILY DEALS will soon be part of Home Health Medical's effort to brand itself as a trusted source for HME and information. The web-based provider already offers 24-hour deals once a week through its Twitter account. "We're planning to add more days," said Dan Rench, vice president of e-Business for Home Health Medical's parent compa- ny, Community Health Network. "People are looking to get a quality product for a lower cost at a best price any time, every day, so we're moving in that direction." Rench said the deals help the company acquire followers who then see tweets about news and updates related to HME— further establishing the provider as a trust- worthy company. Rench said Home Health Medical focuses its deals on products that buy- ers don't have to worry about break- ing the bank on. It also helps if the customer has already used the product or already knows they need it, he said. DEALS SEE PAGE 21 A&E MEDICAL'S new retail showroom lets customers try out products like lift chairs. A&E Medical 'retails it up' BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor FLORENCE, Ala. – Take 2,000 square feet of space, a stack of reading material on retail and a willingness to step away from an "insurance mentality," and you've got the makings of a retail showroom. Which is just what Glenn Johnson, direc- tor of operations at A&E Medical, did. The provider in January held a weeklong grand opening for his first retail showroom. "I did a lot of research on retail and made sure everything was very attractive from a consumer standpoint," he said. "We were trying to get away from that sterile medical environment you see a lot of." Johnson started by acquiring and gut- ting additional office space in their existing building to create a space that was open, well lit—they added a wall of windows— and inviting. "We tried to retail it up," he said. That same attention to retail detail also applied to store displays, product placement and product packaging. "It's hard to make a bedside commode look good in a retail package, but some companies have done it," he said. "We also have a lot of stuff set up so that people can see it, touch it, try it out." Products include orthotics, incontinence supplies, basic mobility equipment, aids to daily living and lift chairs. A&E Medical, which has been in busi- ness for 16 years, offers a full line of home medical equipment and respiratory services through four locations. It has two hospice contracts, and Medi- care currently comprises about 60% of its sales. HME Home Health Depot 'not standing still' Provider opens new branch, acquires rehab company BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Home Health Depot staked its claim in a new state—Iowa—when it acquired Iowa City-based Advanced Rehab Technologies in February. "As a company we pride ourselves on turnaround time, quick service and quality of service, and we think we found a good match at Advanced Rehab," said Nathan Feltman, president. The provider in February also opened a new branch in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Home Health Depot now has 14 locations in four states (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa). The provider offers a full line of durable medical equipment, respiratory and complex rehab services, retail products and home modifications. That diversity across product catego- ries and state lines is part of Home Health Depot's growth plan. With branches located in Round 2 competitive bidding areas India- napolis, Detroit and Chicago, it's crucial to build economies of scale, and consolidate certain business operations—like billing and human resources—into one central- ized system, said Feltman. "We saw coming years ago the challenges in the industry from a reimbursement per- spective and a payer source perspective and so we have tried to go with a very diversi- fied platform and we think that's served us pretty well," said Feltman. "At the end of the day, patients and the referral sources, we've found, want more of a one-stop shop." The deal will allow Advanced Rehab, which just added three employees for a total of 13, to grow further. "With the platform and services Home Health Depot can provide us, we can expand our business twofold in the next year and a half or so," said Tim Ascherl, one of Advanced Rehab's founders. "We are going to add aging in place. We've kind of tinkered in it before, but now we are going to go after that market." HME LIFE IN ROUND 1 AdvaCare perseveres BY ELIZABETH DEPREY, Associate Editor BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. – After the great unknown that was January 2011, provider Tammy Zelenko is resting a little easier these days. Her company, AdvaCare Home Services, is not a con- tract supplier in the Pittsburgh competi- tive bidding area, but, a full year after Round 1 began, she's had her busiest month yet. "I had a lot of sleep- less nights (last Janu- ary) wondering what was really going to happen and would we be able to survive," said Zelenko, president and CEO. T. Zelenko Zelenko tells HME News how she did it. ADVACARE SEE PAGE 21