Walkers

Walkers By Noah Lam Noah Lam Level: Basic PLUS Noah Lam has over 15 years of experience of providing high quality medical supplies and healthcare products from Acute Care Facilities to parents and children. ... ...

Walkers are specialty equipment that are becoming more visible and prominent as our population ages. Our elderly are still active enough and are not quite ready to be confined to a wheelchair. As we age our balance might not be as strong as it use to be. In addition, walkers are not just for the seniors, but rather for any one that needs additional stability when walking. Some children have difficulty on walking and walkers aid in that development.

Basic walkers have 4 legs, in which a person has a frame on 3 sides of them for stability. With each step forward they need to lift the entire walker up and forward and then walks forward into the frame.

Two wheeled walkers have two front caster wheels on the front legs, and plastic ski glides, glide caps or walker balls on the rear legs. The walker balls are sometimes made from tennis balls with different patterns other than the usual yellow or green tennis balls that you use to play with. Sometimes a person does not have the strength or dexterity to lift a walker. The two wheels in the front and glides in the rear provide an easier of movement, and still create the stability for the user

Four wheeled walkers are sometimes called rollators. Most rollators have a seat to provide a place to rest on short or long walks. Some have hand brakes to slow or stop the walker from moving, and others require that you push down on the handles to stop the walker from moving forward.

Posterior walkers are usually used by children who are learning to walker. These walkers are used in reverse from the conventional walker. The walker is actually behind the person. Basically the person walks forward and then pulls the walker behind them for stability, and usually the wheels are setup for one-way direction so that the walker does not go backwards.

Gait Trainer are used to help train a person to avoid scissoring, the crossing of the legs. These walkers provide prompts to aid in training a person to walk.

Height positioning of a walker is crucial for proper usage. In general, the height of the grips should line up with the wrist. Positioning the handle too low and the person will be hunched over in an uncomfortable position. Too high of a position, and the person will have a harder time transferring his or her weight. Height adjustments can be made by sliding the legs up and down and positioning the push bottom mechanism in the correct position. You should consult the vendor or read the manual for your particular walker.

Walker sizes range from Pediatric to Bariatric (a capacity of 1000 lbs).

There are a variety of accessories that make the walker useful to a person. Baskets to hold your stuff, Cup holders to hold that cold beverage during the summer months and that Starbucks Premium coffee during the winter months. Trays are available when you want to have a meal or play cards with your friends.

Home Medical Equipment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article discusses the definitions and types of home medical equipment (HME), also known as durable medical equipment (DME), prosthetics and orthotics (DMEPOS).

Contents
1 HME / DMEPOS
2 Types of home medical equipment
3 Obtaining and using home medical equipment
4 Insurance
5 External links


HME / DMEPOS
Home medical equipment is a category of devices used for patients whose care is being managed from a home or other private facility managed by a nonprofessional caregiver or family member. It is often referred to as "durable" medical equipment (DME) as it is intended to withstand repeated use by non-professionals or the patient, and is appropriate for use in the home.
Medical supplies of an expendable nature, such as bandages, rubber gloves and irrigating kits are not considered by Medicare to be DME.
Within the US medical and insurance industries, the following acronyms are used to describe home medical equipment:
DME: Durable Medical Equipment
HME: Home Medical Equipment
DMEPOS: Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies

Types of home medical equipment
Air ioniser
Air purifier
Artificial limb
Breast protheses
Cannula
Commodes
CPAP Continious Positive Airway Pressure
Crutch
Diabetic shoes
Dynamic splint
Enteral nutrition
Elevating toilet seat
Infusion pump
Nasal cannula
Nebulizer
Orthosis
Oxygen concentrator
Patient lift
Positive airway pressure (CPAP)
Prosthesis
Respiratory Assist Devices
Seat Lift
Walkers
Wheelchair

Obtaining and using home medical equipment
For most home medical equipment, a patient must have a doctor's prescription for the equipment needed; this is not always true for minor HME such as walkers or canes.
The physician may then recommend a supplier for the home medical equipment, or the patient will have to research this on their own. HME / DMEPOS suppliers are located throughout the country; for suppliers of oxygen and other critical medical equipment, Medicare rules require the supplier to only serve patients within a fixed distance, to ensure their ability to deliver supplies and maintain equipment in a timely fashion. For most areas of the US this results in a great number of local HME / DMEPOS suppliers available to the patient in their immediate area.
There is no established typical size for HME / DMEPOS suppliers. Supply companies include very large organizations such as WalGreens and Invacare to smaller local companies operated by sole proprietors or families. A new evolution in the Home Medical Equipment arena is the advent of internet retailers such as US Medical Aid who are operating with extremely low margins and cutting the ultimate cost for end consumers. In all cases, however, strict rules and laws governing HME / DMEPOS suppliers apply.
Once a patient or caregiver selects an appropriate HME / DMEPOS supplier, he/she presents the supplier with the prescription and patient's insurance information. HME / DMEPOS suppliers maintain an inventory of products and equipment, so fulfillment of the prescription is rapid, much like a Pharmacy.
The HME / DMEPOS supplier is obligated to perform certain functions when providing home medical equipment. These include:
Proper delivery and setup of the equipment
Ensuring the home environment is suitable and safe for proper usage of the equipment
Training the patient, family and caregivers on the proper usage and maintenance of the equipment
Providing 24-hour contact information in the event of equipment malfunction or other emergency
Informing the patient and/or caregiver of their rights and responsibilities
Providing periodic maintenance services (e.g., refilling oxygen, servicing equipment, etc.)
Notifying the patient or caregiver of any changes in insurance
All HME / DMEPOS suppliers are required to comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect patients' confidentiality and records.

Insurance
Home medical equipment is typically covered by patient's healthcare insurance, including Medicare (Part B). In order to properly code home medical equipment for billing, the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System HCPCS is utilized. As of 2007, under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, providers of HME/DMEPOS will be required to become third-party accredited to standards regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in order to continue eligibility under Medicare Part B. This effort aims to standardize and improve the quality of service to patients provided by home medical equipment suppliers.

External links
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - DME page
Home Healthcare Dealer Provider - DME industry journal
FAQ on CMS accreditation requirements for HME / DMEPOS suppliers
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_medical_equipment"
Categories: Medical equipment Medicare and Medicaid (United States)
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