Page 28 - HME Business, November 2017

News / Trends / Analysis
Numotion Unveils Remote Wheelchair Servicing
Using a secure phone app, users and caregivers can send technicians video that lets them quickly assess and diagnose problems with manual and power CRT devices.
WEBINARS
More industry intelligence is available at hme-business.com.
Free Upcoming Live Event — On November
13, Christina Throndson, Director of Business Development for VGM Forbin will present “Your Entry Into E-commerce,” which helps providers understand that e-commerce is less complex than they image and the basics of implementing it within their businesses. Best of all, registration for the event is free thanks
to sponsors McKesson Corp. To learn more and to register, visit hme-business.com/webinars.
Free On-Demand Webinars — In “HME Collections Boot Camp,” sponsored by Brightree LLC, presenter Lisa Ziehl discusses how HME providers are leaving money on the table and the ways they can increase the efficiency and accuracy of their billing processes. Ziehl has been in the HME industry since 2004, and as a Strategic Account Executive with Brightree, she works tirelessly to help providers maximize their business efficiency.
Wound care can put HME providers in the fast lane to increased profitability, but which is the right on-ramp for your business? Now available for free at hme- business.com/webinars, you can watch and listen to “Wound Care: Picking the Right Path,” which is avail- able thanks to sponsor McKesson Corp. Presenter Heather Trumm, BSN, RN, CWON, the director of wound care for VGM Group Inc., explains the market basics, the various wound care categories, and the payment opportunities for HME providers.
Trumm was later joined by her colleague Maria Markusen, director of Operations & Development for VGM Retail, followed up that presentation with “Wound Care’s One-Two Punch,” which discussed how providers can take their wound care businesses to the next level. Both of these important webinar were made FREE thanks to sponsor McKesson Corp., and are available at hme-business.com/webinars.
More On-Demand Webinars — Christina Throndson, director of Business Development, for VGM Forbin recently presented “Leads of Steel,”
a quick, but powerful marketing routine you can employ each day to help pump up your sales volume. This HME Business webinar is now available on demand, and provides you the steps to market your business quickly and affordably each day with a rapid return on new business. To learn more and to register, visit hme-business.com/webinars.
Register for all HME Business webinar at hme-business.com/webinars.
National CRT wheelchair provider Numotion has unveiled a new phone app that lets technicians use secure video to remotely trouble- shoot and address problems end users are having with their chairs.
When clients have a problem, they can call Numotion who will help them install the HIPAA- compliant app, if they don’t yet have it. The app then facilitates a secure video session with a Numotion technician who speaks with the client (or their caregiver or similar advocate) on the phone, and uses the live video sent by the user to view and assess the condition of the chair.
The technician can determine if a part has failed, and if so, a part can be sent and an installation date and time can be set up during the call. The provider says the service should be able to easily effect repairs on items such as:
• Worn tires and casters
• Worn/torn arm pads, cushions, headrests, lateral pads
• Damaged joysticks, seatbelts, harnesses,
troughs, etc.
• Malfunctioning motors or actuators
• Joystick lockout issues
Pride Reduces Power Lift
Recliner Prices
Manufacturer reduces power lift recliners prices by 10% in the Fourth Quarter.
Manufacturer of power
mobility devices and related items Pride Mobility Products reduced prices on its power lift recliners by 10 percent during Fourth Quarter.
Knowing that providers are facing reduced funding and increases competition from outside the industry, the manufacturer said the move was aimed at giving HME providers some additional support. Pride noted that furniture stores, discounters, e-commerce outlets and other businesses have been working to capitalize on the “significant increased interest” in power lift recliners demonstrated by the 76 million-person Baby Boomer age cohort.
The manufacturer also underscored the impor- tance of Fourth Quarter sales in the provider community, and slated its discount program to begin Oct. 1 and run to the end of the year. The discount covers all Pride Quick-Ship Power Lift Recliners. n
• Motor gearboxes
• Loose, broken or disconnected cables
Numotion reported it has conducted nearly 20,000 remote service evaluations so far this year, and has set a goal to conduct more than 100,000 a year. The provider said is working with various health plans around the country to use the service.
“Remote service drastically shortens the overall
time to complete repairs, enabling us to service more customers much faster,” Numotion CEO Mike Swinford said. “Being able to diagnose and fix issues remotely is a tremendous benefit to our customers. It gives us the ability to identify and order required parts more quickly, eliminate unnecessary in-person assessment visits from a service tech, completely resolve certain issues with just a phone call, and provide immediate service to our customers when they need it.”
What’s the next step for Numotion’s remote repair? The company reported it is also partnering with wheelchair manufacturers to develop and incorporate wheelchair connectivity and analytics to create “connected wheelchairs” in order to use remote diagnostics and other data to enhance wheelchair capabilities. n
VGM Video Shows How Bidding Has Hurt Provider Population
The video shows how greatly the number of providers have fallen since 2013, and engages viewers to lobby lawmakers on behalf of DME.
VGM Government Relations and VGM Forbin have released a video that shows the impact competitive bidding has had on the number of pro- viders since bidding hit its full implementation in 2013.
Located at https://youtu.be/a4AAvqkRjdQ the video counts down from that time, quarter by quarter, the video states that 6,579 providers have
been shuttered since then, falling from 16,389 providers to 9,810, which has negatively impacted Medicare beneficiaries’ access to medical equip- ment and relations services and supplies.
The film closes urging viewers to ask their members of Congress to reform the program. n
12 HMEBusiness | November 2017 | hme-business.com
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