Albany, N.Y.

After more than five years of discussions between New York State lawmakers and representatives from the home medical equipment industry, a state HME licensure bill finally became law Oct. 2.

For an industry that has long struggled to convey its service components to lawmakers, licensure laws go a long way toward recognizing the work that HME providers do to ensure patients' safety and satisfaction, said Jackie Negri, executive director of the New York Medical Equipment Providers Association.

“This law raises the bar for who is able to provide HME,” she explained. “In so doing, it calls for standards, quality assessment programs, adequately trained personnel and continuing education. It allows the industry to become a recognized service industry.”

Scheduled to take effect Feb. 1, 2003, the law calls for an HME service agency advisory board that will develop the regulations for licensure, Negri continued. The state's commissioner of health is responsible for choosing the advisory-board members, but NYMEP plans to help by suggesting qualified HME experts as board candidates.

After the board establishes licensure standards, New York State will require all HME providers to meet these standards.

While New York State has not yet codified the specifics of its licensure law, it has sent an important message to lawmakers and community members nationwide, Negri concluded. “There is a need for recognition that HME is more than a commodity,” she said. “There's a misperception that the HME industry drops equipment on patients' doorsteps or [express mails] it. But providers offer an array of services to clients, and they want to be recognized for that.”

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