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to thepatient? I work in a medical office. We are being inudated with "mobility assessment" forms that the doctors are being asked to complete for the patient to receive a scooter or motorized wheelchair. It seems to me that these companies are soliciting patients. Shouldn't a doctor actually have to write an order for the scooter or motorized wheelchair before sending the Durable Medical Equipment forms to the doctors' office? It would save the government millions of dollars if these companies were not able to market directly to patients.
It is no different than prescription drug ads and "free government cell phone" ads. Should it be allowed? No but as long as it is legal, you cannot blame the scooter company for cashing in.
to thepatient? I work in a medical office. We are being inudated with "mobility assessment" forms that the doctors are being asked to complete for the patient to receive a scooter or motorized wheelchair. It seems to me that these companies are soliciting patients. Shouldn't a doctor actually have to write an order for the scooter or motorized wheelchair before sending the Durable Medical Equipment forms to the doctors' office? It would save the government millions of dollars if these companies were not able to market directly to patients.
I actually agree with you. Those companies who advertise to the patient are responsible for a lot of fraud and fudging on patient abilities. I have no respect for those companies. The Medicare rules for getting an electric wheelchair or scooter are very strict but some of these companies that advertise on TV have their own "doctors" who qualify just about anyone and they'll send them right to your house. One of the biggest ones was sued by the government for doing it, too. It should be up to an Occupational or Physical Therapist connected with a local hospital to determine if a doctor should write a prescription, or not. However, that being said, the biggest areas of Medicare fraud regarding wheelchairs isn't the individuals inspired to get them from TV ads but rather the phony wheelchair sales companies who "sell" hundreds of chairs to non-existing patients. One was busted last year to the tune of $160,000 worth of phony claims and there have been a dozen or so others busted in recent years. Because of the high fraud in this area, Medicare has tighten up their claims processing a LOT in the past eleven years since my husband has been in a wheelchair....as they should.
Last edited by Wayland Woman; 08-06-2011 at 09:39 PM..
We brought one of the patients in to ask why she was requesting the scooter. Her answer was that the salesperson told her it wouldn't cost her a penny if the doctor filled out the forms. She was perfectly able to walk. I think we should disallow direct marketing for high ticket durable medical equipment.
Doesn't this kind of thinking go against the American free enterprise way? Medicare has specific guidelines of who should qualify to get these DME. It is the job of the healthcare professional to evaluate the pt and send the required information to Medicare if he/she believes that the pt may qualify. Medicare should then either refuse or approve of it based on the medical notes.
We brought one of the patients in to ask why she was requesting the scooter. Her answer was that the salesperson told her it wouldn't cost her a penny if the doctor filled out the forms. She was perfectly able to walk. I think we should disallow direct marketing for high ticket durable medical equipment.
Suppressing speech and well known public information is an absolutely inappropriate way of dealing with that problem. That is the most grotesque Band-Aid solution imaginable. The government policy caused this to begin with, they made their bed by having the policy to begin with, now they have to sleep in the mess they created. Any policy change that has to be made needs to be made on the governments end insofar as maybe they need to change their disbursement rules. These rules the government makes are well known public information and it is absolutely inappropriate to ever enjoin any citizen from simply stating that which is a matter of public policy.
Not being in the medical field, I don't know exactly what procedural change they can make, but I'm sure they can figure out a very simple solution that doesn't involve trying to suppress well known public information. Maybe just set much stricter criteria for who really needs these things. Something along those lines might actually kill two birds with one stone, since the companies who market these scooters would then have to change their marketing strategy once they the criteria becomes much more strict, so they won't be able to employ that marketing strategy in their commercials anymore.
Right now, the commercials are practically encouraging every old or fat person (including reasonably-abled middle aged people) to scam their doctors for one of these scooters.... but clamp down on giving these scooters out so freely, then perhaps the whole situation then just works itself out naturally... without any need to suppress public information and speech whatsoever. They won't advertise like they do now by simple virtue of the fact that the rule having been changed so that they are no longer dispensing the things like free Pez candy to every borderline or outright fraudulent case.
If I recall correctly, durable medical goods have the highest rate of Medicare fraud. So, no, I don't think they should be pushing these scooters directly to the public. It's an invitation to fraud.
I had no idea! I also work in the Medical Field (Home Health Agencies) and rarely come across DME orders that require more than a cane, a walker or other smaller things...And our main payer is Medicare (along with Medicaid) I have yet to see a Scooter on the DME lists I process on a daily basis. Maybe they are just not that popular in my neck of the woods? lol
Doesn't this kind of thinking go against the American free enterprise way? Medicare has specific guidelines of who should qualify to get these DME. It is the job of the healthcare professional to evaluate the pt and send the required information to Medicare if he/she believes that the pt may qualify. Medicare should then either refuse or approve of it based on the medical notes.
True. A doctor is under no obligation to send in the required prescription for a patient to get a wheelchair just because he/she comes in with an application form they've gotten from a company selling chairs. In fact it would be illegal for a doctor to do so if need can't be documented. Medicare specifically requires a face-to-face meeting with your doctor for him/her to determine if a person meets the requirements, which are actually pretty strict. What a lot of these companies depend on is you'll buy the scooter or wheelchair (out of your own pocket) if you're turned down by Medicare---you can't qualify for a scooter, for example, if you just want it for when you go outside. But their advertising hooks people into calling for the free trial and often they'll end up with a sale even if the person---at their doctor's face-to-face exam---ends up not sending in the claim form to Medicare. Medicare is well aware of the scams and do their own advertising to try to avoid as much as possible. They've also tightened up on claims and are making it harder and harder for people and companies to get away with abuse and fraud.
True. A doctor is under no obligation to send in the required prescription for a patient to get a wheelchair just because he/she comes in with an application form they've gotten from a company selling chairs. In fact it would be illegal for a doctor to do so if need can't be documented. Medicare specifically requires a face-to-face meeting with your doctor for him/her to determine if a person meets the requirements, which are actually pretty strict. What a lot of these companies depend on is you'll buy the scooter or wheelchair (out of your own pocket) if you're turned down by Medicare---you can't qualify for a scooter, for example, if you just want it for when you go outside. But their advertising hooks people into calling for the free trial and often they'll end up with a sale even if the person---at their doctor's face-to-face exam---ends up not sending in the claim form to Medicare. Medicare is well aware of the scams and do their own advertising to try to avoid as much as possible. They've also tightened up on claims and are making it harder and harder for people and companies to get away with abuse and fraud.
The sad part of this, though, is the people who are really in need have to jump through a million hoops because of those engaging in fraud. I have several friends in wheelchairs, both power and manual, and they have to go through tons of BS just to get a chair, or to get maintenance, and even just to prove they still need the chair.
I had no idea! I also work in the Medical Field (Home Health Agencies) and rarely come across DME orders that require more than a cane, a walker or other smaller things...And our main payer is Medicare (along with Medicaid) I have yet to see a Scooter on the DME lists I process on a daily basis. Maybe they are just not that popular in my neck of the woods? lol
Why would you go through DME orders for a cane? That stuff costs like $20 online. If you really want one, it's so much easier just to buy one online. Are people really willing to go through all of that just to save $20?
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