WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 17, 2020)—The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC)—a coalition of home oxygen therapy provider and manufacturing companies—recently named Crispin Teufel, chief executive officer of Lincare as Chairman of the Board. Teufel succeeds Dan Starck, chief executive officer of Apria Healthcare, in his new leadership role.
“I am honored and humbled to serve as the next Chairman of the CQRC,” said Teufel. “As we navigate the unprecedented challenges imposed by COVID-19, I look forward to working collaboratively with my industry colleagues to continue delivering high-quality care to patients both during the pandemic and beyond. In this new role, I hope to secure public policies to enable our sector to provide excellent care to the vulnerable patient population we are entrusted to serve.”
The CQRC’s mission is to educate members of the home respiratory care community, including patients, caregivers, health care professionals and others to protect access to the home respiratory care benefits in the Medicare program. CQRC informs the government about the continued importance of home respiratory therapy services, including home oxygen and sleep therapies, to patients, caregivers, friends, family, and other members of the home respiratory care community.
“It has been my privilege to serve as the CQRC Chair over the past five years,” added Dan Starck, the outgoing chairman. “I am confident that we will continue to advocate effectively for our patients and our profession under Crispin’s leadership.”
Currently, the CQRC’s main priority is working with Congress and the administration to block implementation of the competitive bidding program (CBP) for home respiratory supplies and services in 2021. The CBP bases payment rates on the level of patient need for equipment, supplies, and services in a specific market and the suppliers’ bid amounts. However, if Medicare chooses to move forward with the program next year, it will force suppliers to operate under rates determined using pre-pandemic data which fail to reflect the current realities of delivering home respiratory care during a global pandemic.
“At a time when our sector is constantly evolving and innovating to meet increased patient need during a pandemic, implementation of the competitive bidding program would be shortsighted and dangerous. It’s time for CMS to pause the program until – at a minimum – the COVID-19 crisis has passed,” said Teufel.
Visit cqrc.org for more information.
