In Case You Missed It: News & Notes from Medtrade 2013

The Luck of the Draw

Congratulations to Anna McDevitt, with Laboratory Marketing in Farmdale, Mich., who won the AAHomecare booth drawing for a high-definition TV at Medtrade.  Anna says this about her company’s involvement with AAHomecare:

"Being part of AAHomecare has made it easy to network with other professionals in the industry as well as take an active role in defending homecare providers and patients in Washington. I view my AAHomecare membership as both a business tool and professional duty. As the motto goes: 'United we stand, divided we fall.'"

If you’re an AAHomecare member, or just curious about our role as an advocate and resource for the HME community, make plans to stop by our booth at Medtrade Spring (March 10-12, 2014, Las Vegas). You may or may not win a major household appliance, but we promise to make it worth your time.

Homecare Champions Honored as Hundreds Stand Up for Homecare

At a packed Stand Up for Homecare reception, AAHomecare celebrated the recipients of its annual Homecare Champion Award:  Scott Meuser, chairman and CEO of Pride Mobility; and long-time HME industry advocate Shelly Prial. The award recognizes association members who have made exceptional contributions to the homecare community throughout their careers.

Meuser was honored for his long time leadership on public policy issues, including service on the AAHomecare board of directors, and also for Pride’s long term commitment to working in close partnership with the provider community. Prial’s award comes in recognition of a long and pioneering career in the HME sector and for his continued advocacy as Medtrade ambassador and influential blogger.

The event raised more than $75,000 in support of enhanced efforts to get positive, accurate news about home medical equipment into national and local media through direct outreach to media contacts. The campaign also helps recruit new homecare advocates, including providers, their patients, and other stakeholders build positive perceptions of the HME sector on Capitol Hill. Learn more about the Stand Up for Homecare campaign.

Make your plans to support this important campaign and meet other HME leaders at the next Stand Up for Homecare reception at Medtrade Spring. Contact Ashley Jackson at 202-372-0743 or ashleyj@aahomecare.org about sponsorship opportunities at Medtrade’s can’t-miss networking event.

Where Were You?

Did you miss out on Medtrade 2013? You can still access more than 70 educational sessions from the show, available individually or as a complete set, as well as sessions from past shows, via the Medtrade Digital Library.

More importantly, mark your calendar and get ready to join us in person at Medtrade Spring, March 10-12, 2014, in fabulous Las Vegas.  Give Medtrade three days of your time, and you’ll get back a return that will pay dividends for your business all year long!

What is CMS going to cook up next for DME providers?

Whatever it is, you’ll want to have a solid compliance program in place.

Now that the Congress has reached an agreement to keep the federal government in operation (for a few months, at least), the folks at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can get back to dreaming up new audit regimens and other requirements for you to contend with.

Speaking of requirements, did you know that 2010's Affordable Care Act will make having a compliance program mandatory for any provider who bills Medicare? That’s right: mandatory, as in the opposite of optional.

But don’t despair, while compliance programs can be complicated, time-consuming, and expensive to develop from scratch, AAHomecare has a way to make starting your program easier, faster, and cheaper! Our new Focus on Compliance Workbook, written by attorney Asela Cuervo and reviewed by members of the Association’s Regulatory Council, will guide you through the process.

The Focus on Compliance Workbook provides explanations and sample forms for these important elements of an effective compliance program:

•    written standards and procedures
•    the compliance officer
•    employee training
•    means for employees to report misconduct
•    processes to investigate reports of misconduct and take corrective action
•    enforcement through disciplinary action
•    ongoing monitoring

In addition to maintaining enrollment in federal healthcare programs, the benefits of a custom compliance program include built-in audit support, more effective internal controls, and quality improvements.

Take a look at the table of contents to get a better sense of the impressive scope of this detailed 80+ page workbook, then order your copy today and save with our early-bird pricing special:

•    $499 for AAHomecare members
•    $799 for non-members

These introductory prices are valid through December 31.

What does it mean to “Stand Up for Homecare”?

If you’re in the homecare industry, you hear that phrase a lot, but what does it really mean?

First and foremost, it means building positive perceptions of home medical equipment (HME) on Capitol Hill. At the same time, it means getting positive, accurate news about HME into national and local media through direct outreach to journalists.

Too often it’s the small number of scammers and fraud artists who think they can make a quick buck by ripping off Medicare that make the news and catch the eye of Congress—not the many dedicated HME professionals who work long hours taking care of patients. That’s just not right, and the Stand Up for Homecare campaign works year-round to change it.

Second, it means attending the Stand Up for Homecare reception, which is widely regarded as the networking event at Medtrade. The reception brings together HME leaders of all sorts—manufacturers, large and small providers, patient advocacy groups, and more. This is the place to put faces with names, join conversations covering every aspect of the homecare industry, and get energized for whatever lies ahead!

Of course, none of this can happen without resources, bringing us to…

Third, it means donating what you can afford to the Stand Up for Homecare campaign. Whether it’s a little, a lot, or something in between, every penny counts and is deeply appreciated. So far, funds raised by the campaign have helped AAHomecare:

• reach more than 10 million Americans with articles in newspapers and magazines, print ads, and letters to the editor last year.
• grow our grassroots network by signing up nearly 9,000 homecare advocates who have generated more than 20,000 messages to Congress in the past 18 months.
• collaborate with consumer and patient groups to expand awareness and support for fair Medicare policies for homecare.

In addition, the campaign funds the production of two influential newsletters that are sent to the media and to healthcare staffers on Capitol Hill:

• Mobility Matters focuses on the role that power mobility and complex rehab equipment play in allowing individuals with mobility challenges to thrive.
• DME Matters highlights problems being caused for patients and providers by the so-called “competitive” bidding program.

These newsletters are produced to inform and engage Capitol Hill, the media, and the general public. We’re happy to add you to the distribution lists, so feel free to sign up for Mobility Matters and/or DME Matters by emailing info@aahomecare.org and asking to receive either or both publications.

If you’re planning to attend Medtrade, why not join us on Tuesday, October 8 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Baterbys Art Gallery in Orlando, Fla. Network with HME leaders and welcome our newest Homecare Champions into the Homecare Champions Hall of Fame.

Even if you can’t come to the reception, please consider making a donation. We’ll include your name on signs at the event, in our Wednesday in Washington newsletter, and our website. And, we’re happy to hold tickets for anyone you choose to attend in your place. Register online or download a form to mail or fax back to us.

The homecare community understands the issues that affect both businesses and patients because we live them every day. But Congress and the media need help understanding what’s important and why. They need to hear about the knowledge and dedication required to serve patients the right way. Stand Up for Homecare and make it happen!

Which is Better?

Have you seen the Verizon commercials where an adult, sitting in a small chair at a small table with four 8 year olds, poses “which is better” questions?  Well, in the same vein as those commercials, answer these questions:

• Which is better.., one home delivery for three different medical products, or home deliveries for one product at three different times?
• Which is better.., an oxygen supplier 10 miles from your Mom, or an oxygen supplier 100 miles from your Mom?
• Who is smarter in economics.., CMS Administrator Jonathan Blum, or the economics departments of Harvard, Yale and Princeton?  (and UCLA, Cornell, Penn State, MIT, Stanford, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Maryland & 40 more!)
• Which is better.., saving $20 billion in Medicare spending or saving $80 billion in Medicare spending?
• Which is better.., going home with a hospital bed from the local supplier or spending two extra nights in the hospital waiting for a delivery from a company hundreds of miles away?

We all know the answers to these questions and we see the problems resulting from the answers, but CMS doesn’t.  Mr. Blum knows better, he’s said so publicly.  In fact everyone knows which is better―except for CMS.  This is a Washington bureaucrat giving us assurance that Washington knows best.

Mr. Blum points to “sky-high prices” in a recent response to criticism of the flawed program, but failed to mention that these prices were set by CMS, not the industry, and using a formula approved by Congress.  CMS had the ability to adjust these prices without destroying the supplier community.

The real answer is “how can so much government focus be spent on squeezing pennies out of program that is less than 1.4% of the total Medicare budget when there is $60 billion lost annually to fraud, waste, and abuse in the rest of the Medicare program?  Mr. Blum also fails to note that the $25.8 billion savings he predicts is over a period of 10 years, AND the $2.6 billion per year saving is less than 0.4% (yes, you’re reading that right: 4/10 of one percent) of the CMS acknowledged fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare.  Talk about killing an ant with a sledge hammer.

What a shame that CMS and Congress both miss the point.......DME saves money.  Keeping people at home saves money.  We’re pretty sure that even the eight year olds in the commercials can grasp that.

If YOU get the point, please call Congress and tell them YOU know better than Mr. Blum. If you have access problems or have patients with access problems, call 800-404-8702 and report it on the beneficiary hotline.  If you are disappointed with Congressional inaction over the bidding program, call 202-224-3121 and tell you legislator to delay Round 2 and replace it with a real market pricing program instead of the debacle being peddled by CMS.

Meet a Champion

In 2011, Tom Ryan, founder, president, and CEO of Homecare Concepts Inc. won one of our first Homecare Champion Awards. The award was well-deserved recognition of his “entrepreneurial achievements, professionalism, concern for patients, high level of service, and his past and continuing leadership in both AAHomecare and NYMEP.”

One of Tom’s first duties as the new president and CEO of AAHomecare will be to present this year’s Homecare Champions with their awards. The ceremony is a short but important part of the Stand Up for Homecare reception at Medtrade each fall.

Who will be the 2013 Homecare Champions? We don’t know yet because we’re still collecting nominations. And this is where we could use your help. Do you know someone in the homecare community who deserves recognition? If so, please consider nominating them using our easy online form, or download a form to fax in. The deadline is Friday, September 6.

After you’ve sent in the nomination, be sure to register for the Stand Up for Homecare reception so that you can congratulate the new Champions in person! The reception will be October 8 from 5:30 to 7:00pm at Baterbys Art Gallery in Orlando, Fla., which is easy walking distance from where Medtrade is being held.