Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/59015
20 Providers BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor ROVIDER MIKE Kuller wanted to make it work. The president and founder of Concord, Calif.-based Allstar Oxygen Services, diversified into retail (Allstar Medical Supplies). He developed strategic plans. Like so many other providers, he tightened his belt. Still, on March 1, he sold the 12–year- old oxygen business to Lincare (He still owns and operates the retail business). Kuller spoke with HME News about why he accepted its offer. HME NEWS: So you sold to one of the big guys. Mike Kuller: Lincare will be keep- ing almost all of my employees here, that's really what I was con- cerned about. The managers that started the business with me are still here. This, I feel, is my last chance to salvage something out of this company that I've built and WWW.HMENEWS.COM / APRIL 2012 / HME NEWS Longtime oxygen provider sells company to Lincare P for the employees that have been so loyal to me. HME: Why did you decide to sell? Kuller: I feel like most of this industry is not going to survive if competitive bidding keeps mov- ing forward as its structured. You just can't survive losing all of your Medicare business or Keith Diamond, RPh, President Dermer Pharmacy & Surgical Brooklyn, NY Dale Pharmacy & Surgical Richmond Hill, NY DMEPOS keeping you Medicare business with a 30% reduction. HME: How much Medicare busi- ness did you have? Kuller: We have 60% exposure (to Medicare) and 600 oxygen patients. HME: What were your plans for sticking with the oxygen business? Kuller: The retail business (Allstar Medical Supplies) is a separate company. I could have offloaded my (Allstar Oxygen) salary to the retail business, and paid off our debt. We could have made it through competitive bidding, but it would have been a strug- gle month to month, assuming we would break even. We would have struggled with cash flow to pay our bills and make payroll. I don't think anybody is in business to do that. HME FBI RAID CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 specific concerns." Local media outlets reported that FBI agents raided at least three offices in Bakersfield, and one in Ridgecrest. Gina Swankie, a public affairs I'm an EP! "The Compliance Team encourages and coaches you when you are doing the right things, and corrects and guides you when you are not," Keith Diamond, an Exemplary Provider™ (EP) since early 2006, recently observed. "They are more like an advisor helping you succeed. A friend, not a foe." The facts are that The Compliance Team was the fi rst accreditation organization with CMS deeming authority to off er expert mentoring that helps to keep busy pharmacy DMEPOS operations like Keith's on the right footing. The Compliance Team's accreditation also features the industry's fi rst set of simplifi ed product-line and service specifi c quality standards along with customizable policy and procedure manuals, self- assessment checklists, corporate compliance/anti- fraud plans as well as access to electronic benchmarking. For detailed information about our industry leading Exemplary Provider™ accreditation programs for DMEPOS, please call us at 215.654.9110 or visit us at TheComplianceTeam.org. ACCREDITATION ORGANIZATION MEDTRADE BOOTH 549 HEALTHCARE specialist with the FBI's Sacra- mento office, confirmed that "warrant activity took place," but she couldn't comment further. Document seizures typically happen when, during the course of an investigation, the govern- ment becomes concerned that files or documents could get lost, destroyed or altered, says a source familiar with these types of actions. Investigations can be trig- gered for many reasons, includ- ing a tip from a competitor or a current or former employee, says the source. "It's an extreme measure and it doesn't happen very often," said the source. There was no lack of specula- tion about Pacific Pulmonary's situation in the provider commu- nity. One provider said the compa- ny may have known the raid was coming. Another called the com- pany's sales tactics "aggressive." Regardless of the outcome of the raid, the media attention it has received is the last thing the HME industry needs, providers say. "It's a concern to us because we think it gives the industry, as a whole, a black eye," said Matt Lawrence, vice president of sales and operations at SuperCare in City of Industry, Calif. Pacific Pulmonary was founded as Med-Mart in 1978. In 2008, Tokyo-based respira- tory giant Teijin acquired Pacific Pulmonary Services. The provider currently serves 150,000 patients in 20 states, according to its statement. HME