Pacific Pulmonary Services-Class Action Lawsuit

Ya know, funniest darn thing, I didnt much care what was going on either, "but for now its paying my bills" was my attitude as well. Get ready, you're going to be out of work soon as well.

 

The 36 high paid people they laid off made room on the payroll for the 200 low pay jobs they're creating at the new Kentucky call center.

 

That wouldn't surprise me one bit! That is how these people operate! Never mind that the 36 people have families to support (not like they care) and my gosh why would Peter Kelly take from his profit, he goes for the throats of the people who helped make his company!

Kentucky beware! You are about to encounter a wolf in sheep clothing!

 

Just my 2 cents. It's not just the positions in the field, it's throught the entire company. Once you get on a "higher up's" bad side they will attempt anything, even creating reasons to terminate.

 

OMG I DID'T GET FIRED BUT I LEFT BECAUSE I WAS SICK OF THE B.S MICRO MAGAMENT CRAP WE WERE ALL TRAINED LIKE FRIKEN LITTLE ROBOTS! HELLO WERE ALL ADULTS HERE. OH AND THEY SO DO THERE PORTABLE O2 SETUPS WRONG ITS NOT OK TO SETUP A PATIENT ON A OCD WITHOUT TITRATING THEM.......ARE THEY REALLY SURE THAT ALL THERE PATIENTS ARE GETTING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF OXYGEN. NO DUMB ASSES! OH AND WHAT ABOUT ALL THE FRIKEN MONEY THE SHOVEL OUT AT THE PRESDIENTS CLUB OMG AT LEAST 100THOUSAND FOR WHAT A DAM WEEKEND THAT'S WHY THEY CAN'T GIVE GOOD RAISES. BEEN IN THE OXYGEN FEILD FOR 12YEARS AND NEVER WORKED FOR A COMPANY AS JACK AS THIS ONE. MICRO MAGAMENT SHOVE IT! THE TURN OVER HOLY CRAP ITS THE WORST EVER 95% TURN OVER. OH AND HIRING PEOPLE THAT LIKE TO SEXUAL HARASS AND A MANAGER THINKING ITS OK TO TAKE IT INTO HIS OWN HANDS AND HANDLE IT BY CALLING A MEETING WITH ALL THE STAFF AND TRYING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.....HAHA! AND RUMOR HAS IT LINCARE IS IN THE PROCESS OF BUYING OUT PPS!!!

 

They domote Center Managers because they don't have any PCC's to do the sales what a JOKE. This company is Friken insane. Glad I got out before Lincare takes over! Word out there is that the Denver centers are going to be ran by Lincare...............there just as bad. Good luck to all you SUCKERS and ASS Kissers!!

 

Would you mind being a little more specific about what you're hearing about Lincare "taking over" ppsc? Despite their size, PPSC is still basically a regional company and it makes sense that Braden Partners will want to sell them to a big national like Lincare or Apria or that PPSC will merge with another regional company - maybe someone who's strong in the east where PPSC has only one office. But what, specifically, do you know?

 

Last year PPS tried to re capitalize but discovered its stock was valued much lower than anyone imagined. The new plan was to increase the value of the company to then position it for a sale. They originally believed that ousting the VP TM and promoting JA and YC would move it in that direction. However since the departure of TM, PPS has not made its monthly sales goal. There are only two options to increase value, since they weren't increasing sales they had to cut expenses by laying off 36 big salaries in Regional, Area and Center Managers. PPS is currently the sixth largest respiratory cm in the nation. Whether it's Apria, Lincare or someone else, it will be sold within the next one to two years. Don't get caught with your pants down, keep your ear to the ground and when you hear a rumbling run for the lifeboats. Only the executive team and Braden partners will come out ahead, the rest of you are only insignificant pawns in their reprehensible financial game. BTW TG VP of HR is gone, OMG!!!! Ding dong..

 

Please tell me if the managers they fired - the 36 - were the worst, most bullying, most morale-defeating of the field management? Is there any chance that Pacific Pulmonary Services is actually trying to purge the assholes from their ranks so they can get their turnover under control?

 

Did I read correctly that Tom Giles went bye-bye?

 

FYI, PPSC's website still has the following executives listed:

Executive Team
Peter Kelly, President and CEO
Jason Anderson, Senior Vice President, Sales and Field Operations
Chin Chao, Vice President, Information Technology
Yvonne Cordoza, Senior Vice President, Sales and Field Operations
Jim Doty, Vice President, Marketing
Tom Giles, Vice President, Human Resources
Chris Kane, COO
Chad Martin, CFO
Carolyn McElroy, Vice President and General Counsel

But if , in fact, Giles did depart, will this throw a moneky wrench in their plans to open that call center in Kentucky? The way I got it, Tom Giles came from a call center background and was brought in specifically to help plan and implement PPSC's push to routing most of their calls into a central office. In other words, if what I heard was true, Giles was central to their call center plans. Oh, and talk about a nightmarish turnover, call centers are turnover city. The former GM of a big call center once told me that his turnover was so high that, well, he hired 25 at a time for a two-week paidtraining after which the trainees started working in the call center. He said 17 out of 25 trainees quit before he could get them trained.

 

Re: Keeping Up with Oximetry Testing Rules! read it all

Keeping Up with Oximetry Testing Rules

By Kelly J. Riley, CRT, RCP

Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM


When you entered the home care field, you probably had images of providing care and comfort to those in need. Most of us never imagined that in order to assure access to care for those we serve, we would need to be just as cognizant of words like “transmittal,” “advisory opinion” and “bulletin” as we are of the words “concentrator,” “conserver” and “transfill.”

Although sifting through policy, transmittals and Office of Inspector General opinions is not something we look forward to, it must be done. And that information must then be disseminated to those sending orders for the patient's care.

One important transmittal has made it easier for HME suppliers and physicians to obtain oxygen-qualifying overnight oximetry test results.

CMS Transmittal 173, published in August 2005, allows the HME supplier (or other shipping entity) to deliver a sealed, tamper-proof oximeter to the patient's home on behalf of an Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility. This process can only happen after the patient's physician has ordered an overnight oximetry test.

CMS is very clear that the physician — not the provider — must request the test. However, providers are permitted to contact the physician regarding the need for testing in certain circumstances, for example: when recertification is due, when testing is required due to change in insurance, when the initial test was invalid, i.e., not done with patient in a chronic stable state, or within two days of discharge from a hospital.

Providers who have patients enrolled in disease management-type programs may continue to communicate with the physician in regard to findings on ordered clinical assessments.

A recent OIG advisory opinion strongly states that HME companies may not perform free pre-screening oximetry tests for patients. It is also prohibited for a company to set up oxygen for free while waiting for a qualifying test.

In the event that the patient must be set up on oxygen without the qualifying test, the provider must give the patient an Advanced Beneficiary Notice advising that the services provided will not be covered because they do not meet the payment coverage rules set by Medicare.

The policy issued by CMS states that the beneficiary may self-administer home- based overnight oximetry tests under the direction of the IDTF. Because the beneficiary self-administers the test, the IDTF must provide clear, written instructions on proper operation of the equipment, and provide a mechanism for the beneficiary to address questions to the IDTF.

The IDTF will send results only to the ordering physician. In the event that the HME provider is currently furnishing oxygen, or has a release that is compliant with HIPAA privacy standards signed by the beneficiary or his/her representative, the provider may obtain a copy of the test results directly from the IDTF. It is important that the provider obtain copies of test results and keep them in the patient file, whether the tests are completed by an IDTF, a physician's office or a hospital.

According to guidelines issued by CMS, testing that is done by a home health agency does not constitute a valid qualifying test. The only exception would be an uncommon situation where the HHA is also a qualified lab or IDTF.

Testing done while the patient is in a skilled nursing facility is considered valid as long as the facility has maintained its qualifications for laboratory services.

Getting appropriate medical care paid for should be of a primary interest to all. Patients who worry about having coverage for services are more inclined to refuse those services. Often, this results in a decline in health status and increased costs to the health care system as a whole.

It is important that those of us who provide care take the time to care about those pesky things like transmittal notices, advisory opinions and bulletins.

References


John W. Salyer, “Neonatal and Pediatric Pulse Oximetry,” Respiratory Care, August 2003

Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq., “Oxygen Rules Clarification: What the Provider Can and Cannot Do,” The MED Group E-Conference, November 2006

Kevin M. Fussel, MD, et al, “Assessing Need for Long-Term Oxygen Therapy: A Comparison of Conventional Evaluation and Measures of Ambulatory Oximetry Monitoring,” Respiratory Care, February 2003

Charlotte Bell, MD, “Understanding Contemporary Pulse Oximetry,” Clinical Window Web Journal, June 2005

Neil R. MacIntyre, MD, FAARC, “Long-Term Oxygen Therapy: Conference Summary,” Respiratory Care, February 2000

Qualifying Patients for Home Ambulatory Oxygen


Evaluation for long-term oxygen therapy involves a resting Spo2 or Pao2, and the lowest Spo2 during some form of exertion, to identify patients who suffer substantial desaturation during activities of daily living. For payment coverage under Medicare's policy, exercise or exertion is not defined.

Morrison et al studied 20 COPD patients receiving LTOT using 24 hours of continuous oximetry. The study found that 11 patients who did not have resting hypoxia (Spo2 >90%) spent an average of 22 percent of the 24-hour period with Spo2 <90%, demonstrating that some patients with normal resting Spo2 spend a substantial amount of time hypoxemic!

Recognizing that certain COPD patients are often hypoxic while exercising or simply performing activities of daily living, many physicians choose portable oxygen therapy as part of the plan of care. CMS supports this decision by providing payment as long as certain criteria are met.

The primary issue, according to the Oxygen Medical Policy published by CMS, is not the extent of the exercise performed but whether the patient is also tested during exercise with oxygen. Medicare wants to see evidence that the hypoxemia is improved with oxygen applied.

The Oxygen Medical Policy, in fact, requires documentation of three oxygen studies in the patient's medical record: testing at rest without oxygen, testing during exercise without oxygen and testing during exercise with oxygen applied.

Only the results from the test during exercise without oxygen are entered on the CMN. The other results must be in the patient's medical records, preferably of both the oxygen supplier and physician, and must be available to the Medicare Administrative Contractor (the DME MAC) on request.

Documentation and physician oversight of the three oxygen studies is good medicine, as it provides a baseline for ongoing evaluation of the patient with pulmonary disease.

With more than 25 years of respiratory experience in both institutional and home care settings, Kelly J. Riley, CRT, RCP, is director, National Respiratory Network, for The MED Group, Lubbock, Texas. Previously, she served as COO for At Home Medical (formerly Via Christi at Home) in Ponca City, Okla. Riley can be reached by e-mail at kriley@medgroup.com or by phone at 580/762-3500.

 

Why is Lincare such an awsome company? Why do all my docs love Lincare? Why are they # 1 on yahoo finance for home O2? Is it because they pay their reps so little?

 

Maybe it's all that awesome training they got in Florida last week. Maybe the reason there have been so few Lincare posts lately is that all you Lincare reps were in Florida.

 

Yes they do pay their reps very little. QP3 is awsome man! Awsome or should I say wicked awsome for those Boston reps! Tough but i learned alot. I am ready to SELL! Come on over to our side man. Sure you get paid shit but it is soooo much fun man. I love selling O2! We should have an O2 rep union.

 

Has anyone heard anything specific on the Lancaster/Palmdale California center? Are those reps gone too?
Also, did you notice on the PPS website they were advertising for an Area Manager in the Los Angeles area?
I think it is very poor practice to ship a box that contains a CPAP or bilevel without having an RT instruct the patient in person. And also, it is required that an RT (licensed) person titrate for pulse dose conservers. How on earth do they get around this???????

 

Well if they are advertising for an Area Manager position then I would say from their history the old AM was canned!

It is not only poor practice to ship a CPAP and/or Bi-Pap to a patient while instructing them over the phone, it is down right ILLEGAL!

We hired a Respiratory Therapist for our center (friend of mine) when the state law changed and required one be on staff.

I was literally hanging her license in the office @ 4 a.m., the inspector arrived @ 8 a.m. I busted my arse to find one with 3 days notice, she agreed and busted her arse to drive 1 1/2 to the center and she stopped that center from being shut down!!!!!

Then they tell me "only have her working if it is an emergency, we don't want to pay her wages when you guys are already getting paid salary to do what she can do".

I get a call from a physician later on that day, he was over the top about a call he received from a patient. He ordered a heated, humidified CPAP. PPSC ships the biggest piece of crap to this patient then proceeds to phone him to instruct him. He couldn't get it to function so the brilliant person who instructed him suggested he phone the center. He phoned the physician instead and asked what kind of Mickey Mouse Club he sent to care for him.

10:00 @ night I drive to this patients house, take a look at the CPAP, it wasn't heated or humidified.........I was absolutely totally embarrassed!!!!!

Here they are treating the patient like he was ignorant when all the while the instructions they were giving wasn't for the right type of CPAP.

I called the Respiratory Therapist in to ensure the patient knew someone who knew what they were doing was going to help with the new CPAP. Those jerks then refused to pay her......it took almost 3 months for her to get paid her first check.

She DEMANDED her license be removed and that PPSC not be able to use her License to remain open. I finally had to phone a guy from FOS to help me get it taken care of. The last I knew they still were using her license number to keep their doors open. Couldn't pay her never mind she agreed to take the job to help them remain open, they use, abuse and shove it to her then refuse to pay her for her effort!

I phoned the inspector that did the onsight inspection!!!!! Yuppers I sure did and what he had to say made my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason and Kevin.........you two are the biggest jokes I have ever seen!

 

The lack of service you describe has a euphemism. They big boys call it "the distributor model". If the old model was all about service the new model is all about an efficiency without regard for service. Don't look for the big nationals to do anything they aren't required by law or reg or accreditation or contract to do.

 

Are any of the people pictured at the www.ppsc.com website still employed with PPSC?

 

To be honest, it wasn't revenge I sought, it was the old saying "right is right and wrong is wrong" and everything about this company is SO SO SO WRONG!!!!!