MIAMI--Competitive bidding has thrown HME into a veritable hurricane of activity--and, amid appeals to CMS, letters to Congress and preliminary moves by various industry groups toward legal action, a new organization has also come on the scene.
Provider Rob Brant of City Medical Services in North Miami Beach, Fla., said he started AMEPA--Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America--just last week “to unify the accredited medical equipment providers.”
Brant, a member of VGM and former board member of the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services, said the group plans to reach out specifically to those providers who are accredited or who plan to become accredited to help them through competitive bidding.
“It is created by accredited providers for current and future accredited providers,” Brant said.
AMEPA, which will hold its first meeting for members in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, will focus on educating providers on different aspects of accreditation as well as on topics like how to contact their congressmen, Brant said.
“I have spoken with many accredited providers and they said that they don't belong to any [HME] organizations or go to any of the trade shows,” Brant said. Of the providers he interviewed, Brand said, most “had no idea who their congressmen are. We are teaching them how to contact their legislators and to be involved. I think that's one of the problems we have had in the industry.”
AMEPA's board includes Jack Marquez, vice president of Cobra Medical, Miami; Jeff Rittenberg, CEO of Surf Med, Miami; Zane Morgan of Morgan and Associates; Ron Jenkins, owner of Respitec, Orlando, Fla.; Ray Ferri of Metroplex Medical Services; and Javier Talamo of Hialeah, Fla., law firm Kravitz & Talamo.
Brant said the group is already active and has garnered letters from members of Congress including Florida Republicans Ric Keller, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen requesting that CMS stop the competitive bidding process. (See related story this issue.)
“[AMEPA is] going to be a united voice for the accredited DME owner … in less than one week we have assembled four letters [from members of Congress] asking to stop competitive bidding,” Brant said.
In addition to Miami, Brant said AMEPA has members in Orlando, Fla., and Dallas, Texas, and meetings will also be held in those cities.
For additional information, Brant may be contacted at rob@citymedical.com.
