LAS VEGAS--The chief architect behind 49 new power chair and scooter codes Medicare plans to implement next year spoke to a group of about 80 industry stakeholders Thursday morning at the Las Vegas Renaissance Hotel.

At the session, sponsored by NCART (National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology), SADMERC Medical Director Dr. Doran Edwards said the new codes should make it easier for health care professionals to prescribe wheelchairs that will meet a patient's current and future needs.

"We anticipate [clinicians] should have a much greater selection and [be able to] fit the chair more accurately to the patient," Edwards said, adding that clinicians can use the codes to "anticipate the needs of that patient over the next two to three years. If patients will require multiple power options," then clinicians will be able to prescribe a chair that can accept option upgrades, which can be added to the power base as a patient's condition progresses.

All this hinges on the government's new coverage policy for mobility devices, which insiders say is set for imminent release from CMS. A regulation requiring a face-to-face physician examination and a new wheelchair CMN are also in the works.

More on the new codes may be accessed through the SADMERC Web site, available by clicking here.