Tag: NewsPoll

YARMOUTH, Maine - The closures of both a distributor and a provider of urological supplies are signs of a shifting marketplace, say respondents to a recent HME Newspoll.The majority of respondents to the poll (67%) fear that product choice is becoming more limited in the wake of Peco Medical, which manufactured low-cost ostomy and other supplies, closing June 1.“We used a lot of the PECO product line,” wrote one respondent. “It will be sad to see another distributor leave the market,...

YARMOUTH, Maine - Fifty-one percent of respondents to a recent HME Newspoll say they're considering adding CBD products to their offerings, but they're worried about the possible ramifications to their businesses.Of those considering CBD, 47% say they need more legal information.“My concerns are in state and federal regulations,” wrote one respondent. “This affects licensing, purchasing, inventory, distribution and exposure to regulatory audits.”A provision in last year's...

YARMOUTH, Maine - When two companies as big and different as ResMed and Brightree merge, there's more than likely going to be an impact on their HME provider customers, the majority of respondents to a recent HME Newspoll say. Sixty percent of respondents expect the mega deal to affect their businesses, some say in good ways and some say in potentially concerning ways. “Mergers and acquisitions have become common in our industry,” wrote John Reed, CEO of Walnut Medical Services....

YARMOUTH, Maine - While 75% of respondents to a recent HME Newspoll admit they could be doing a better job educating patients about their therapies, many say they just don't have the resources.Since the nationwide roll out of competitive bidding on Jan. 1, respondents say they have had to cut costs by reducing services and staff, both of which take their toll on their ability to educate patients.“Patient education is always a challenge in these decreasing reimbursement times,” wrote one...

YARMOUTH, Maine - Sixty-three percent of the respondents to a recent HME Newspoll say they use outcomes data to market themselves to referral sources.The type of data that they feel is most important: clinical data (33%).“Clinical outcomes are the benchmark of effective and efficient health care,” wrote one respondent. “No matter how good the salesperson, or the equipment design or ease of use—if the patient isn't better off, what do all the features and benefits matter?”Respondents...

In the past few months, a number of people have emailed me suggesting an HME NewsPoll to get a pulse on the financial health of HME providers in 2013. A good way to do that, they said: Ask providers about their DSO, A/R and patient collection rates. So that's what we did. One of the people who emailed me noted that if a provider has 20+% A/R greater than 60 days old, that means trouble. And wouldn't you know it, so far, the majority of respondents to the poll say they have 20+% A/R...

I feel like we've heard a lot of HME providers talking about the important role that they play in helping to reduce hospital readmission rates, and I feel like we've seen some providers walking the talk, too. Take Alana HealthCare. In the HME Newswire a couple of weeks ago, Managing Editor Theresa Flaherty wrote about how this provider has reduced readmission rates for stage IV COPD patients with respiratory failure between 40% and 73%. That's pretty impressive. We've also written about efforts by...

YARMOUTH, Maine - The majority of respondents to a recent HME NewsPoll say they'll be cutting staff and salaries in response to the recently announced payment amounts for Round 2.Sixty-six percent of respondents who accepted contract offers say they either plan to lay off staff, or have done so already. Fifty-seven percent say they either plan to reduce salaries, or have done so already.“Less people will have to do more,” said a provider from New York. “Insurance costs are higher,...

Our HME Newspoll for the December issue takes a look at your net revenues for 2012—will they meet your expectations, will they be up or down for the year, how will they compare to last year? We selected this topic for two reasons: 1.) With so few public companies in the HME industry, we thought this would be a god way to get a feel for the financial health of the industry; and 2.) it's the end of year, so we thought it would be a good time to look back at 2012 and look forward at 2013. So far,...

YARMOUTH, Maine - Most providers say CMS's new re-supply rule is "about as clear as mud."Sixty-three percent of the respondents to the latest HME NewsPoll say they don't have a good understanding of the rule, which requires providers to prove that re-supply items like CPAP masks are non-functioning before they replace them. The biggest unknown: a clear definition of non-functioning."Although I hope we do have a good understanding, it is not completely clear what CMS wants us to document," said Sally...