Medtrade Attendance Overwhelms VNU
Conference planning is at best an imprecise science. Experienced show organizers know to study numbers from previous years and from that plan the right amount of booth space and number of educational sessions.

Attendees stand in the hall to hear a packed session on reimbursement changes.

Judging by previous years and early registrations, VNU Expositions, organizer of Medtrade Spring in Las Vegas, anticipated that 750 people would sign up for the educational sessions and about 650 would actually attend. “When registration topped 850 [the week before the show], we knew we were in trouble,” said Louis Feurer, VNU’s director of education for Medtrade.

Corey Smith, director of sales for Medtrade, estimated that education session attendance jumped 35%-40% and overall show attendance grew 20%-25% to about 5,000. “We expected growth,” he said. “We didn’t expect the growth we realized.”

Despite crowded meeting rooms and organizers having to turn away more than 100 people who wanted to register for the educational sessions in the week before the show or on-site, Smith said it is still better to deal with the problems of too much growth rather than too little. And the increased attendance pleased most exhibitors interviewed.

“[Tuesday] we were busy all day,” said Karen Moore, vice president of Ancor Healthcare Consulting. “This has been a good show with good attendance and people seemed more focused on business.”

HHS Eases Up On HIPAA Compliance
DME providers can stop sweating—at least for this year—about implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Transaction & Code Set (TCS). On March 28, the US Department of health and Human Services (HHS) released the model form for HIPAA-covered companies to request a year’s extension in complying with the TCS rules. The change in deadline is part of the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act, which President Bush signed into law in January, giving health care providers a year extension—Oct 16, 2003—to implement the TCS, a system for the electronic exchange of health information between providers. The new law, however, does not change the date for compliance with HIPAA privacy rules that must be implemented by April 14, 2003.

Though good news for HME providers, there is a catch. The extension is not automatic. Providers must submit a model or similar form to HHS by October 15, 2002, and they must begin testing their TCS implementation by April 16, 2003. The form can be filed electronically or by mail. However, if an extension is not filed, then the TCS must be in place by the original October 2002 date. In order to be in compliance, the provider and all of their business partners must have implemented the TCS.

In addition to releasing the TCS extension model form, in March HHS also proposed easing HIPAA privacy rules. The modification would remove the consent requirements for treatment and payment. Though some Democrats have criticized this change, privacy advocates and professional groups have applauded it. “This [modification] minimizes a set of unintended consequences in dealing with the first patient contact, eg, obtaining a prescription or scheduling an encounter, as well as with the issues of record keeping and the right to withdraw consent,” said Carla Smith, executive vice president of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). “In its place, providers must give notice of their information practices and seek written acknowledgement from the patient. This also allows patients to consider changing providers if they find the information-use policies unacceptable, and suggests that their treatment is no longer conditional based upon their consent.”

HHS also proposed changing marketing rules in response to concerns that they did not adequately protect patient privacy. Under the new rule, providers would first have to obtain authorization before sending patients marketing materials. However, they could freely discuss treatment options with patients, including disease-management programs.

In addition, the changes also clarify the rules governing the exchange of patient information between health care professionals. As long as they do not violate the patient’s privacy, anyone involved in the patient’s care can freely discuss treatment.

News in Brief

Region D DMERC Selected for Wheelchair Demonstration
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has selected CIGNA Healthcare as the contractor to process claims for the Consumer Directed Durable Medical Equipment (CD-DME) Wheelchair Demonstration project.

The project involves teaching beneficiaries at four centers for independent living how to be savvy purchasers of wheelchairs. Once educated, the beneficiaries will receive vouchers that can be used to negotiate the purchase of wheelchairs and accessories from HME providers.

Details are available in the Spring 2002 issue of the Region D DMERC Dialogue or online at www.cignamedicare.com/dmerc /dlog/dlog2002/spring_2002/020117c.html.

RATC Submits Code Applications
In time for the April 1 deadline, the Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Council (RATC) Coding Task Force of the American Association for Homecare submitted 22 consensus Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code applications. Fourteen product and eight accessory code applications for pediatric mobility base and wheelchair products reached the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

O2 Science Grows By Four Locations
O2 Science, Tempe, Ariz, a regional provider of respiratory services and home health care products, has acquired home health care services provider RCC Medical Inc, Arvada, Colo, and the Bullhead City, Ariz, location of THC of Nevada, and opened branches in Grand Island, Neb, and Lake Havasu, Ariz.

The acquisition and openings fit into O2 Science’s strategy of becoming a regional provider of home health care services in key geographic markets, says Mark S. Hanley, president and CEO.

PSA Names VP of HME, Opens Georgia Center
Pediatric Services of America Inc (PSA), Norcross, Ga, has named Julie Bowman to the position of Vice President of Home Medical Equipment Services, replacing the retiring Jim Henderson. PSA also opened a day treatment center for medically fragile children in College Park, Ga, to serve patients in the South Metro Atlanta region. It is PSA’s seventh full-service center.