Medtrade Spring Sparks Competitive Bidding Conversations
With more than 6,000 people attending Medtrade Spring right after the final rule of competitive bidding was issued, discussions as to how competitive bidding will impact the industry dominated the show.
At AAHomecare's legislative update, AAHomecare president, Tyler Wilson pushed for providers to get involved at Capitol Hill, specifically with the Hobson-Tanner bill and the Home Oxygen Patient Protection Act.
Some providers expressed their anger over competitive bidding calling it "competitive price fixing," while others indicated that CMS has left many unanswered questions about how bids will be evaluated and if it's more beneficial for providers to form networks to submit a bid.
Other providers talked of the difficulty of becoming accredited by the August deadline. Some accrediting companies said they expect that the numbers of providers seeking accreditation will dramatically increase in the next several weeks.
E-mail Home Health Products with your questions and comments about competitive bidding and how your business is handling the final rule and the accreditation process at [email protected]. We will post your comments in an upcoming e-newsletter.
This article originally appeared in the April 2007 issue of HME Business.