Pride President Meets With White House Official
During a January 15 political fund-raiser at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Dan Meuser, president of Pride USA, Exeter, Pa, spoke privately with President George W. Bush’s chief political strategist, Karl Rove. In addition to discussing the president’s New Freedom Initiative—a program designed to help disabled people integrate more fully into society—the two broached the topic of the motorized wheelchair policy clarification published in December by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Dan Meuser

According to Pride, Meuser stressed the restrictive nature of this change to medical policy and proposed that a cost-cutting plan be developed that would be accepted by CMS, the industry, and consumer groups without depriving Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities of needed mobility aids. He told Rove that a more effective plan could increase quality of care and reduce cost to the program and fraud in the industry without additional expenditures to the health care system. Pride reports that Rove was “very receptive” to Meuser’s ideas and agreed to set up a future meeting with Doug Badger, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, to further address these issues. Disability issues could play a role in the 2004 presidential election as Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), one of the leading candidates for the Democratic Party nomination, in February made a point of creating a special Americans With Disabilities Web Log on his campaign Web site and formulating a position statement that supported expanding access to home health care and DME for people with disabilities.

HME Insider

Barry Wilson Barry Wilson compares the difficulty of rising from a typical modern toilet with that of getting up from one of those low, cushy couches popular in the seventies. Even young, healthy people may have some trouble standing up from sitting on something so low. So how, he wondered, is an elderly or physically challenged person with limited leg strength supposed to get up from a typical toilet? Disappointed in the available toilet seat lift options, he set out to build one. Dealer/Provider caught up with Wilson, president of Toilift Corp, based in Hawthorne, Calif, to chat about the finished product—a toilet lift available as a water-powered or electric unit—and its development. Why did you switch from the snack food machinery industry to HME? After selling my custom machine building company in 1998, I was doing consulting and other work, and one of my engineers had a need for his mother who was living with him in his home and couldn’t get up and down off the toilet. So, I said to him, “Go on the Internet. There has to be something to help your mom out.” Well, there wasn’t. There was nothing. There were raised toilet seats, but there was no device that could really help her. He was going to have to put her in a nursing home. We first built her a ladder out of the same tubing material used for a handicapped railing, and we bolted it to the floor and ceiling, so she could hold on and lower herself. That worked very well, but it was a little silly having a ladder in the bathroom, so that’s when I said, “Let’s make a product.” What makes your product different than others currently on the market? The seat. We have a patent for the seat, which tilts down to allow you to sit on it, and then you sit back and put your full weight on it. It not only takes you up and down, it also moves you slightly forward or backward at the same time. The other ones go straight up and down. What patients are best suited for this type of lift? Anybody who can walk, even with the aid of a walker, or who has difficulty getting up the first three inches from a toilet. How can providers benefit from this product? How will it help sales and their stores? I have not found a lift in any dealer’s showroom that I have been in that will do what these two products will do. One is the electric unit, which is battery-powered and self-contained. It can also be used for sports injuries or after an operation. Dealers could lease the lifts. All you have to do is take the seat off the existing toilet and slide this one over and use it. Then you recharge it every week or so.

AAHomecare Chooses TracMed, bConnected for e-CMN Service
In February, Trac Medical Solutions (TracMed), a subsidiary of AuthentiDate Holding Corp, entered into a 9-year agreement with the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) for an open industry solution designed to deliver a unified platform for the processing of electronic certificates of medical necessity (e-CMNs) and other electronic health care forms.

The e-CMN solution will incorporate TracMed’s CareCert™ technology; the bPIP business process management engine from bConnected Software, based in Broomfield, Colo; and the US Postal Service Electronic Postmark®, which validates the date, time, and originality of the content of the transaction.

TracMed, based in Schenectady, NY, expects the e-CMN solution to be deployed in 2 years. License fees for the service will be between $36 and $50 per location per month, and fees will be between $1.80 and $3 per transaction, according to TracMed. A free upgrade will be available to AAHomecare members currently using CareCert. A nominal royalty from sales of the service will go to AAHomecare to support the efforts of the trade association, says Rob Sweezy, AAHomecare communications and government relations consultant.

“This e-CMN solution provides a more cost-effective alternative to the current paper-intensive process of submitting health care claims. This solution comes at a perfect time for our members who are faced with shrinking reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurance companies,” says AAHomecare President and CEO Kay Cox. “We selected these companies because they have well-developed technologies and ample experience in successfully providing business process management services to the home care industry.”

AAHomecare, based in Alexandria, Va, says the e-CMN solution meets the goals outlined in a white paper the organization released earlier this year. Those goals included that the service be created with open standards to ensure full industry participation and that it provide remote access through the Internet using a fully Web services-enabled interface.

ResMed Sends CPAP Users Online, Reports Record Earnings
In February, ResMed launched a new Web site and reported record revenue and income results. The Web site, www.myresmed.com, offers ways for positive airway pressure device users to help themselves. It provides sleep apnea treatment support, education, news, and answers to frequently asked questions. Sections on starting and improving therapy, equipment setup and care, and explanations of sleep apnea and associated health risks are also available. Site visitors can register for free newsletters and equipment replacement reminders, says the Poway, Calif-based company.

The need for such a Web site may be gauged by the company’s continued revenue growth. For the quarter ended December 31, 2003, ResMed revenue was $82.3 million, an increase of 26% over the quarter ended December 31, 2002. Income from operations and net income for the December 31, 2003, quarter increased to $19.4 million and $14.2 million, respectively, an increase of 21% and 36%.

“These record profit and revenue results for the December quarter of fiscal 2004 reflect ResMed’s continuing strong sales and profit growth. This represents ResMed’s 35th consecutive record quarter, in terms of quarter over quarter revenue and net income growth, since the company went public in 1995,” says ResMed CEO Peter C. Farrell, PhD. “Our operating cash flow for the December quarter was an encouraging $13.4 million. Domestic sales increased by 27% over the December 2002 quarter to a record $41.1 million, reflecting continued healthy domestic demand for our sleep-disordered breathing products. International sales increased by 25%, over the December 2002 quarter to $41.2 million, reflecting encouraging growth in major markets, as well as a stronger Euro.”

MEDirect Starts Ad Campaign
International investment bank Provident Group recently completed an early stage financing round for MEDirect Latino Inc, a Plantation, Fla-based company focused on distributing Medicare-reimbursed products to the US Hispanic community for the monitoring and treatment of chronic diseases, focusing on Type I and II diabetes. Proceeds from the financing have been allocated for spot television market testing of the company’s national Spanish-language advertising campaign on Univision and Telemundo, continued beta testing of the company’s HIPAA-compliant electronic protocols, Customer Service Intake, and Medical Billing divisions. In addition, the company successfully formalized its direct electronic data billing feeds to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Mobility Company Ups Nationwide Training Courses
To support a commitment to the certification of the company’s dealer base, Permobil Inc has increased its number of seminars for 2004, says Marketing Manager Barry Steelman. In the coming year, Lebanon, Tenn-based Permobil will offer 22 service schools, 40 pediatric seminars, and eight advanced seating seminars conducted by Mark Schmeler of the University of Pittsburgh.

The service schools are primarily intended for training of service technicians who already possess a working knowledge of power wheelchair design and repair. However, Permobil says the schools also may provide value to beginning service technicians and sales representatives who wish to learn about the mechanics and electronics contained in various Permobil equipment. The $145 service school sessions include a service CD, a service binder, a completion certificate, breakfast, two breaks, and lunch. Contact Permobil for dates, locations, and registration forms.

InnoMed Gets International OK
In February, InnoMed Technologies received the International Standards Organization (ISO) 13485 Quality System Certification for the design and distribution of accessories for continuous positive airway pressure devices at its Greensburg, Pa-based facility.

An ISO 13485 Quality Management System ensures that the goods and services offered by the organization will meet customer and regulatory requirements.

“We are very proud of this certification and are pleased that InnoMed’s stringent standards are recognized both in the United States and internationally,” says Patrick Karem, CEO of InnoMed, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla. “Our customers are pleased to know that InnoMed’s design, development, and production meet the highest standards.”

Harmar Mobility To Distribute Wheelchair Carriers
Sarasota, Fla-based Harmar Mobility has added the Tilt’N’Tote wheelchair carrier product line by WheelChair Carrier, based in Toledo, Ohio, to its lineup of vehicle lifts and access ramps. According to Harmar president Chad Williams, the new line enables Harmar to offer its dealers a complete solution for transporting nearly every form of personal mobility device.

“We are very excited to offer the industry-leading Tilt’N’Tote product line to our dealers,” Williams says. “It is a great name in the industry that is synonymous with manual wheelchair carriers and we are proud to offer the complete line. It is a perfect fit with our products and our dealers.”

As with all Harmar products, the manual wheelchair carriers will ship same-day when ordered before 2 pm ET.

Chad Announces Higher Revenue, Net Earnings
CHAD Therapeutics Inc, Chatsworth, Calif, has reported higher revenue and net earnings for the third quarter and first 9 months of fiscal 2004. For the third quarter ended December 31, 2003, revenue increased 5% to $5,237,000 from $4,980,000 for last year’s third quarter. Net earnings increased 83% to $418,000, or $0.04 per diluted share, from $228,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2003.

For the first 9 months of fiscal 2004, revenue increased 9% to $16,190,000 from $14,842,000 for the same period of fiscal 2003. Net earnings nearly doubled to $792,000, or $0.08 per diluted share, from $408,000, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the same period of the prior year.

Invacare Reports Financials
Invacare Corp, Elyria, Ohio, has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2003. The company says earnings per share for the quarter increased 32% to $0.74 versus $0.56 last year. Net earnings for the quarter were $23.7 million, versus $17.6 million last year. Net sales for the quarter increased 22% to $343 million, versus $282 million last year. Earnings per share for the year increased 10% to $2.25 versus $2.05 last year. Net earnings for the year were $71.4 million, up from $64.8 million last year. Net sales for the year increased 15% to $1.25 billion versus $1.09 billion last year.