As the first chapter of competitive bidding closes, HME providers across the United States are beginning to reflect on their experiences of being the first through CMS’ new administrative pipeline. And they’re sharing their thoughts with Home Health Products:
“The entire online process was a disaster,” said a Florida bidder. “We spent more time in data entry than in preparing the information for the bids.”
“Man, I want to tell you what, it was something,” said a North Carolina HME. “I did it all myself, and it took a long, long time.”
A Midwestern provider put it this way: “If we lose our bids, we’re not going to go out of business,” he said. “I may have to let my therapists go and get out of the oxygen business, but, it won’t kill the business.”
“As far as winning a bid, there could be a DME provider out there who low-balls it,” said an independent dealer. “If they want it for that dollar value, so be it. Our intent was to put together a solid, thoughtful bid. We’ve bid a price that is very fair for us.”
These are just a few of the comments that round-one HMEs made recently when they sat down to talk about their bidding experiences with Home Health Products. You can read their complete story in the magazine’s October issue. Look for it next week at Medtrade in Orlando.
