While sessions on accreditation packed them in at Medtrade Spring last month, show attendees were buzzing about a variety of current industry issues.
On the PMD IFR: “We have a real issue because a lot
of our physicians … don't know the type of technical,
specific information that CMS is requiring in order to fund power
mobility. We're having to have therapists write letters to the
doctors so the doctors can then ask specific questions to get [the
information] in their progress notes. We have pretty much planned
that for any power mobility device it is going to take from three
to six months to get approval.”
— Carrie VanQuathem, MS, PT, ChildServe, Johnston,
Iowa
On government reimbursement changes: “The
ramifications are huge with what it's doing to business and the
industry. It almost seems as if the government has decided to
punish our industry. It's astounding to me that something as
serious as the 36-month cap on oxygen and the 13-month cap on HME
can happen the way it happened in the middle of the night with
almost no industry debate. I think it's causing people to be unsure
about making investment decisions because … they may go and
change the rules again next week.”
— Mal Mixon, chairman and CEO, Invacare Corp., Elyria,
Ohio
On President Bush's proposed 2007 budget: “I'm
keeping my fingers crossed that it's not going to happen. That
would be crippling, not just for us but for the patient as well. A
lot of Medicare recipients are on fixed incomes and now they have
to make the decision “Do I pay to have my concentrator
serviced and eat cat food?” They only have so much money
… I think [shortening the oxygen rental period to 13 months]
would really hurt them much more than it would help.”
— Wayne D. Cherry, program director, Northern Illinois
Home Medical Supply, Sterling, Ill.
On the HME climate: “In '97-'98 we had large 30 to
40 percent cuts coming, but at least with them we could make
business plans based on what was going to happen. This time it's
like death by a thousand cuts — it just keeps coming …
and you don't know what it's going to be or how bad it's going to
be.”
— Rick Glass, Steven Richards & Associates, Tarpon
Springs, Fla.
On the 36-month oxygen rental cap: “What's bad is
that they believe a three-year cap will save money. But God forbid
something happens to the patient and the patient ends up calling
911 and they end up going into the hospital. There's a $5,000 or
$10,000 bill right there, so that doesn't make any sense to
me.”
— Jonathan Perryman, physical therapist, Accellence, Reno,
Nev.
On a positive note: “We've been in the business a
long time and there are still lots of challenges and lots of bumps
in the road, but that's what makes it interesting. I've been around
25 years, and I'm going to be around another 25 years!”
— Shirley Curley (with husband Ed), president, Hudson Home
HealthCare, Newington, Conn.
