The start of a new year is never short on drama for the seating& mobility industry — and 2012 is no different. As we were headed
to press, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
dropped a pair of bombshells: the long-awaited timeline for the
second round of Medicare’s competitive bidding program, along
with a seven-state Medicare demonstration project that will require
a combination of prepayment reviews and prior authorizations for
scooters and most types of power wheelchairs.
In our annual round table section, therefore, we take a closer look
at major funding and reimbursement changes for the new year, with
The Orion Group’s Claudia Amortegui giving her views on what
some of the greatest challenges are likely to be. (Information here
was accurate at press time, but issues on several fronts were evolving
quickly, so go to mobilitymgmt.com for updates and the latest
information.)
Of course, reimbursement is not the only issue industry experts
are thinking about as providers and clinicians roll up their sleeves
for another year.
Josh Anderson, VP of marketing, TiLite, is known for his creative
approaches to public relations. But Josh is also a long-time seating& mobility consumer himself, and he tells us what kind of education
today’s end-user needs most…and why.
Lois Brown, MPT, ATP, Invacare Corp.’s rehab clinical education
specialist, brings not just years of experience working with
consumers with extremely complex seating & mobility needs, but
also a passion for helping the “whole” person. She talks about what
that means and why it’s so central to her approach to her work.
Ann Eubank, LMSW, OTR/L, ATP, VP of community initiatives
for UsersFirst, a program of United Spinal, comes from the
clinical world, but most recently has been working directly for and
with consumers. Our tricky questions for Ann center around the
most eff ective routes for consumer advocacy to take, as well as why
seating, mobility and accessibility professionals have often had a
difficult time convincing consumers to speak out for the industry as
well as for themselves.
Mark E. Smith is Pride Mobility Products’ consumer research
manager by day, and the creative (and sometimes gloriously outrageous)
force behind Wheelchairjunkie.com once he leaves his desk.
Mark is a seating & mobility consumer, and asked the greatest needs
that consumers in this industry have, Mark detailed a “people first”
approach that can go a long way toward building a successful match
between technology and client.
I’ll take this opportunity to introduce several new advisory board
members, as well. I’ll be depending on all of them for counsel, and
you’ll be hearing from them throughout the year.
Consider this year’s round table one of your first informational and
educational stops as you plan your strategy and your next moves.