To Enrich Lives

Handi Medical Supply has a new catalog which is a guide to the information you need to make educated decisions about the rental or purchase of home medical equipment.

 Not only does the catalog feature information on products such as manual wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, patient lifts, hospital beds, bathroom aids, respiratory needs, and aids to daily living; but also steps for modifying your home and an insurance guide including important information about coverage.

 For your free copy, please contact one of our sales representatives – Matt Liljequist mliljequist@handimedical.com or Sue Norman snorman@handimedical.com

If you follow our blog you already know that we feature lift chairs by Golden Technology. We have chosen this lift chair because of its reliability, function, quality and attention to detail. There are a number of styles to choose from; my person favorite has infra-red heat (not to be used with the elderly).

For the month of July Handi Medical Supply is offering 10% off the chair portion of the lift chair. Insurance companies will often pay a portion of the lift mechanism with an order from your physician (or NP or PA) and a qualifying diagnosis. If you have questions please call 651-644-9770, 800-514-9979 or you can chat live with a customer service representative at www.handimedical.com (during regular business hours). You can always shop on-line at www.handimedical.com. Come in and visit our showroom; we have many on display, we are on the NE corner of highway 280 on University Ave W, 2505 University Ave W, St. Paul, MN 55114.

Handi Medical Supply will present its next Wellness Series Class – Exercise Guidelines to Reap the Health Benefits You Desire – on Thursday, July 14th from 11:30 a.m. to noon and again from 12:15-12:45 p.m. Presented by our Registered Dietitian, Jill Schreier, RD, LD, MS

Certificates of Attendance are available, please e-mail our administrative assistant, Julie Buytaert at jbuytaert@handimedical.com if you would like to attend.

CMS to Audit its Audits

Criticism at fraud summit pushes agency to review complaints over its sharply increased claims audits.

By David Kopf Jun 23, 2011 - 

According the HME-Business.com

CMS anti-fraud czar Peter Budetti came under criticism from HME industry and hospital representatives about its over-reaching audit programs at last week’s federal fraud-prevention summit, held in Philadelphia.

During the invitation-only summit, which was attended by 300 healthcare providers and law enforcement personnel, John Shirvinsky, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers, asked Budetti, “Who’s guarding the guardians?” and likened CMS’s current audit frenzy to TSA airport screenings where “85-year-old grandmothers and toddlers are getting patted down.”

In response, Budetti, deputy administrator for the Center for Program Integrity at CMS, said the agency will conduct an “audit audit” to investigate the merit of those complaints. CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, who participated in the discussions, admitted that audits are “a blunt tool.”

 At the end of the day-long summit, Shantanu Agrawal, MD, the new medical director for the Center for Program Integrity, commented, “We heard a lot of concerns about the number and frequency of audits, so we take that to heart.”

Earlier this month, representatives from the American Association for Homecare met with CMS to express concerns over the audits, and presented recommendations for what documentation should be requested in audits for CPAP, oxygen, enteral nutrition, diabetic supplies, power mobility devices, and nebulizers. The recommendations were based on what the association said it believes is appropriate, given the corresponding coverage policies and Medicare instructions.

On June 22, 2011 our own Jean Dresch, LPN completed the COPD educator course through the American Lung Association MN. Jean received 12.6 contact hours of continuing education and priceless information! Jean works closely with customers at Handi Medical Supply who use oxygen and nebulizers to help manage their COPD diagnosis. If you’d like information from Jean on the use of oxygen or the management of COPD she can be reached at jdresch@handimedical.com or 651-644-9770. Jean looks forward to putting her new information to use with oxygen dependent customers.