NEW MEDICARE ACCREDITATION REQUIRED FOR SUPPLIERS
       Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) set September 2009 as the date when a nationally recognized accreditation body must accredit all Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers or their Medicare billing privileges will be revoked. This new mandate comes as part of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003, in which Congress authorized CMS to establish new quality standards and require accreditation of all Medicare DMEPOS suppliers.
       New suppliers must be accredited by January 1, 2009. Suppliers who are applying to participate in the Medicare program after March 1, 2008 must supply proof of accreditation with their application. CMS hopes that this new accreditation requirement will help eliminate fraudulent suppliers from taking advantage of beneficiaries.
       For more information, visit www.cms.hhs.gov.

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY COMPANY ACQUISITIONS
       MDI Technologies, Inc. (St. Louis, Miss) recently acquired the assets and business activities of Achieve Healthcare Technologies L.P. (Minneapolis, Minn). Achieve develops, markets, and supports clinical and administrative software designed specifically for the elder care market. Achieve has served over 2,600 facilities and prior to this transaction, was one of MDI’s main competitors.This acquisition propels MDI to the forefront of software providers in the elder care market with a customer base of approximately 6,000 facilities.
       Logibec Groupe Informatique Ltd. (Montreal, Quebec), a company specializing in the development,marketing, implementation, and support of information systems, announced that its subsidiary—MDI Achieve also signed an agreement to purchase the business activities and assets of QuickCare Software Services, L.P. and QuickCare, Inc. (Dallas,Tex). As a result of this acquisition, Logibec will serve 7,500 facilities throughout the US.
       All parties involved are excited about the new product opportunities that will now be provided for the loyal MDI client base, in addition to the existing Achieve and QuickCare clientele.
       For more information, call 800-552-9845 or visit www.logibec.com.

AANAC FORMS NEW WEB-BASED ORGANIZATION
       The American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators’ [AANAC] (Denver, Colo) Board of Directors has expanded its organization by creating the American Association of Nurse Executives [AANEX] (Denver, Colo).
       This web-based organization was developed to help meet the specific needs of nurse executives specializing in long-term care. The AANEX website will provide resources for information, education, networking, and certification to ensure that nurse executives can excel in long-term care leadership and management. AANEX will also provide weekly newsletters, an online bulletin board, news updates, a fully searchable document library, and Certified Nurse Executive (CNE) courses.
       For more information, visit www.aanex.org.

RECOVERCARE ACQUIRES PATIENT CARE SYSTEMS
       RecoverCare, LLC (Plymouth Meeting, Pa) announced that it has acquired Patient Care Systems, Inc. ([PCS] Houston, Tex). Similarly to RecoverCare, PCS provides therapeutic mattresses, bariatric equipment, and safe patient handling products to hospitals, nursing homes, and home care patients.
       The acquisition of PCS will add 38 service centers in 26 states to RecoverCare’s extensive national service network, further strengthening the company’s customer service and facility delivery times. RecoverCare projects that the addition of PCS will greatly enhance their ability to service healthcare facilities in areas such as Texas, the Southeast, the Midwest, and New England.
       For more information, visit www.recovercare.com.

SMITH & NEPHEW TO LAUNCH NEW NEGATIVE PRESSURE WOUND THERAPY SYSTEMS
       Smith & Nephew (Largo, Fla) will announce the North American launch of its new portable negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) systems, EZCARE^™ and V1STA^™ at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada from February 29, 2008 through March 1, 2008.A panel of experts will discuss the evolution and potential role for NPWT in conjunction with the launch of new NPWT product line.
       The EZCARE standard system and V1STA portable system have achieved clinical results at low pressure (≤80 mm Hg), ultimately allowing better patient comfort and compliance.
       For more information, visit www.smith-nephew.com.