Happy Halloween from ProMed!

A Few Simple Tips to Keep Halloween from Playing Tricks on Your Health

Taking a few simple precautions on Halloween can help prevent your evening of treats from playing tricks on your health.

Face paint is the perfect accessory for lots of costumes, but could it be hazardous to your health? The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently released a report titled Pretty Scary: Could Halloween Face Paint Cause Lifelong Health Problems? The report detailed researchers' scary findings from testing 10 different face paint products that are widely available via the Internet or in craft or Halloween stores. All 10 face paints contained low levels of lead, and six out of 10 contained the potent allergens nickel, chromium and/or cobalt. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is recommending that face paints be avoided until safety standards are put into place.

Trick-or-treating can also be "tricky" for kids with food allergies. Food manufacturers are required to disclose, in plain English, the top eight food allergens (milk, egg, wheat, peanut, tree nut, soy, fish and shellfish) as the source of ingredients in their products, but there are no regulations regarding advisory labeling (such as "May Contain").

Studies have shown that consumers with food allergies are increasingly ignoring advisory labels or misunderstand the risks associated with terms such as "shared equipment," "shared facility" or "may contain."

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network offers a safe trick-or-treating alternative for children with food allergies. Their Trick-or-Treat for Food Allergy encourages children to obtain special bags to use while trick-or-treating for coins instead of candy. The funds that are raised are put toward FAAN's food allergy education and and research programs.

From all of us here at ProMed, have a safe and fun Halloween!

MDS 3.0 Is Still On Track!

It's been a few years in the making and it'll be another year before it's completely rolled out - but MDS 3.0 is right on track. At the AANAC Fall Education Forum, held in Baltimore on October 22 and 23, Mary Pratt, MSN, RN, Peggy Williams, SW, MS and Sheila Lambowitz, MBA led a session titled "CMS Updates." They told attendees that MDS 3.0 continues to meet its benchmark dates and that that CMS expect to release an updated RAI manual by October 31, 2009.

To view CMS's MDS 3.0 implementation timeline, click here.

New AMA Site Makes Sense of Coughs and Sniffles

The American Medical Association (AMA) has created AMAfluhelp.org to help the sniffling and coughing public quickly figure out if their symptoms are serious and suggest the best course of action.

Users are invited to create a free account and are then able to subscribe to personalized, interactive Health Session Programs. Program topics include:

• Child Assessment: H1N1 flu and children under 18
• Am I high risk for H1N1 and need the vaccine>
• Adult Self Assessment: Do you have the H1N1 flu?
• H1N1 Post Vaccine Monitoring
• Pregnancy: Do you need the H1N1 flu vaccine?
• H1N1 Flu: Can I return to school or work?

The site also allows users to create their own "Health Team" by inviting their family and caregivers to keep tabs on the user's health. Once team members accept this invitation, they can use the Health Team Message Center to receive reports and notifications on the user's health. The team members can also post messages and recommendations.

Another feature on the site is the Personal Health Record, which is compatible with Microsoft's HealthVault. This feature allows users to connect to their pharmacies and get a direct deposit of their latest medication list, receive lab results and immunization records electronically and store X-rays and EKGs. Users can also upload, store and graph measurements from home blood pressure monitors, glucose meters and other devices.

Check out the site and all of its features here.

Abbott Nutrition Opens New R&D Center at U of I Research Park

Abbott Nutrition - a ProMed strategic partner - will soon open a new facility at Research Park on the University of Illinois campus. They plan to use the facility to research and develop nutritional products for infants through adults.

In the beginning, the company will be collaborating with students and faculty from the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at U of I. They plan on starting with 11 student interns as well as full-time management.

Companies who set up shop at Research Park are attracted to the opportunity to team up with faculty and students year-round to supplement their R&D operations. To learn more about the new Abbott Nutrition Research Park location, click here.

Blair Expands Chenille Product Recall

Blair LLC, in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has issued an expanded recall of its chenille products after reports of the items catching fire. The company first issued a recall of 162,000 chenille robes in April of 2009 amid reports of the robes catching on fire while being worn, including several incidents that resulted in death. After this initial recall, the company learned of four additional deaths allegedly linked to the robes catching fire while being worn by elderly women in their 70s and 80s. So far, a total of nine deaths have been reported to Blair, all of which occurred before the product recall in April.

Blair has expanded the recall to include all chenille products from A-One Textile & Towel of Pakistan. This includes the following products:

• Full Length Women’s Chenille Robes
• Women’s Chenille Jacket
• Women’s Chenille Lounge Jacket
• Women’s Chenille Top

Blair has since severed ties to A-One. To learn more about the recall, including specific product item numbers, click here.

CMS Issues a Heads-Up on DMEPOS; ProMed is Prepared

CMS is currently sending notification letters to beneficiaries who might need to change suppliers in order for Medicare to continue paying for their equipment and supplies. Certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) dealers were required to meet Medicare's quality standards and become accredited by October 1 and obtain a surety bond by October 2, 2009. According to CMS, the new supplier requirements "will help to ensure that people with Medicare get high-quality medical items and services from qualified suppliers while helping to prevent fraud in the Medicare program."

Beneficiaries are urged to contact their suppliers to find out if they have been approved by Medicare. If a beneficiary's supplier has not been approved, that person will need to shop around for a Medicare-approved supplier in order for their equipment and supplies to be covered.

ProMed is a Medicare-approved supplier. Our customers will not encounter any interruption in services.

FDA: Power Cords Linked to Sparking, Charring and Fires

On October 19, The FDA announced that they are investigating defective medical device power cords. So far, the FDA has received 122 reports of defective power cords from Hospira, Inc. and Abbott Nutrition. These two companies have reported sparking, charring and fires from the cords in question. The root of the problem appears to be the power cord's prongs cracking or failing at/or inside the plug (see the FDA-released image above). The risks associated with power cord failure include electrical shock, delay in setup and therapy, interruption of therapy, device failure and fires. The FDA also notes that, depending on the device and therapy, these failures might lead to serious health consequences, including death.

All 122 of the reports from Hospira and Abbott involved AC power cords manufactured by the Electri-cord Manufacturing Company. The FDA knows Electri-cord has supplied cords to other medical device manufacturers and the agency is currently trying to determine which additional devices are equipped with these cords. While the FDA's investigation continues, the agency is recommending that all users of medical devices closely monitor the wear and tear on these devices' power cords. It's especially important to pay close attention to to any devices used in oxygen-rich settings in which sparking and arcing could trigger a fire.

To view the cord in question and learn more about actions that should be taken in the event of cord failure, click here. The FDA will continue to provide updated information as soon as it is available.

We're All "Pumped Up" to Meet with Medela

ProMed's Sales Education and Training (SET) team is being in-serviced and trained on application and use for Medela's negative pressure wound therapy products today! We're looking forward to discussing how these products can benefit residents who have wounds with high exudate.

CDC: Start Antiviral Treatment ASAP for Hospitalized Patients with Suspected Flu

The CDC's message is clear: time is of the essence. They're recommending that any patient hospitalized with suspected flu begin receiving antiviral medication immediately. According to the CDC, "Treatment should not wait for laboratory confirmation of influenza because laboratory testing can delay treatment and because a negative rapid test for influenza does not rule out influenza." Antiviral medications can reduce the severity and duration of influenza as well as influenza-related complications, including severe illness and death.

Do You REALLY Need N95 Respirators? YES!

The CDC wants healthcare providers to know that not just any mask is going to do if you find yourself face-to-face with H1N1. In fact, they recommend that "all healthcare personnel who enter the rooms of residents in isolation with confirmed, suspected or probable novel H1N1 influenza should wear a fit-tested disposable N95 respirator or better." In addition, Flu.gov, which is maintained by the Department of Health & Human Services, is advising personnel that N95 respirators should be removed and appropriately discarded once they've been worn in the presence of a resident with pandemic flu.

Why We Support Repealing Competitive Bidding

On October 13, Representative Kendrick Meek (D-FL) introduced House Resolution (H.R.) 3790, which aims to repeal competitive bidding for durable medical equipment and prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) in a budget-neutral manner.

We support the bill because we believe that the current competitive bidding program is broken. If it is allowed to continue on, we have no doubt that it will drive reputable suppliers out of business and all but eliminate market-based competition. What’s even scarier is that this could limit product choice and access for Medicare’s frailest and sickest patients.

The current competitive bidding program is awarding business to an overwhelming number of out-of-area companies, inexperienced businesses and illegitimate bidders. While a re-bid is scheduled to begin this month, Medicare hasn’t made sufficient changes to fix the program’s problems.

H.R. 3790 is budget-neutral , and Representative Meek has outlined a strategy for delivering the same cost savings as the competitive bidding program without limiting access to care.

If you’d like to learn more about H.R. 3790, please click here.

Welcome!

Welcome to Growing Together in Health Care, Professional Medical's official blog. Since 1968, ProMed has been a dedicated supplier to the long-term care industry. On this blog, we'll be keeping tabs on current issues in health care and helping you find ways to improve care, save time and reduce costs.