Archive: April 2009

BOCA RATON, Fla.--Online provider Total e-Medical entered the blogosphere in March with the launch of its News Blog. “We wanted to give our patients and our prospective patients a place where they could go and read the latest news in their care areas,” said Nicole Balistreri, marketing and communications director for the company. “There's tons of diabetic blogs, but if you've got an ostomy, there aren't a lot of places where you can go to read the different things that are happening...

Andrew Garnett loves to travel, and he thinks the 40 million Americans with disabilities should be able to explore the world, too. In 2007, he founded Special Needs at Sea in Dania Beach, Fla., to provide scooters, wheelchairs, oxygen and other equipment for cruise ship passengers. Garnett says disabled Americans take about 31.7 million trips each year. He finds it rewarding when a customer tells him, “The world is a much bigger place because of you. I don't have to stay home anymore.” HME...

CHICAGO--COPD patients use respiratory medications intermittently during the last year of life, says a new study published in the April issue of the Respiratory Medicine Journal. In reviewing medication use for 11,376 individuals with the disease, researchers found that only about half had used any medication at all during their final year of life. The study included patients who used inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists. “In COPD, studies of medication persistence and compliance...

YARMOUTH, Maine--After several quarters of wild price swings, the latest average sales price (ASP) figures for nebulizer medications barely stirred when they were released in March. “There were no surprises,” said Wayne Vega, senior vice president of sales for Harvard Drug Group. “I think we are really seeing the spirit and intent of the Medicare Modernization Act, which is that reimbursement for the drugs should be cost plus 6%.” Reimbursements changed only slightly from...

EXETER, Pa.--Pride Mobility's Quantum Rehab division will expand operations and begin manufacturing complex rehab products in Las Vegas this month. The move is designed to better serve patients and providers in the western United States by reducing delivery times and improving regional support services west of the Mississippi River, company officials say.  “This is a huge, huge move for us,” said Cy Corgan, Pride's national sales director of retail mobility. “This is going...

Supporters seek to reclassify oxygen suppliers as providers as a way to get the product category eliminated from competitive bidding. The logic: Providers offer services - and equipment, not services, are competitively bid. But opponents say the strategy could backfire. If the industry succeeds in getting oxygen eliminated from NCB, members of Congress may seek to make up those savings with an across-the-board cut to the benefit, they say. “One of the main concerns of the independent provider,...

YARMOUTH, Maine--When rehab providers go to a beneficiary's home to repair a wheelchair, they don't get paid for their drive time or gas. That hasn't mattered all that much - until now. After a 9.5% reimbursement cut Jan. 1, some rehab providers gave beneficiaries a choice: We'll go to your home for a fee - anywhere from $50 to $75 - or you can bring your wheelchair to us. They say they no can longer afford to make the trips for free. Money got even tighter April 1, when providers began billing...

PHILADELPHIA- SCA Personal Care North America has launched an aggressive campaign to reduce the stigma surrounding urinary incontinence, beginning with its March release of gender-specific protective underwear. “It's a very private and sensitive problem,” said Spencer Deane, vice president of marketing. TENA Men's and TENA Women's protective underwear are designed to offer better fit and absorbency, and look like regular underwear, company officials say. The men's product, for example,...

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) recruited more than 12,000 patients - in six weeks - for Fight4rx.org, its online grassroots effort. The site includes briefs on pharmacy patient issues and updates on other healthcare news. “This level of patient outreach demonstrates that both community pharmacists and their patients recognize the importance of being heard in the healthcare policy debate in Washington, D.C.,” said Bruce Roberts, executive vice president...

OLIVETTE, Mo.--Home Delivery Incontinence Supplies (HDIS) expanded its reach into the aids to daily living (ADL) market when it acquired Best Buy Healthcare in March. The deal positions HDIS as more of a one-stop shop for its customers, comprised mainly of senior women shopping for bladder control products, said Mark Nedvin, vice president of marketing for HDIS. “Our customers have approached us over the years and asked us if we could help them get certain other products,” he said. “The...