What They Think About The State of the Industry

In spite of a year that has rattled the industry to its core, HME has more visibility, more solidarity and even a better relationship with Congress and regulatory agencies than ever in its history. Now, say industry players, is not the time to give up.

“Don't hit the panic button,” cautions Tim Pontius, chairman of the American Association for Homecare and president of Young Medical Services in Toledo, Ohio.

Pontius does not speak cavalierly. He's very familiar with the blows the industry has sustained over the past year: the crackdown on power wheelchair reimbursement, the price freeze on Part B respiratory drugs and threatened 89 percent reimbursement cut, impending stricter supplier standards including mandatory accreditation, and the onset of nationwide competitive bidding in 2007.

He is also keenly aware of the everyday challenges that abound, such as confusion over the sufficiency of CMNs for Medicare payment, delayed reimbursement and a persistent image problem that many believe prompts Congress and CMS to target the industry.

And he's just as outraged as any other above-board provider at the massive wheelchair fraud schemes uncovered in Texas. He chafes at the idea that they might have set back the industry, which has worked for so long to erase from legislative and regulatory minds images of similar abuses stemming from the 1980s.

But Pontius and others also see the industry's gains.

“What has been different over the last months versus previous years is the building of coalitions and the forging of alliances to encourage responsible action regarding coverage, coding and pricing issues,” says Michael Hammes, chairman and CEO of Longmont, Colo.-based Sunrise Medical. “The industry, clinicians and advocates are working together to seek reasonable solutions that minimize the impact of legislative and regulatory change on consumers.”

Dan Meuser, president of Pride Mobility Products, Exeter, Pa., says it has been a challenging year for providers. “I think it was certainly harder to be successful in the past year as a provider,” he says. “But the industry as a whole needed more strategic planning, providers needed more financial planning and a much higher level of diligence regarding inventory management and costs. [Now] they are watching costs much more closely than ever before … There is a lot of good that's going to come out of that.”