Page 12 - HME Business, October 2018

News / Trends / Analysis
87% of Providers Have Stopped Provisioning Manual CRT Accessories
The application of bid-derived reimbursement cuts to accessories has reduced providers’ ability to offer those items.
Mediware Acquires
Rock-Pond Solutions
Rock-Pond has provided business intelligence, analytics and services to Mediware’s home infusion, HME and specialty pharmacy customers.
HME software company Mediware Information Systems has acquired its longtime partner Rock-Pond Solutions, which provides busi- ness intelligence and analytics software for the home infusion, HME and specialty pharmacies.
Rock-Pond’s products — CareTend BI and CareTend BI for CPR+ — provide data providers can use to drive efficiency, profitability, and quality. A statement from Mediware said the acquisition would help Mediware advance and optimize its products, supports additional collaboration on
the CareTend product, and puts the company in
a better overall position to create better business intelligence and analytics solutions.
Mediware plans to combine the companies’ engineering and invest in analytics and expertise. n
The application of competitive bidding- derived reimbursement cuts on accessories for manual complex rehab wheelchairs has forced 87 percent of providers to reduce provisioning those items, according to a recent study.
Commissioned by the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART), the study survey more than 400 Medicare supplier locations to demonstrated the decrease in access.
The report noted that 65 percent of providers surveyed said reimbursement cuts had “significantly reduced our ability to provide the right wheelchair accessories to Medicare beneficiaries who require Complex Rehab Manual Wheelchairs.” An additional 22 percent said they had been waiting for Congress to take action but “if such relief does not come
within the next 90 days we will be forced to reduce the related accessories and services we provide.”
The study’s findings underscored the need for providers to urge lawmakers to pass H.R. 3730 and S. 486 to stop CMS from continuing to apply bidding prices to manual CRT accessories, said NCART Executive Director Don Clayback.
“Now is the time to reach out to your Members
of Congress with this new data, even if they have already signed on to the bills,” Clayback said in a public statement. “Take three minutes to visit www. protectmymobility.org and click on the ‘send the email’ link. Supply your information and an email will be sent to your members detailing the survey results and the need to take legislative action this year.”
The full report can be read at bit.ly/2MKimWg. n
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