Home Health & Hospice Week

AAH launches major data collection effort.

If you haven't already done so, get ready to hand over information on your oxygen equipment utilization.
 
In an effort to better understand oxygen utilization nationwide, the American Association for Homecare is collecting data from home medical equipment providers about what kind of systems they are supplying to patients.
 
The group's HME/Respiratory Therapy Advisory Council launched the collection effort earlier this year, HME/RTAC Vice Chair and Inogen Vice President Joe Lewarski tells Eli. HME/RTAC has already surveyed one group of AAH-member suppliers, and it's now preparing the second wave of data collection.
 
The initiative is a response to growing concerns within respiratory therapy circles that the existing payment model and declining reimbursement may discourage use of more portable liquid oxygen systems. Medicare does not currently distinguish liquid oxygen from other systems.
 
"The need to quantify utilization is necessary because nobody's really collected the data in one central place," Lewarski observes. "So what we've started to do is look at all the data collection points we can."
 
Besides gathering data from providers, AAH also is seeking information from manufacturers and patient groups. HME/RTAC has already met with a variety of respiratory device makers, seeking data on shifts in output and demand from suppliers. The council has also begun discussions with some patient groups to discuss survey possibilities.
 
"Our feeling is that the data will support that ambulatory oxygen patients are getting access to and utilizing the new technologies and the lighter technologies," Lewarski says. "We just want to make sure the data supports that there isn't an access concern."

Quantitative Effort Marks New Approach for Industry

HME/RTAC hopes to complete its data collection by the end of the year. Meanwhile, it's pushing to get as much as it can before AAH's leadership conference in Washington, which is set for June 7 through 10.
 
The project heralds a new era for the HME industry - one that values fact-based arguments over emotional appeals, Lewarksi says.
 
"Historically we have been criticized for not providing objective data, whether to Medicare, to the private insurance community or to other parties," he explains. "But I think if you look at our industry over the last couple of years, you'll see a trend that more and more of our arguments are objective data-based."
 
Data on HME can be difficult to collect because of the industry's fragmented nature, Lewarski observes.
 
"We're in the middle of a lot of data centers, from the hospital side, the payer side, the patient groups and the federal government," he says. "For us to get our hands on all the data has been challenging, but we're working harder."