Archive: February 2017

ATLANTA and RICHLAND HILLS, Texas - Genesis Healthcare Services and Hospice Cloud, two providers of HME to hospice organizations, have merged, company officials announced Feb. 23. The acquisition of Atlanta-based Genesis Healthcare helps Richland Hills, Texas-based Hospice Cloud, which owns and operates 60 service centers and has partnerships with more than 200 HME providers, maintain its position as a “market leader” providing HME for the hospice industry. “The addition of...

SUFFERN, N.Y. - Medforce Technologies has launched an electronic signature tool built specifically for the healthcare industry. SignCenter allows providers to “dictate the signing experience,” Medforce says, by determining where and when a document can be signed. It allows signatures to be captured remotely or in-person, and to be executed using a keyboard, mouse or touch screen from any web-enabled device. “Most providers we talk to are still printing out forms for signature and...

It's a chilly today, here in Las Vegas, but here's hoping things warm up with the official start of Medtrade Spring '17 this morning. I actually flew into Vegas on Saturday. I figured if I had to spend a whole day crammed onto a plane, anyway, I might as well take an extra today to enjoy some sun and relative warmth—two things that are often in limited supply in our neck of the woods. On Sunday morning, before all the vacationing families could descend on the Shark Reef Aquarium (it's just...

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Two senators in the Minnesota state legislature have introduced a bill to address a provision in the 21st Century Cures Act that would limit the federal portion of Medicaid reimbursement for HME to competitive bidding-influenced Medicare reimbursement starting in 2018. The bill, introduced by Sens. Jim Abeler and Greg Clausen and still in draft form, reads: “Effective for services provided on or after January 1, 2018, the commissioner shall make supplemental payments to...

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - VirtuOx, a home respiratory diagnostic provider, has released a device that allows HME providers to track their equipment in the patient's home. VirtuTrack attaches to equipment and automatically sends data daily to VirtuOx, allowing providers to monitor whether or not it is plugged in and turned on. “With VirtuTrack, you will be able to monitor patient compliance to any medical device, which can improve health outcomes, reduce hospital readmissions and eliminate the risk...

ATLANTA - Brightree has released an app that gives HME providers a quick way to process patient payments through smartphones or tablets anywhere in real time. The Brightree Patient Collections GetPaidHME app, which runs on Apple and Android devices, allows users to scan a sales order directly from a delivery ticket. From there, the patient is added to the delivery queue, and sales order data, including recipient and payment information, is integrated into the app, eliminating the need for paper invoices....

Q. How will interoperability improve operational efficiency for HME providers?A. Just like your smartphone shares data to connect and organize many aspects of your life, a smart interoperability plan can do the same for your HME business. Your business is increasingly pressured by a greater demand to improve patient outcomes. Additionally, market dynamics continue to erode profit margins. Due to these factors, providers need technology solutions to help them deliver services in a more efficient way....

There is no consensus among manufacturers about whether bariatrics should continue to be its own category or whether it should be incorporated into other HME segments. While some are including bariatric versions of mobility, bath safety, support surfaces and aids to daily living within those product portfolios, others continue to position bariatric models in their own category. Whether bariatrics becomes more mainstream remains to be seen, though it appears that sales of bariatric versions are...

MUNICH and DANBURY, Conn. - Although industrial gas giant Linde continues to dip its toe in the waters of home care, its planned merger with Praxair likely won't have a noticeable effect on the HME industry, say M&A analysts.Linde and Praxair in December announced plans to merge, creating a combined company with revenues of about $30 billion. Linde is currently the No. 2 industrial gas company in the world and Praxair is No. 3.“I don't think we'll see much impact from it at all,” said...

The fate of the Affordable Care Act lies in the hands of the Republican-controlled Congress, but HME providers for the most part don't expect to feel much of an impact if the program were repealed.“I think it's an overblown topic with regard to HME,” said Steve Ackerman, owner of Spectrum Medical in Silver Spring, Md. “I guess it depends on what comes in its place, but Medicare—at least for HME—wasn't really affected by the program”Ackerman may have a point. Nearly...