Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31506
■ Medtrade Spring: This year’s show aims to point HME providers in new directions. See page 36. ■ Product Focus: Manufacturers submitted their flagship power wheelchairs, like this Skippi pediatric chair from Otto Bock. See page 40. HME NEWS POLL ■ Round 2 of competitive bidding is coming up. If you are in a bidding area, do you plan to submit a bid? Have you started preparations? See results on page 46. VOLUME 17 — NUMBER 3 MARCH 2011 $7.00 THE BUSINESS NEWSP APER FOR HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT PRO VIDERS NEWS ■ Beneficiaries quiet on bidding problems. PAGE 4 ■ Q&A: Joel Marx. PAGE 4 ■ It’s time for AAHomecare’s legislative conference. PAGE 6 SMART TALK ■ This month, our columnists tackle brochures, personal credit scores, listening skills and the new wheelchair policy. PAGES 20-21 COMMENTARY ■ Provider Scott Lloyd, president of Extrakare in Norcross, Ga., writes that it’s time to drop efforts to repeal competitive bidding and, instead, pick up efforts to reform the program. “It’s not the same as waving the white flag,” he writes. PAGE 19 DEPARTMENTS PROVIDERS ■ M&A: Need for scale drives activity. PAGE 23 ■ Seeley Medical invests in tech company. PAGE 23 ■ “Craigslist” for medical equipment. PAGE 24 REHAB ■ Who’s on the hook for wheelchair repairs? PAGE 29 ■ NRRTS “raises the bar.” PAGE 29 ■ CRMC sets priorities PAGE 31 RX & SPECIALTY PROVIDERS ■ CarePoint likes Texas market. PAGE 33 ■ Jane Bunch stays busy. PAGE 33 ■ Q&A: Kathleen Jaeger. PAGE 34 VENDORS ■ From Bed Bath & Beyond to VGM. PAGE 42 ■ Brightree acquires competitor. PAGE 42 ■ Deep throat dishes bidding advice. PAGE 44 WWW.HMENEWS.COM THE OIG LAUNCHED A MOST WANTED HEALTH CARE FUGITIVES LIST in February containing the names, photographs and other identi- fying information of individuals wanted on charges of healthcare fraud. Increase in the cards? Race to be biggest W Product pricing BY MIKE MORAN Executive Editor ith prices for commodi- ties, fuel, transportation and just about every- thing else on the rise, providers should not be surprised if product prices increase later this year, say industry watchers. “We are trying not to because of the drop in reimbursement due to competitive bidding, but it is an issue,” said Harvey Diamond, Drive Medical’s CEO. “There could be an increase coming from all of us.” Carl Will, Invacare’s senior vice president, agreed. “We’ve had significant increases in cost, and that is a reality,” he said. said. “We’re playing it by ear. We CONTINUED ON PAGE 44 Complex rehab fuels growth with help from investors BY LIZ BEAULIEU Editor ROCKY HILL, Conn., and ST. LOUIS – Within months of each other, two national complex rehab companies received injections of capital from private equity firms, allowing them to speed up their growth. In January, Rocky Hill, Conn.-based ATG Rehab brought on Boston-based Audax Private Equity as CONTINUED ON PAGE 45 Cody Verrett Association launches online show BY THERESA FLAHERTY Managing Editor HOUSTON – Rhonda Turner is tak- ing to the airwaves with a call-in radio show. “We are hoping this is some- thing that is not only going to be fun but will serve as an active tool for women,” said Turner, executive director of the American Association for Breast Care Professionals (AABCP). “They will have an ongoing place to call in and talk to experts, or just call and ask questions.” Set to launch sometime in February, “The Politics of Breast CONTINUED ON PAGE 35 Competitive bidding Providers ‘prop up’ program BY MIKE MORAN Executive Editor WASHINGTON – When it comes to letting the competitive bidding program fail, HME providers are beginning to look like their own Call John Walsh worst enemies. Losing providers are, in some instances, artificially propping it up, say industry watchers. By subcontracting at unprofit- able rates, or providing services ■ NewsPoll: Providers say they want repeal. PAGE 4 ■ Competitive bidding chronicles: Month 2. PAGE 19 for free to beneficiaries who can’t locate a winning provider, losing providers are sparing beneficiaries pain and suffering. Without that pain and suffering, beneficiaries CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Praxair sells to Apria Healthcare BY LIZ BEAULIEU Editor LAKE FOREST, Calif., and DANBURY, Conn. – Need proof that, with competi- tive bidding and other reimburse- ment pressures, providers are looking to build scale? Here it is: Apria Healthcare announced Feb. 2 that it will buy Praxair’s U.S. homecare business. “Given the current environment, it takes scale to be effective,” said Bob Leonard, an analyst with The Braff Group, a Pittsburgh-based M&A firm. Terms of the deal were not dis- closed. Apria and Praxair expect to close the deal in the first quarter of 2011, according to press releases from the two companies. So what does Apria get? Praxair has 85 branches providing home respiratory and durable medical equipment and services across 27 states. It employs about 1,100. While Apria stated in a release that its deal with Praxair will expand its service offerings in “several key states,” industry CONTINUED ON PAGE 26