OXFORD, Mich. (April 11, 2014)—Essentially Women, a member services organization for women’s health care products, hosted their 14th annual conference and trade show, Focus on the Future, in Reno, Nev. March 16-18. The event was well attended as educational courses energized members to become politically active; armed with valuable and successful sales, merchandizing and marketing techniques; and tackled tough Medicare billing issues and an audit update.

WASHINGTON (April 17, 2014)—On April 9, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report titled “Limited Compliance with Medicare’s Home Health Face-to-Face Requirements.” This report is not related to the face-to-face requirements for DME.

WATERLOO, Iowa (April 18, 2014)—February’s OMHA Appellant Forum in Washington, D.C., afforded VGM members the opportunity to question Chief Judge Nancy Griswold about the tumultuous DME audit process. Some members, who had submitted denials they thought were inappropriate or inaccurate in advance of the event, are experiencing even better outcomes. Prior to the event, Peggy Walker of VGM’s U.S.

WASHINGTON (April 17, 2014)—Recently in Hawaii, CMS made a notable exception to the bidding program. Despite the agency’s claims that the bidding program has not harmed patients, the unintended consequences of implementing the program in the Honolulu bidding area have been disastrous. Only 13 of the 97 providers selected are located in the state of Hawaii.

SAN DIEGO (April 14, 2014)—ResMed, developer of products for the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing and other respiratory conditions, has won two Red Dot Product Design Awards for 2014—one for its AirFit P10 nasal pillows mask and one for its soon-to-be-launched Astral 150 life support ventilator. ResMed is a repeat winner, having been recognized in 2010 for its S9 Series. Red Dot is the world’s largest and most renowned design competition.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 11, 2014)—LogicMark, LLC, provider of two-way voice communication, announced its new SentryPal mobile personal emergency response system (PERS). LogicMark’s SentryPal is a GPS-enabled personal alert system that offers an individual the freedom to enjoy an active lifestyle with one-touch access to help in the event of an emergency. SentryPal is completely mobile. SentryPal can go wherever the user goes, with help only the push of a button away.

WASHINGTON (April 18, 2014)—An array of clinicians and advocates for Medicare patients—as well as home medical equipment providers, manufacturers and trade groups—sharply oppose a proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand the prices of goods and services under their bid procurement program to non-bid areas throughout the country, says the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare). AAHomecare reviewed the public comments and found that the overwhelming majorit