Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/56191
■ Responsive Respiratory launches online calculator. See brief below. GE enters diabetes market. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Coming soon: Medical device tax ................... 33 ResMed releases earnings report ................... 34 Wheelchairs that providers will want to service ........ 35 Vendors WWW.HMENEWS.COM / MARCH 2012 / HME NEWS 33 BRIEFS Respironics recalls vents MURRYSVILLE, Pa. – Respironics announced in January that is has completed notifying cus- tomers of a voluntary recall of 52 of its Trilogy 100 ventilators in the United States. It also confirmed that 51 of the vents have been re- moved from use. The company initiated the recall to address a manufacturing issue that may have affected these vents. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explained the issue this way: "It can cause part of the blower that circulates air and other gases through the vents to move out of position and cause the device to alarm and stop delivering therapy to the patient." Respironics says it has received no reports of malfunctions, failures or injuries related to this issue. Drive buys Mountway PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. – Drive Medical an- nounced in January that it has bought Mount- way Holdings, a U.K.-based manufacturer and distributor of bathlifts and independent living aids. "The combination of their innovative design-led philosophy and high value-added products will accelerate Drive's growth in the bath and independent aid product catego- ries in the U.K. market," stated Drive Medical Chairman and CEO Harvey Diamond in a re- lease. It's the third acquisition for Drive in four months. In October, it announced it bought Inovo/Chad Therapeutics and ActiveCare Medical. Responsive Respiratory launches online calculator ST. LOUIS – Responsive Respiratory has re- leased an online cylinder duration calculator. The calculator, meant for technicians, thera- pists, providers and patients, is available for free at Responsive Respiratory's new website, www.respondo2.com. The calcu- lator allows users to estimate the duration of available oxygen in hours and minutes by selecting from pre-programmed cylinder, de- vice and flow-range parameters. Responsive Respiratory also has a calculator available through a mobile app for iPhone and Android devices. ACHC updates standards RALEIGH, N.C. – ACHC on Feb. 1 released its an- nual update to its standards for accreditation. Each year, ACHC compiles feedback from ac- credited organizations, surveyors and industry consultants and modifies wording, consoli- dates standards and clarifies interpretations. Organizations must comply with the updated standards by June 1. Short takes Brightree has successfully implemented Brightree Interactive Voice, a patient man- agement software application…Invacare has appointed Ellen O'Kane Tauscher as a new independent director to serve on its board of directors. Tauscher recently retired as the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security…Mada International has hired Rafel Bassi as international sales manager for Latin America. Bassi has 10 years of sales experience. GOLDEN PRIZE PATROL Golden Technologies in January gave a certificate worth $1,500 toward any Royal Caribbean Cruise to Home Care Pharmacy of Palm Coast, Fla. Each year, Golden gives the award to a pro- vider in its Flagship Dealer Showroom Program, which identi- fies dealers "in the highest standing with Golden Technologies, in the industry and in their local community, establishing the ultimate public image for Golden with the consumer." Home Care Pharmacy was selected through a random drawing of all providers in the program. Golden's director of marketing, Piera Marotto (left), traveled from the company's headquarters in Old Forge, Pa., to Florida to present Home Care Pharmacy's owner, Dr. Joseph Corgan (right), with the certificate. "We called our- selves the prize patrol and walked right in to the store with bal- loons," Marotto said. Corgan says he'll likely use the certificate to visit the Caribbean with his wife. H DIABETES MARKET GE, Bionime challenge the 'four titans' BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor FAIRFIELD, Conn. – GE's diagnostic imaging and other healthcare products may dominate hospi- tals and clinics, but with its latest product, the company hits home. GE has signed a licensing agreement with Bionime to pro- vide a GE-branded line of diabe- tes products. The first such prod- uct to launch: the GE100 blood glucose monitoring system, which is available now through HME providers and will be avail- able some time this year through major retailers. "This is GE's first consum- er diabetes brand, which is an exciting milestone for the com- pany," said Rebecca Hayne, global public relations manager for GE Healthcare. "As healthcare deliv- ery is increasingly extended from the clinical setting to the home environment, GE is committed to helping expand access to inno- vative home health consumer products." GE estimates that over-the- counter blood glucose monitor- ing is a $7 billion market—and growing. There are 2 million new diabetes cases diagnosed in adults 20 and older each year, Hayne says, citing data from the American Diabetes Association. To date, the blood glucose monitoring market has been dominated by "four titans," according to Peter Weedfald, DIABETES SEE PAGE 34 The VGM Group: In stable condition 'Some people want the doom and gloom, but that's simply not the case,' says Jim Phillips BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor WATERLOO, Iowa – The VGM Group, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, says the days of increasing its HME provider membership by 10% each year are long gone. But that's not cause for con- cern, says COO Jim Phillips. Jim Phillips "Some people want the doom and gloom, but that's simply not the case," he said. "Our mem- bership is stable. We're just not seeing the HME entries that we did years and years ago." VGM's membership was hov- ering at about 2,300 providers with about 3,800 locations at the close of 2011, Phillips said. What is increasing: the number of educational events VGM offers its mem- bers and the number of members who take advan- tage of them, Phillips said. "Our members are more active than ever," he said. "There's a lot of work going on." The latest addition to VGM's VGM GROUP SEE PAGE 35 Stake your claim in home sleep testing BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor OMELINK DIAGNOSTICS, a new program offered by The VGM Group, offers HME providers a head start in the bur- geoning field of home sleep testing. Homelink Diagnostics funnels referrals for home sleep tests to participating HME provider members. Providers are paid a fee to set up patients to take the studies, and if they end up needing therapy, they get the CPAP and supplies business, too. "We're providing dealers a mechanism to get into that market without having to do a lot of development costs and that type of SLEEP TEST SEE PAGE 35 Device tax looms BY LIZ BEAULIEU, Editor WASHINGTON – The witching hour for an annual excise tax on medi- cal devices is quickly approach- ing, and the fate of HME manu- facturers is still in the hands of the IRS. The IRS in late January released a proposed rule for the 2.3% tax. The good news: It has exempted purchased DMEPOS. The bad news: It doesn't appear it has exempted rented items like power wheelchairs, a distinction that varies from payer to payer. "It doesn't make sense to impose such a tax on a manu- facturer, when we have no idea who's going to be paying for the products," said Cara Bachen- heimer, senior vice president of government relations for Inva- care. The $20 billion tax, set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2013, is a pro- vision of the Affordable Care Act signed into law in 2010. It will be levied on a company's total revenues, regardless of whether it generates a profit. Under law, the secretary of the treasury has the power to exempt "any medical device determined by the secretary to be of a type which is generally purchased by the general public at retail for individual use." Stakeholders believe all HME fits that descrip- tion to a T. Industry stakeholders have TAX LOOMS SEE PAGE 34