Alexandria, Va. The American Association for Homecare named its inaugural board of directors. Members of the executive committee are Donald White of Associated Healthcare Systems, chairman; David Savitsky of Staff Builders, vice chairman; Joel Mills of Advanced Homecare, secretary; Lawrence Higby of Apria Healthcare Group, treasurer; and Mario LaCute of Seeley Medical, immediate past chairman.

Other board members are Edward Blechschmidt of Gentiva Health Services; James Booth of Interim Healthcare; Todd Brason of WillCare; Calvin Cole of Southern Therapy; Jerome Dodds of Home Care Medical Equipment; Paul Gabos of Lincare Holdings; Gary Gilberti of Chesapeake Rehab Equipment; Joel Marx of Medical Service Companies; April Mason of LifePlus; Gayla Sasser of Tennessee Association for Home Care; David Williams of Invacare Corp.; Michael Hammes of Sunrise Medical; Christopher Jock of Kelly Assisted Living Services; Peter Kelly of Med-Mart; Steven Knoll of Knoll Patient Supply; James Liken of Respironics Inc.; Renee Myers of United Medical; Rick Peranton of NurseFinders; Joseph Priest of AirSep Corp.; Joe Sansone of Pediatric Services of America; and Gordon Smith of American HomePatient. -J.P.P.

Alexandria, Va. The American Association for Homecare, answering the Health Care Financing Administration's request for comments on possible changes to certificates of medical necessity, issued proposed changes it wants to see made in current CMNs. The suggestions included the following:

* Recognition of faxed or electronically submitted CMNs transmitted from the physician to the providers of durable medical equipment and prosthetic and orthotic supplies as official documentation for billing and audit purposes.

* Increased education of physicians on the importance of their role in the CMN process on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries.

* Recognition of the validity of the CMN submitted by the physician. The supplier should not be held responsible for deficiencies in the physician's record keeping or medical record documentation, AAHomecare said.

* Restriction on further documentation requirements by HCFA or the Durable Medical Equipment Regional Carriers because the CMN form was developed expressly to verify medical necessity and Medicare coverage. -J.P.P.