DORAL, Fla. — Sunshine State members of the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America have banded together to form a new state association, the Florida Alliance of Home Care Services, the group announced Wednesday.

The news comes in tandem with this week's announcement that the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services, which quietly closed in January, is being restructured (see the upcoming March 23 issue of HomeCare Monday for more).

FAHCS grew out of calls from Florida home medical equipment providers for stronger representation in the state and a state voice at the national level, said Rob Brant, president of AMEPA and owner of City Medical Services in Miami.

"[AMEPA] members wanted to have representation in Tallahassee," Brant said, noting that legislators in Florida's capital city are, among other things, discussing cuts to Medicaid programs, bringing competitive bidding back for Medicaid and making changes to state licensure.

As well, he said, CMS is set to make another go at national competitive bidding and Florida has two of the largest MSAs in the first round of the program. So it is important, he said, for Florida's voice to be united on the national level as the battle continues to sideline the DMEPOS bidding program permanently.

"We need stronger representation," Brant said.

Roger Ribas, owner of Hometown Medical Supply in Doral and president of the new organization, said serious issues at both state and national levels demand that, in order to be heard, state provider associations be strong and effective in getting their message across.

"We really didn't have any representation … We really had no voice," said Ribas, who told his fellow providers that FAHCS had to exist "because no one has. There has been a hole in leadership in this state and our patients are too important not to have a voice."

According to Sean Schwinghammer, a senior advisor to AMEPA who will serve as acting director of FAHCS, more than 20 AMEPA members from Florida attended AAHomecare's Washington fly-in last month. "Legislators wanted to know what our state association was," Schwinghammer said. "Our state association didn't even have a phone number.

"This is a major state in the number of providers, patients per capita and therefore, it is vital that we have an active, engaged organization to represent providers," he added.

Once the decision was made to organize, the fledgling group kicked into gear, talking with leaders in other successful state associations and creating bylaws and a code of ethics for its members. In addition to Ribas and Schwinghammer, the Alliance has named Deana Rollyson of Matrix Medical, Plant City, as vice president; Rudy Hernandez of South Florida Medical, Doral, treasurer; and Jerry Hall of Hall-Moore Medical, Jacksonville, secretary.

The new state association will not be a part of AMEPA, Brant said. However, all Florida AMEPA members who have renewed their membership in 2009 or who became members after June 30, 2008, will automatically become FAHCS members. AMEPA has more than 130 accredited provider members from Florida, Brant said, and 20 additional Florida associate members such as manufacturers, billing companies, consultants, attorneys and other industry vendors.

This week's announcement that FAMES was reorganizing did not deter FAHCS from moving forward. "FAHCS is not opposed to any group that is trying to better the industry," Schwinghammer said. The important thing is that Florida providers get the leadership they need on a state level, he said, and he believes FAHCS can provide it.