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NOW SHOWING Facts & Figures
Home medical equipment providers are literally on the edge of their seats this year. As the drama unfolds in Washington, and a captive provider audience braces for reimbursement cuts and competitive bidding, customers are still knocking on providers' doors to serve their needs for HME.
Following this industry's plot twists and turns is a full-time job. Surpassing their roles as businesspeople, providers are becoming Washington watchdogs, continuously called upon to make their voices heard and regain credibility lost in the headlines of Medicare fraud to help reshape public policy.
This year's presentation of Facts & Figures brings some hard evidence into the spotlight: Medicare's rising expenditures for K0011 wheelchairs and a sharp decrease in the issuance of new supplier numbers show both the partial cause and effect of CMS' Operation Wheeler Dealer. Market demand, however, continues upward. The government's most recent forecasts predict Medicare enrollment will climb to almost 50 million people by 2010, and to 77 million — or 22 percent of the nation's population — by 2030.
As the HME show goes on and providers learn to deal with a burgeoning customer base and toughening business conditions, the industry, like a gracefully aging film star, must find new ways to reinvent itself. Let's face it. There may always be a bit of drama in HME, but in the end, if patients are well served, the results will always be worth it.
