Medical equipment suppliers must now be licensed in Hawaii.
Medical equipment suppliers must now be licensed in Hawaii.
On Jan. 1, suppliers of “durable medical equipment” like wheelchairs, sleep apnea machines, hospital beds, insulin pumps, walkers, prosthetics, ostomy bags, oxygen equipment and glucometers must be licensed by the state, the Department of Health reports. Some are exempt, such as pharmacies, because of their own industry standards.
The department’s Office of Health Care Assurance regulates devices “to help patients get access to critical, life-sustaining medical supplies by setting statewide industry standards.”
Suppliers must respond to, and have a system to track, consumer concerns.
To learn more, see http://health.hawaii.gov/ohca/dme/.