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| HME Insider | | Scientific research on skin breakdown and pressure relief has led to the development of specialty support surfaces for the prevention and treatment of pressure wounds. Dealer/Provider spoke with Abbey Daniels, CEO of SenTech Medical Systems Inc, Fort Lauderdale, Fla, about her company’s role in this growing industry. Q What sets SenTech Medical and its products apart from other support surface manufacturers?
A SenTech is one of only a couple of therapeutic support surface companies that fully engineers and manufactures its products in-house. Every step of the manufacturing process from design to electronics production, sewing, welding, and injection molding is performed internally, allowing SenTech to control every step of our quality, rapidly respond to our customers’ needs, and engineer and prototype new products. The end result is the right products, at the right time, at the right cost. In designing and providing the right products, we keep a couple of key goals at the forefront. We strive to provide products that offer superior patient outcomes, are rapidly accepted by clinical staff, and that will last. At the same time, we are committed to providing exceptional support, training, and responsiveness to our distributors. There are distinct differences and advantages when using a SenTech product. We have an engineering team with great expertise in the control and movement of air and in sensors. Actually, SenTech is short for sensor technology—which is incorporated into every product so we are able to display the actual pressures in our support surfaces. I have seen surfaces on the market that clearly are made just to meet a reimbursement code. SenTech’s philosophy is to first design the optimal product for the patient and then assure reimbursement. It is this dedication to patient care and positive wound healing outcomes that will always be our driving force. Q What exciting new developments are in the works at SenTech?
A SenTech’s engineering and product development departments have resources working on both short-term projects in research and development, and long-term research in technology. SenTech already has a complete line of products for home, long-term, acute, and bariatric care. We will soon be releasing a bariatric lateral rotation system for patients weighing up to 750 pounds. We also continue to enhance our existing product line based on user or market needs and trends. Q What do you envision for the future of HME?
A Every demographic study I have seen depicts phenomenal growth as an aging society. At the same time, when given a choice, more and more people want to be cared for in a home setting as opposed to an institution. There is no doubt that the HME industry should boom in the years ahead. |
OIG Is Wrong, Invacare’s Williams Tells Congress
 David T. Williams Comparing Medicare’s cost for HME with what the Department of Veterans Affairs pays for HME, as the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) does in a report released on June 12, is inappropriate, testified David T. Williams, director of government relations for Invacare Corporation, Elyria, Ohio, in a June 12 hearing before the US Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. Williams argued that under Medicare, HME is not a commodity but a combination of goods and services. Therefore, Senators should not interpret the OIG report as a call for cuts to Medicare HME reimbursement. Charged with Evading Taxes, Tyco’s CEO Resigns
When splitting up Tyco failed to raise the company’s stock prices, L. Dennis Kozlowski, chairman and CEO of the Pembroke, Bermuda-based conglomerate, needed a break. He did not get it. On June 3, The New York Times reported that Kozlowski was under investigation for avoiding more than $1 million in New York State sales taxes. Citing personal reasons, Kozlowski resigned and Tyco’s board of directors asked John F. Fort to serve as CEO until the company finds a permanent replacement. AirSep to Ease Travel for O2 Users
 Joseph L. Priest Airline travel for oxygen patients has become more complicated due to post-September 11 regulations, but the less than 10-pound LifeStyle Portable Oxygen Concentrator from AirSep Corp, Buffalo, NY, may help. AirSep president and COO Joseph L. Priest says, “[Airline travel can be] expensive and frustrating in its present state.” LifeStyle could be the answer for airlines, the provider, and the traveling patient, he adds. Respironics Acquires Japanese Health Care Provider
Respironics Inc, Pittsburgh, has acquired a controlling interest in Fuji, RC Co, Ltd, a provider of home care and hospital products and services for respiratory impaired patients in Japan. Respironics will purchase all of the remaining shares of Fuji by the end of 2006.
| In Brief | ResMed Inc, San Diego, has acquired all outstanding shares of Servo Magnetics Inc (SMI), Canoga Park, Calif, for approximately $32 million. SMI designs, manufactures, and distributes electric motors for ResMed’s flow generator systems and the aerospace and data storage industries.
InnoMed Technologies Inc, Boca Raton, Fla, announced that it has signed agreements to supply its Nasal Aire Interface with 800 sleep disorder treatment facilities in the United States in a little more than 3 months. The company’s staff has also grown by 45%, and its distributor sales force has grown by 18% to support sales since January of this year.
A 46% increase in domestic sales helped push profits for CHAD Therapeutics Inc, Chatsworth, Calif, to $996,000 for the fourth quarter despite declining international sales. The increase in domestic sales was primarily due to last year’s introduction of the OXYMATIC® 400 series of oxygen conservers, says company CEO Thomas E. Jones.
Sunrise Medical, Longmont, Colo, has relocated its seating and positioning product manufacturing to the Fresno and Tijuana facilities. |
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