Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/40005
s It's hard to believe, but Medtrade is just around the corner. There's a lot that's new, says Kevin Gaffney. See page 41. s Product Focus: This month, we asked manufacturers to submit their fl agship bariatric products, like this B320 Full Electric Bed from Merits Health Products. See pages 49-53. HME NEWS POLL s Medicaid programs across the country are making cuts, say respondents to the HME NewsPoll. The amounts vary, as do the product categories, but most providers are feeling some pain. See results on page 62. VOLUME 17 — NUMBER 9 SEPTEMBER 2011 $7.00 THE BUSINESS NEWSP APER FOR HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT PRO VIDERS NEWS s Prof. Peter Cramton drafts bid program redesign. PAGE 4 s Q&A: Bob Weir says re-accreditation can be "intense." PAGE 8 s Costs dampen POC use. PAGE 10 SMART TALK s This month, our columnists tackle invoices, customer communication, fl eet safety and performance management. PAGES 20-21 COMMENTARY s "In an era where we assign praise to fi ghters, pro athletes and celebrities, we miss the courage and toughness of those like David Williams, (pictured), who fi ght the good fi ght every day," writes Invacare's Mark Sullivan. PAGE 19 DEPARTMENTS PROVIDERS s Cape Medical expands reach. PAGE 23 s Rotech 'getting it together.' PAGE 23 s Enos adds online store. PAGE 24 MOBILITY s AbleNet offers opportunity. PAGE 29 s Prepay reviews gain traction. PAGE 29 s Stakeholders: Pay for standers. PAGE 32 RX & SPECIALTY PROVIDERS s Could additional NPWT standards be on the way? PAGE 35 s UpState HomeCare grows. PAGE 36 s Keep home infusion off bidding table, says NHIA. PAGE 38 VENDORS s Manufacturers fi nd refuge overseas. PAGE 55 s Invacare: Industry needs to think "strategically." PAGE 56 s CPAP travels. PAGE 59 WWW.HMENEWS.COM How will they cut Medicare? A 12-member 'super committee' is charged with shaving $1.2 trillion from the defi cit by November BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor WASHINGTON – The waiting game continues for an HME industry already reeling from competitive bidding and other reimbursement cuts this year. As part of a debt deal passed by Congress Aug. 2, a 12-mem- ber "super committee" is charged with shaving $1.2 trillion from the defi cit by November. If the com- mittee fails, spending will be cut by $1.5 trillion automatically. That includes a 2% across-the-board cut Apria lands 'multi-state' contract BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Is Apria Healthcare's "provider of choice" contract with Humana nationwide? Is it exclusive? What's the reim- bursement rate? Rumors about the terms of the contract have been swirling ever since Huma- na announced on its web- site that it has established a "long-term relationship" with Apria and that it's APRIA SEE PAGE 60 to all Medicare providers. "It's going to be a crazy fall," said Cara Bachenheimer, senior vice president of government rela- tions for Invacare. HME providers in nine cities are already stinging from a 32% cut, on average, as part of Round 1 of competitive bidding. Providers are also stinging from the elimination of the fi rst-month purchase option for standard power wheelchairs. Both went into effect Jan. 1. Still, industry stakeholders MEDICARE SEE PAGE 61 Provider fl oats to fi rst place Beckly, W. Va.-based Home Breathing Care took home a fi rst place trophy for the fl oat it entered in the John Henry Days parade in July in nearby Talcott. Home Breathing Care's fl oat honored West Virginia's railroads and Big Bend Tunnel. The provider gave out candy and train whistles all along the parade route. "We had a fun day and enjoyed celebrating John Henry Days with one of our local communities," said provider Susan Thompson. Are errors from 2007 relevant? More than half of power wheelchairs provided in the fi rst half of that year failed medical necessity guidelines, according to a new OIG report BY ELIZABETH DEPREY, Associate Editor WASHINGTON – The Office of Inspector General's review of power wheelchair claims from four years ago has industry stakeholders questioning the validity of the findings in its July 7 report. The OIG reviewed 375 claims for power wheelchairs provided to Medicare benefi ciaries in the fi rst half of 2007 and found 52% had insuffi cient documentation and 9% were medically unnec- essary. "This is when all the chang- es were going on," said Peggy Walker, a billing and reimburse- ment adviser for The VGM Group's U.S. Rehab. "Nobody knew what the heck they were doing in 2007." OIG SEE PAGE 61 Proposed change could add teeth to CPAP policy AAHomecare asks CMS to allow providers to use ABNs upfront in certain cases BY THERESA FLAHERTY, Managing Editor BALTIMORE – Medicare won't pay for CPAP therapy after the fi rst 90 days if patients are noncompliant, but usually it's providers who are left holding the bag. "If I give you a CPAP bill after the third month and then you choose to not answer your door when I knock, not return letters that I mail and not answer the phone when I call, you have effectively stolen that device from me and I can't bill for it," said Scott Lloyd, president of Extrakare in Norcross, Ga., and a member of AAHomecare's CPAP task force. Scott Lloyd So the association in June asked CMS to allow providers to use an advance benefi ciary notice (ABN) on the fi rst day of CPAP set-up if they think there's a high likelihood of noncompliance. Letting benefi ciaries know they have a fi nancial stake in their therapy gives provid- ers a leg to stand on, they say. "What we'd like to be able to do is continue to CPAP SEE PAGE 61