I recently read an opinion piece in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram that was written by Dr. Justin Bartos discussing power mobility and its positive effect on countering falls - one of the leading causes of disability in senior patients. Dr. Bartos also discusses the pitfalls of the current Medicare program and the lengthy and […]

The philosophical struggle in Congress between conservatives and, let’s call them progressives, over how to loosen the entitlement noose around their collective necks invariably gets down to esoteric budget schemes. Among the more recent flags thrown by the progressives over Medicare rationing comes from a study this spring via The Commonwealth Fund, a NYC-based health […]

Physicians who live and die by the vagaries of Medicare policies and reimbursement are doing more dying than living. For their frail elderly and disabled patients, managing their care is increasingly under-reimbursed and over-complicated. These patients, by definition, have multiple needs and they are typically on several drug regimens that Part D allows the preferred […]

Physicians with frail elderly patients will find their evaluation to determine whether they need mobility assistance requires more hoops and ladders, starting with a required face-to-face examination, which on its own "face" is a logical and widely understood medical standard of care. What the face-to-face exam requirement lacks is clarity and specificity as to what […]

Most physicians only have episodic experience evaluating patients who may need power mobility. Even among their elderly patients, only a handful, perhaps three or four patients a year, need power mobility support. The treating physician frequently must balance whether the patient is at risk of self injury or relative immobility without this device, or the […]

Medicare’s crackdown on the wheelchair industry risks putting frail elderly and disabled patients under virtual house arrest. These regulatory changes are largely in response to a high profile Nigerian scam in Houston costing CMS millions, that occurred even after The Scooter store warned regulators of an anomalous spike in sales in that market. It is […]