ATLANTA--For years industry advocates have complained that Washington officials simply don't understand HME.

But according to Rita Hostak, vice president of government relations for Longmont, Colo.-based Sunrise Medical and president of the National Coalition for Rehab and Assistive Technology, a new video may have helped to change the situation, at least for some members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare on its side of Capitol Hill.

Speaking at a Sunrise press briefing Wednesday morning during Medtrade, Hostak said both she and NCART lobbyist Denise Henry found it "extremely difficult" to explain in a 15-minute appointment with legislators unfamiliar with the industry how HME coding, coverage and pricing issues are interrelated.

Particularly in working to educate legislators on problems with the power mobility LCD, Hostak said, "we were struggling to get across [why concerns about downcoding and stand-pivot] are important." So instead, Sunrise developed a video for NCART that shows how powered equipment serves its users on a day-to-day basis.

The 12-minute video features a 54-year-old man with multiple sclerosis. During the film, the patient demonstrates the real-life difficulties of a stand-pivot transfer from his power wheelchair to his bed. He tells an interviewer that without his powered seating system, he would need full-time assistance to complete daily activities like transfers. The video follows the patient throughout his home and outside.

"It's bad enough I have this disease, but at least I have a tool to help me overcome the negatives about the disease," the patient says.

In an appointment shortly before Medtrade, Hostak and Henry showed the video to members of the Ways and Means Committee. Watching the patient's struggle to compete even the simplest activities of daily living "definitely had a powerful impact," Hostak said, adding she is hopeful that as the government's power mobility policy evolves, that impact will have a positive effect.

Hostak noted that after viewing the video, several committee members said they would contact regulators about the PMD LCD.