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SMD Blog (Archived 1/25/2010)12-4-09 We are very proud of being one of the first ON-LINE Retailers of Durable Medical Supplies to offer you the CLICK-LEARN-CHOOSE part of our website. Please look for the little blue "i" icon by the area of interest. We feel at GoSouthernMD that it is very important to understand what you are buying prior to the purchase. Please keep in mind that we are available to help via live chat or by phone for any questions or concerns you have prior to your purchase. We have over 14 years experience to help you make the right choice and your choice is backed by the best price and warranty program in the industry. GoSouthernMD University is available to you 24/7 11-26-09 Happy Thanksgiving GoSouthernMD.com customers and future ones. Here is your present for checking in on our BLOG. We just had to pass this email we received today from a great customer of ours Mr. Brown from Iowa. It is a great email because it explains why the CEO, Robert Remitz, started this company in 2005. Companies and corporate greedy people that take advantage of someone is why we do what we do. "We are the little guy--helping the little guy." Enjoy your recipe compliments from Neimann-Marcus: When decent people get screwed over, this is the result! A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very expensive store; I..e., they sell your typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00. Let's let them have it! THIS IS A TRUE STORY! My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers (so is GoSouthernMD employees), we decided to try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie.' It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown, 'I'm afraid not, but you can buy The Recipe.' Well, I asked how much, and she responded; ' Only two fifty - it's a Great deal!' I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to my Tab. Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-Marcus Charge was $285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe-$250.00.' That was Outrageous! I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress said it was 'two-fifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and fiftydollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because, according to them, 'What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the Recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money at this point.' I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the State of Texas. I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, 'Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money Back.' I just said, Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every Cookie Lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250 cookie recipe From Neiman-Marcus...for free. She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do this.' I said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you ripped me off!' and slammed down the phone. So here it is! Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny off of this recipe! NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie Sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies. PLEASE READ THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS! THIS IS REALLY TERRIFIC!! Even if the people on your e-mail list don't eat sweets send it to them and ask them to pass it on. Let's make sure we get this lady $250.00 worth. Enjoy the cookies, they really are good. 11-21-09 GoSouthernMD customers and future ones, This is very important. Please always keep in mind that we do not ever buy anything that is used. Everything we purchase is brand new, in the box, from the supplier. This is very important and we know we cannot stress this enough. The reason why is that we can provide you with the manufacturer warranty. PLEASE beware of used equipment. It is not worth it to shop on sites where people sell products that are used. It is trackable via serial number and a lot of times people get rid of the equipment after a loved one passes away. This product sometimes is owned by Medicare or an Insurance company and it is illegal to sell it. If you purchase it, you can be liable for this transaction. Unless the person has a receipt showing they paid cash for it--DO NOT BUY IT. This is why we try very hard to get our prices as low as we can so we can provide you with the warranty and the comfort knowing that no one else has ever owned the unit that you purchased. We get lots of people to us that have purchased something on a "great deal" but ended up buying a new one because it was a "demo unit" and the warranty expired. Thanks for your time, GoSouthernMD Happy Holidays 11-2-09 The Holidays are near and we want to make sure that GoSouthernMD.com provides you with the best service possible. To do this, please make sure you add an extra day or two to all orders because of the busy time of year. This will help in planning for the gift giving season. We have been asked by many people daily about shipping times per supplier. Please see below: Action LiftChair: 21 days from day of order minimum to your door. The chair is made from scratch right in the Wisconsin Plant. It might take some time but it is well worth the wait. This is a great present for a loved one during the holidays BUT plan accordingly. Please check with us for stock and percentages of your order arriving at your door with the below times. Please keep in mind that we have been working with most of these suppliers over 5 years and we are pretty sure about the accuracy of these shipping times. If you need it expedited or shipped over seas, please contact us for details. All order shipping times are estimated to your door and does not include weekend days. Medline: 1 day Invacare: 4-6 days Drive Medical: 4-6 days GoSouthernMD.com stock: 1-3 days Jobst: 4-6 days All others: 5-7 days GoSouthernMD.com customers and future customers, We are starting to really make a difference in the medical industry. Fox just aired a show yesterday about the ridiculous rental and payments for Durable Medical Equipment products on Hannity. We are getting our information out there but we have a long way to go to solve this problem. In the 5 years I have had this business, I have NEVER called anyone out on anything via competitors but enough is enough. Lets keep up the good work. You have my word that I will continue to work to keep the prices LOW and hopefully your insurance will kick in at the realistic amount of the payment and TOO YOU! Enjoy the reading! From: Sales/Operations | GoSouthernMD.com [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 12:12 AM To: '[email protected]'Subject: This is what is wrong with Washington! Marc, Please see below and then see below as to what I wrote in my BLOG recently: 9-16-09 Hey Scooter Store--why are you trying to get a disabled person into a power chair when they don't need one. This poor person called me today and they said you were trying to bully them into getting one when all they need is a scooter. Could it be that you want a $6,000 check from Medicare and it only costs you $1,000? Could it be that a scooter would reimburse you 1/3 that amount? Wow--I think your CSR's are trained to do that is this true? Hey Scooter Store could it be that you are taking care of all the people in Washington to make sure that they do not cut back on that huge check you get from the government for these disable people that you could care less about. Boy, your image sure seems like you do care about these people. Hey Scooter Store--why are you trying to get this customer to pay 20% as a co-pay when they could use that money to get what they want right on my website. I am just telling the truth. I am on to you and all the other big companies that give out those HUGE bonuses every year for a job well done and this is just the mobility sector. Don't even get me started on you Apria and the amount of money you make off of oxygen patients. Where is the service you are supposed to provide 24/7? Just think--I am just scratching the service. There is about 3,000 of these devices out there that the reimbursements are about 10 times too much thanks to the greed and the all mighty dollar. Maybe someday, someone will step up and get rid of these bureaucratic companies that have no passion for the disabled and elderly population. We are trying a day at a time. I am Robert E. Remitz and I am for the little guy because I am the little guy with you. Letter to Fox News Correspondent Dr. Marc Siegel Regarding Comments on Scooters and Healthcare ReformFrom: Pfister, Michael (Mike)Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 10:39 AM To: '[email protected]'Cc: Pfister, Michael (Mike)Subject: Power Mobility Coverage Dr. Siegel, My name is Mike Pfister and I am the Executive Vice President of External Affairs for The SCOOTER Store. I wanted to reach out to you and thank you for bringing some balance to the health care debate as it relates to power mobility. More specifically, your accurate responses and characterizations of Senator McCaskill's comments have been right on the mark and have brought light to the type of uninformed political bashing that is filling up the airwaves during such a sensitive and partisan period in our country. More importantly you are highlighting the bad policies that are endangering the quality of health care in America.The SCOOTER Store is the largest provider of medical mobility devices in the United States. While our company name was established in the early 90's when we started out as a tiny scooter repair company in New Braunfels, Texas, the majority of the prescribed power mobility for our senior citizens has been power wheelchairs. Industry wide, less than 5% of mobility expenditures by Medicare are on scooters. As you know Medicare and other health insurance plans cover durable medical equipment that is used in the home to assist the elderly in conducting the activities of daily living like going to the restroom, moving throughout the home to cook and conduct other activities. For our company, the average age of our customers is over 71 years old and they also average three chronic diseases that will most likely not improve over time. They depend upon the power wheelchairs to provide a level of independence that often times prevents them from having to move to more expensive institutional settings like nursing homes. In fact, an outcome study conducted by a reputable economics group several years ago using Medicare claims data concluded that the Medicare program saves more than $13,000 over a three year period when a beneficiary is provided power mobility when compared to similar beneficiaries with similar diseases who did not have a mobility intervention. I would be happy to send you more details on this study if you are interested. The point I want to reinforce is that our experience is that Medicare is not paying for scooters for lazy people to ride around the mall or grocery store when they should be walking.There has been much reform in our industry since the "ugly" period in 2002 and 2003 when scooters and power wheelchairs became the target of the Medicare scammers. Utilization for the last four years has been well below CMS estimates. Pricing for power mobility has been lowered almost 40% in real dollars with the national competitive bidding program in progress estimated to lower prices an additional 10-25%. New standards have been introduced for accreditation and bonding and daily operations that continue to whittle down the number of suppliers that compete for physician and patient business. The current healthcare proposal is eliminating the preferred option for most physicians and their patients to have the power wheelchair purchased for the duration of the patient's life. Instead, the benefit is being set up as a rental device which will delay payments over 13 months. For many suppliers, this will be a payment change that creates financing demands that can't be met in today's credit markets, given the pricing pressures and low margins that already exist in the industry. That is the most scary "reform" in the current proposal. Finally, I want to offer that there is an even more irrational shift poised to clobber our industry related to the documentation demands placed upon physicians to justify power wheelchairs. I would love an opportunity to share this policy that is minimizing the clinical judgment of physicians and allowing CMS to ration healthcare. This might make for an interesting debate on your programs.I want to thank you again for being an "informed" voice and to offer any assistance that you might need to better understand industry conditions and facts. Regards, Mike Pfister Senior Vice President, External Relations and Government Affairs The SCOOTER Store Scooter Store is and always will be about the GRAND old DOLLAR. Until we eliminate these corporations, we will NEVER see the cuts that should happen in the durable medical industry and Medicare and the local consumer will continue to suffer. The scooter store tries to position themselves as the savior and the "scammers" in 2002 which I saw in Houston was primarily foreigners from Nigeria who came in and took millions from Medicare. In truth, it is them and companies like the Scooter Store that should be the ones outlawed. They show themselves as a compassionate group but in reality what has allowed them to grow to the size they are. It is the millions of dollars that they have made off of the ridiculous allowable paid for by our government via these power chairs. Robert E. Remitz Operations/Sales Department GoSouthernMD.com www.GoSouthernMD.com Happy Birthday to my 3 older brothers in October. Best wishes and many more to come. Lil Bro 9-25-09 It was a very rough day here at GoSouthernMD.com. We have been battling ALL DAY with all of our manufacturers for your drop shipped orders because in a perfect world; we would stock everything thus we can control how to get the product to you. Manufacturers such as: ALL OF THEM and the whole tracking thing. 2-3 days to get the tracking once it ships is ridiculous. When we ship the order to our customers direct it is that day. We cannot control this with our manufacturers and we are tired of following up 3-5 times a day. It needs to get MUCH better. Especially with the holidays around the corner. Jobst--failed twice to put in 2 separate PO's and we called several times to see where the product is--the orders department lost the PO's twice. We had over 10 customers waiting on product for over 4 weeks and they charged us $30 to send the socks next day air to us. Huntleigh--twice failed to set up our account and they would not give us credit for a customer who ordered a wound care pump and the loved one died. We wanted to use the credit to order a new pump for a patient in hospice but Huntleigh lost our order and would not do a swap. They made us order a new one at our expense and we have to wait for the credit to hit. This was 4 months ago. Devilbliss--Canadian customer ordered a Home Fill system and "out of the box" brand new it did not work and Devilbliss is making US buy a new one and when the customer returns it THEN they will credit our account for the $3,000 machine. Manufacturers MAKE us buy a whole new one and then when the bad unit, wrong shipment, etc is returned to them/us then we get the credit. This means that we have to buy the product twice. Customer in Texas ordered the wrong size wheelchair for $110 and wanted to switch it out for a larger one(this is why this is real important to go to guides and measure the person for the chair). Shipping a chair costs us about $30 and when mistakes are made that are not ours, we cannot incur those costs. I recommended that she order a new one and when the other one arrives then we will pick up the wrong size chair and ship it back on our dime(very generous) since it was not our fault. She said no and tried to make me pay for shipping there and back at my cost. This would have been $60. When I refused, then I got an email from the BBB that she is wanting a full refund and she wants to keep the chair and complained. This is very, very disappointing for me because people have no idea how hard we work behind the scenes with all the problems that come up with shipping, manufacturers delays, back orders, etc. We have great compassion and pride with every order and it is customers that take advantage of what we are trying to do and at the lowest price. There is so much out of our control that drives us crazy because we know that if we had control over each and every order, things would go flawlessly. We try our best and 99% is usually great but its the 1% that is real frustrating. This is all while we were trying to do our quarterly inventory today. Since we DO NOT close ever--we did our best to field some 300 calls today. Sorry if we missed a few of you. We hope that next week will be better and that our manufacturers get it together. We are hoping but in the 13 years I have been doing this--it will never happen. GoSouthernMD 9-16-09 Hey Scooter Store--why are you trying to get a disabled person into a power chair when they don't need one. This poor person called me today and they said you were trying to bully them into getting one when all they need is a scooter. Could it be that you want a $6,000 check from Medicare and it only costs you $1,000? Could it be that a scooter would reimburse you 1/3 that amount? Wow--I think your CSR's are trained to do that is this true? Hey Scooter Store could it be that you are taking care of all the people in Washington to make sure that they do not cut back on that huge check you get from the government for these disable people that you could care less about. Boy, your image sure seems like you do care about these people. Hey Scooter Store--why are you trying to get this customer to pay 20% as a co-pay when they could use that money to get what they want right on my website. I am just telling the truth. I am on to you and all the other big companies that give out those HUGE bonuses every year for a job well done and this is just the mobility sector. Don't even get me started on you Apria and the amount of money you make off of oxygen patients. Where is the service you are supposed to provide 24/7? Just think--I am just scratching the service. There is about 3,000 of these devices out there that the reimbursements are about 10 times too much thanks to the greed and the all mighty dollar. Maybe someday, someone will step up and get rid of these bureaucratic companies that have no passion for the disabled and elderly population. We are trying a day at a time. I am Robert E. Remitz and I am for the little guy because I am the little guy with you. 8-1-09 We will not agree with these new Minimum Advertised Prices(MAP) on line and we will not sign any form. It is price fixing and should be banned. All manufacturers that wish to be listed on our site should understand that I will price it whatever I want. You will not dictate what I can price it at PERIOD. I will go elsewhere or replace it with an item that does not require MAP pricing. My competition continues to throw up fake BBB complaints against me and tell the manufacturer on me but we will still continue to win this fight. The right way to compete with us is cut your overhead, sell your BMW/Mercedes, get rid of that 3rd house, etc. Hey manufacturers! Instead of trying to police this MAP pricing, what you should be doing is going with 5 star distributors like GoSouthernMD.com and make certain requirements to provide your product On-Line. Things like making sure that the distributor is honoring whatever the suppliers warranties are, 24/7 service, actual brick and mortar company location, etc. These are the things that should be required and not just basing it on price. GoSouthernMD.com is determined to get you the best product at the best price with great service and nothing will turn us away from getting it done. If you have any questions, pick up the phone ANYTIME. If you get our corporate voice mail--leave a message. We will call you back. GoSouthernMD.com 7-19-09 Rental customers, Please be honest to us on your height and weight. This is very important since these medical devices have a weight limit and this is for your safety. We will be adding a part of our rentals that will protect us against the chance you do not tell us the truth about your weight. I cannot stress how important this is. We are trying to provide this great service but we will not be liable for a broken item because of a weight capacity issue. Thanks, Robert Remitz 6-28-09 Congratulations to the Hackett family. They found out today that their GRANDDAUGHTER, CASSIE at 22 who has 6 months live, will be able to receive the kidney from no other then the DAD in August, 2009. Your Powerchair rental will be ready for you next week in Michigan with no stress and we love doing what we do and hearing great stories like this. God Bless the Hacketts for a speedy recovery. GoSouthernMD.com 5-10-09 Happy Mother's day to all of you mother's out there and we thought we would post this very touching article about what our world is dealing with today in regards to our elderly and handicapped Mom's. We are glad that there are people out there that try to do all they can to make sure that their mother's are taken care of in the last few years of their lives. We owe it to them and at GoSouthernMD.com, we try all we can to keep our prices to you low and make sure that when you need to purchase medical supplies for your mom that it is the right product for the situation. This article is courtesy of the Arizona Republic: A Mother's Living Lessons. When Josephine Moreno was a young woman, she taught her children how to love.She bathed them and fed them. She made them feel safe.Now, Josephine is an old woman.She likes sweet pie and shopping trips. She is often confused.She counts the stairs aloud - "one, two, three, four . . . " - as she walks up them.Josephine, 85, has Alzheimer's disease, and it is stealing her away.She is sometimes afraid. Her memories are fading or gone.Although she is forgetting what she taught her children, her children remember.Her daughters, Lucy and Olivia, take care of Josephine at the end of her life because she took care of them at the beginning of theirs."It's an obligation," Olivia said. "It's a duty. She took care of us. We will take care of her."Now it is their turn to bathe and feed Josephine. To make her feel safe.. . .Josephine Cuen was born in Tucson in 1923. She married Benigno Moreno in 1941, right before he went to war to fight the Germans.Josephine and Benigno had five children and raised them in Maryvale."She was one of those moms from a different generation," Lucy said. "Her kids were everything to her."The children learned early that family takes care of family."We grew up with our grandparents in the house," Olivia said. "You respect your elders. You take care of your parents. It's just what you do; you don't even think about it."Josephine's children - she also has three sons - were shocked four years ago when she came to them and said something was not right. She was no longer the same person that she always had been.Their mother was a tough and independent woman. One thing they could never remember her doing was asking for help.When her husband died 11 years ago, Josephine didn't slow down.She stayed busy with her children and her grandchildren.She stayed involved with managing the real estate she and her husband had accumulated over the years.But she started to forget things. Then she started to get confused.Josephine knew enough, however, to know she needed help."She told us she wanted to write her will," Olivia, 59, said. "She wanted to take care of things when she felt like she still could."A doctor confirmed that Josephine had Alzheimer's disease, an irreversible, progressive brain disease that destroys memory and thinking skills.Josephine would need her family's care.The three Moreno sons always helped their mother with her home and her rental properties. It would be her daughters, Olivia Vasquez and Lucy Vasquez, (they both married men with the same last name) who would take on the day-to-day responsibilities of their mother.They started to visit their mother's home every day. They brought her groceries. They gave her the pills the doctors prescribed. They could handle this."We thought we were doing great," Lucy, 62, said, "until we found all the medicine she was supposed to be taking tucked away in the couch."They started visiting twice a day. Lucy would bring a cooked dinner big enough to make sure there were leftovers.But Josephine was losing weight. "I said, 'Mother, what happened to the food?' She said, 'I give it to the cat,' " Lucy said.There was another thing. Josephine always clutched her purse. From the moment she woke up, it was strapped over her shoulder and held tight under her arm.The purse was empty. Josephine was becoming afraid.. . .When her children were young, Josephine put on a polyester uniform every day and went to work as a seamstress in a factory without air-conditioning. After work, she would walk through the door and drink a tall glass of iced tea. Then she would make dinner.What she never did was complain. "What I learned from my mother was perseverance," Lucy said. "Don't think about it; just do it. We're tough women. She taught us that."Although Josephine's condition was getting worse, Lucy and Olivia wanted to keep their mother in her own home. And Josephine made it clear she did not want to leave."Mother was a fighter," Olivia said. "You were not going to take that home from her."The sisters learned that making a decision about a person with Alzheimer's can be difficult. The disease itself can be erratic."Sometimes she seemed fine," Olivia said. "I would be there and thought she really needed help. Then my brother would go over and say she was in great shape. That was hard for us."But Josephine was slipping. She kept losing weight. Her anxiety increased."Paranoia set in. All the windows had to be closed all the time," Lucy said. "She always wanted to call 911."And the daughters realized their mother was changing."She was always such a strong and independent person," Lucy said. "It's hard to see her like this."Olivia started convincing her mother to stay at Olivia's house on hard days.Those days started to come more often. People, Josephine said, were trying to hurt her.Olivia started to have her mother sleep over more often. Then things got worse.The family found a blackened tin can behind her Maryvale house. Sorting through the ashes, Lucy and Olivia realized their mother was burning her money. Josephine was afraid it would be stolen.Last July, Josephine moved in with Olivia and Olivia's husband, Angel, in Peoria.. . .Josephine always worked. First as a seamstress, then as a cook. Her daughters say she was the first person to run the tortilla machine at Garcia's Mexican Restaurant on 35th Avenue in Phoenix. Josephine made sure her children would be workers, too."From when we were little" Olivia said. "It was work, work, work."Lucy and Olivia did grow up to be workers."My first job, I was 18. I was making $2 an hour," Lucy said. "That's $80 a week, $60 after taxes. I was still at home, so I had to give my parents $40. That was mother's rule. You take care of the family first."Lucy later got married and began a career as a supervisor at AT&T.Olivia started Moreno Realty and poured herself into the business.Now, after decades in their own careers, the daughters have a new job: Mom."It's work, I guess. It's a lot of hours. There is no break," Olivia said. "But it's not difficult. I love my mother. It wears me down sometimes, but it never makes me mad."Lucy picks up her mother to run errands, to take her shopping or to the doctor.Josephine has a room in Lucy's home in Phoenix, where Lucy plays old Spanish love songs for her mother.Lucy keeps her computer in the room so that her mother can see her while she falls asleep.During the day, Olivia is at her real-estate office full time. Often, her mother is there with her."She does not like to be left alone," Olivia said. "She cries. She says: 'You've abandoned me.' "While her daughter works, Josephine sits in a high-backed blue chair across the office.That was good enough for a while. But then Josephine started to get upset when Olivia would turn to face her computer. Olivia devised a solution. She hung a mirror on the wall above her desk. Now, no matter which way Olivia turned, Josephine could always see her.Sometimes Olivia will take her mother as she goes to view properties.During meetings with clients, Josephine will sometimes walk into the room and announce that it is time for the clients to leave."People understand," Olivia said. "I guess everybody has a mother.". . .Josephine always found joy in her family. Her home was filled with music and food. Lots and lots of food.Josephine does not cook anymore. Her brain is no longer able to orchestrate the process."I miss her cooking. Oh, the aromas," Lucy said. "Every bite you took of her food you could taste it. It was made with care and love."Even on a hard day, and there are plenty of hard days now, Josephine brings joy to Olivia and Lucy.She tells corny jokes and sings old songs, though she admits that she sings "like a rooster."Other changes from the disease have actually been pleasant."She lets us pamper her," Lucy said. "When we were younger, she would never do that. She was always taking care of others."Now, Josephine likes nothing more than to let Lucy and Olivia fix her hair and do her nails.She will sit in front of the mirror and smile as her daughters make her beautiful."She used to say, 'Just give me a broom or a rake,' " Olivia said. "Now, she asks: 'Did you put my lipstick on?' "Josephine also appears to have maintained an uncanny sense of when her daughters need her most.Olivia was recently having a hard day at work and was getting frustrated."Out of nowhere," Olivia said, "she says to me: 'Knock it off, Ollie. You're a businesswoman.'"It's inconceivable to me. She can't bathe herself, but she still sees me.". . .Josephine cooked and cleaned, she worked outside of the home and raised five children. Then she took in her own parents and her husband's parents when they grew old.What the sisters remember about their grandparents living with them, however, is how kind Josephine was when she cared for them. For Josephine, family was never a burden."She always made them feel comfortable," Lucy said of her mother. "She was a tough woman, but she was a decent woman. I learned that about my mother when I was just a little girl."Every day, Josephine becomes a little bit more like a child.On Mondays, Lucy takes her to Savers, a discount store, for a shopping trip."I'm going to give you a dollar to buy something. OK?" Lucy asked her mother on a recent trip. "Now put that in your purse."Josephine still gets a pension from her late husband and has good health insurance. Lucy and Olivia also are on solid financial ground. Physically, Josephine remains strong.These things help make an impossible task a little more possible.But Lucy and Olivia already are facing new realities.At Josephine's most recent visit to the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, physician assistant Helle Brand told the daughters their mother needed more stability.The periodic moving from home to home, which helps the sisters share the load, could be causing Josephine anxiety.It is time, Brand advised, for Josephine to stay at one home.Brand said Josephine's capabilities were now comparable to those of a 4-year-old.Lucy and Olivia both know that the time may come when they will not be able to take care of their mother. At some point they may have to talk about placing her in a care facility."I know there may come a time . . . " Olivia said, not finishing her sentence. "I know that."But they are in no rush.On a recent sunny morning, Olivia and Lucy sat on a couch in Olivia's home with their mother in between them looking nowhere in particular.Lucy picked up her mother's hand."You touch her hand, and it is so warm. It is flowing with blood. Our blood," Lucy said."I look at her hand, and I ask myself, 'How many dishes did this hand wash? How many tortillas did she make?' "Then Lucy placed her mother's hand in her lap, and the three women sat quietly. 5-3-09 If you have taken notice, we had to take down the Respironics free concentrator promotion with free pulse oximeter with a purchase of the EverGo package. Due to the series of complaints by our competitors, Respironics will not allow us not to promote savings and free goods. If you call us we can still honor the promotion. This really upsets us because we are trying to do all we can to promote savings back to you but our competition wants to make more and more money while we are trying to save you as much as we can. Because we cannot promote it on our site does not mean that we cannot still offer it to you when you call. Please call us for the promotion at 855-528-2539 GoSouthernMD.com 4-19-09 GoSouthernMD.com customers and potential customers, We do not buy or sell any products that are USED, REFURBISHED, or any other classification that makes the product not new in the box from the manufacturer. We receive about 10-20 calls a week asking if our products are NEW. The answer will always be Yes. We will never buy used equipment. We are very upset at our competitors who provide customers in the medical equipment industry with used, refurbished, or demostrated models. The calls we get daily are from people that have ordered medical products that were not new because of the lower price and with that they received a very limited warranty that is not conclusive with the manufacturer. Now these people will spend hundreds of dollars and sometimes thousands just to fix the used unit and it will end up costing them more in the long run. Some instances, we have seen the product can't be fixed and they will end up buying a new one anyway. The only person that wins in this instance is the GREEDY On-line website that took advantage of the unfortunate with their low prices. OUR goal at GoSouthernMD.com is to always provide you will a brand new UPDATED unit at the best possible price and provide you with excellent service through the life of the warranty. This will always be how we do business and we will NEVER go to the extreme that our competitors are doing just to compete with us. We are trying our best to make this industry lower their prices and make sure that they are in this to help the consumer and not to hurt your pocket book. GoSouthernMD.com 3-1-2009 Great Testimonial--Thanks Page "Both the EverGo and the EverFlo Q are just great! The EverGo really gives my husband the freedom he wants to do the things he enjoys and he takes it everywhere. The EverFlo Q is our bedtime companion and it is not difficult to move. The oximeter is an important piece of equipment and I now keep tabs on my husband's oxygen level.We appreciate your service and your reasonable prices and are so glad we found you. Thank you for being in business to help people like us. Keep up the good work." Sincerely, Page from Hawaii From GoSouthernMD.com "Thanks Page—and I love helping the good folks that live on the “big Island.” I do all I can to help everyone little or big. We never leave anyone behind regardless of the job. It is a constant battle with each order whether there is back orders or incompetent representatives or shipping issues, we do all we can to move the order along. The problem here is we do not sell kites for a living even though sometimes I wish I did. We provide products that cure, fix and save lives and there is SO many things that happen behind the scenes that you the customer does not realize. All of these things are out of our control. This is what makes my job very complicated and hard. But through my experience, passion and knowledge, there is no one better that you want fighting for you to get you what you ordered and at a great price." Thanks for being a great customer, Robert 3-1-2009 GoSouthernMD.com is very proud of our new partnership with a company out of Ontario, CA that will be used as our own brand of product for about two hundred items. We will be adding these items in the next few weeks and our first item is the RoRo three wheel travel Scooter by GoSouthernMD.com. The reason why we have chosen to do this is because Manufacturers are using their own brand and not allowing us to be able to put the price to you where we want it. They have what is called MAP pricing or minimum asking price and no other company can sell on-line below a certain price. This is great for us retail companies but bad for the retailer. Like we have said in a lot of the emails and in our blog, we started this company to help people and that is precisely what we strive to do. With this said, we will slash our prices and give the savings to our customers. If you wish to get a quote from us for any of our two hundred items that we are putting on-line, please contact us and I will get you a price. We are adding scooters, power mobility, bathroom safety, manual chairs, transport chairs, rollators, walkers, walker accessories, crutches and canes, hospital beds, lift chairs, patient lift, compression stockings and braces. thanks, GoSouthernMD.com 12-22-08 WE WILL BE OPEN THE ENTIRE WEEK THIS WEEK AND EVEN ON CHRISTMAS DAY. WE DO NOT STOP WORKING FOR YOU. CALL US ANYTIME AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SERVICING YOU WITH A SMILE. WE ARE ALWAYS HAPPY TO HELP YOU AND WE LOVE WHAT WE DO! GO RETAIL GoSouthernMD.com 12-19-08 We have been getting a lot of calls about how quick it takes to ship things out because we are all running it tight for Christmas. Well, here is a quick tip on ordering from our website per manufacturer. Drive Medical--takes about a day to process and a day to ship. They have shipping points in 4 cities. Time from order is about 4-5 business days. Medline--takes about a day to process--this can be expedited easy. They have 13 shipping points and guarantee next day delivery. Time from order is about 1-2 business days Invacare--takes about a day to process and a day to ship. They have one shipping point and that is Ohio. Time from order is about 6-7 business days. Respironics/Sequal--takes about a day to process and a day to ship TO our location. They have one shipping point that is in Colorado. Time from order is about 5-7 business days Now, we can always expedite this. Just ask and we will do the best we can. Please keep in mind that this is for STOCKED items. It is very hard to anticipate NON-stocked and back ordered items but we will do the best we can to let you know the progress. We fight every day for tracking this is why when we ship from our stock in our warehouse the product goes out same day and you get tracking that day. Manufacturers control the order when we drop ship so please be patient and we will get the information to you as quick as we can. Thanks, GoSouthernMD.com 12-19-08 ATTENTION ALL MEDICARE PATIENTS ON OXYGEN: If you are receiving a letter from Medicare stating that they are no longer paying for your oxygen please call me ASAP at 855-528-2539. I started this business to help people and give free consultation. I will give you all of your choices and then you can make your decision in regards to what you need to do from there. I look forward to hearing from you and dont worry, I will take care of you. After you see the several plans that i have depending on your situation and affliction, it will turn into a positive. I guarantee it. Regards, Robert Remitz 12-6-08 LIFTCHAIR buyers beware! Not going to say any names here BUT how can someone live with themselves by offering these items on a lift chair as custom. ALL Lift chairs include these items. This should be illegal. People please be careful not to fall for this. I know the economy is in tough times but this is ridiculous and this company should be embarrassed. See below so you know what to look for: Dual Side Pockets $18.00 Head Pillow $37.50 Left Side Pocket $18.00 Hand Control $18.00 Lumbar Pillow $37.50 How in the world can you buy a lift chair without a hand control. Thanks and call me with any questions. Robert Hot News ::Find Urgent Care Partners with GoSouthernMD.com MESA, Ariz.— FindUrgentCare has partnered with GoSouthernMD.com to provide all Find Urgent Care members access to discounts on products and services offered by select vendors to the urgent care community.“We are very proud to be a part of the Findurgentcare.com partner family and look forward to the increased exposure we can bring each other through partnership,” said Robert Remitz, president of GoSouthernMD.com. Through this partnership, GoSouthernMD.com hopes to provide urgent care clinics nationwide a more cost-effective solution to supplying durable medical equipment, according to a Find Urgent Care news release. 11-23-08 Hey, thanks Abilogic for the great 5 star compliment! Excellent Prices & Quality Service![User Rank: 5.00-5.00] www.GoSouthernMD.com was very helpful in assisting me find all the home medical supplies I needed. The product selection of Southern Medical Distributors is only matched be their LOW prices! Posted by Namsu Manu — Feb 29, 2008 11-21-08
We at GoSouthernMD.com are very proud of this logo that was recently added to our website. Please see bottom of our website that says GSA contract holder. If you are considering buying from us then this logo is all you need to see because to get it added you have to go through a lot of work and several rigorous steps to become a provider for the military. We provided 6 portable concentrators to soldiers coming back from Iraq. I am honored and proud to do anything we can to get our troops what they need at a great price. 11-17-08 Hey, Shopwiki.com, thanks for the GREAT kudo's. 3 for 3--YAY! By unspecified user, Saturday, January 26, 2008 Excellent service and quick shipping. Owner was very helpful and pleasant to deal with. By unspecified user, Saturday, January 26, 2008 Southern Medical Distributors is a great up and coming online business! I will look forward to buying all my medical supplies from them in the future. They are very helpful with very very low prices!-Satisfied Customer By unspecified user, Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Great service and support! Southern Medical Distributors helped me save thousands of dollars with my portable oxygen concentrator purchase! 11-8-08 Kudos from RV.NET. They say we are the best Medical Supplier on the internet. We do everything we can to help the "road warrior" out there. Just please be careful in Quartzite, Arizona. Those over 65 parties can get pretty crazy:). "GoSouthernMD.com is the company I bought from. I consider them the best on the internet. They goofed on sending my Platinum XL-5 when they said they would and the CEO called me, apologized and said it would be overnighted to me. Since Medicare had not picked up my Platinum XL-5 I was renting, I told them to ship it normal UPS if it would get here within a week. They did. They were more than willing to lose money on the deal to help a customer. Can you name even one company willing to do that? I can't. Sorry I forgot the name originally, but they just sent me an email with a 10% off coupon." One point about this comment is when we "goof" even though it is initially our fault--it is the manufacturer or many factors that relate to each individual order. Every order is different unless it is a stocked item but so many things go wrong and do go wrong. From shipping problems, to back orders, to manufacturers that do not follow up with us, waiting on tracking, etc. The list is endless but at the end of the day, we will do everything we can to figure things out and get it to you at a great price and to your satisfaction. We guarantee it and we understand how important your device is. Thanks, GoSouthernMD.com 11-4-08 This gives you an insight into why I started GoSouthernMD.com. In the 5 years prior to GoSouthernMD.com, I have been in Arizona as a sales representative providing medical supplies to independent dealers. I have seen the state of Arizona grow into one of the biggest healthcare managed care states in the nation. What this means to my fellow Arizonans is less and less of a choice for you as an individual and your loved ones that are caring for you. I have seen the large Medical Companies and Regional players work together to make sure that they get the contract for a specific insurance plan, network or medical group. At no time should this ever be allowed in the "land of the free". This prohibits capitalism and choices we can make and because of this, I will do everything I can through this website and well into the future to continue to be an advocate for the individual and the right for choice what medical product you can have and where you have to go for your treatment. Please read below of a Proposition that was granted in my state and we all need to continue to fight against the people and companies that are lobbying against your rights and choices because of greed and other purposes that are for profit. We are for the little guy and thus is why i keep overhead low, prices low and work around the clock for you. One last point, my original location was next(a block away) to the biggest advocate to managed care in Arizona and I watched this company become huge and put together this monopolized program for this great state. Through managed care comes a huge lack of service and support. I drive a 2006 F250 Ford truck to work everyday because I am the type of person that no matter how big I am and how much sales I do, I will not change my position as a person for the people in the healthcare industry. This is why, if you ever come to Phoenix dont be surprised to see me deliver to you a hospital bed or a wheelchair right to your home and I will do the set up and show you how to use it. It is pretty hard to do that when the owners of my competition drive brand new BMW's or Mercedes to work everyday. Thanks for reading this and you will always have my continued support to always be working for you. Proposition 101 in Arizona: Advocates of Proposition 101 say that: (as submitted to the Secretary of State) "The 'Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act' will preserve and protect the rights of individuals to make their own health care and health insurance choices. Currently, many lobbyists and special interest groups in Arizona and around the country are promoting policies that would limit or even eliminate the ability of people to have choices when seeking out health care for themselves and their families. This initiative will guarantee the right of Arizonans to make their own health care choices. Lobbyists and special interests will see their power to control and dictate your health care limited. Robert Remitz 11-1-08 HIDDEN FEES, HIDDEN FEES, HIDDEN FEES. Please look out for these in this industry. It seems that everone is caught up in a low base price in any industry including this one and then having you add on items that you need to be part of package. GoSouthernMD.com will not ever participate in this activity. What you want is what you get PERIOD! SO, when you see my competitors trying to match my pricing, please make sure that it is the full package. We are and always will be for the patient and consumer and we always look out for you. Contant me anytime if you have any questions. Robert Remitz 10-11-08 This is our voice and I need help from ANY Lawmaker or Insurance company that will listen! Dear Sir/Maam: I am writing to you because of my deep concern for our economy and I think I can help. My plan calls for immediate action since this will save our government BILLIONS each year.Right now, the way the Durable Medical Equipment industry works is stated below. I have eliminated all the acronyms and terms for better understanding: 1. Patient gets a prescription for any durable medical product and they MUST take it to an accredited (this is great—new change) Medicare, private insurance or state funded company (dealer) to fill order. 2. The company that gets prescription has to follow the guidelines and must do the appropriate steps including a CMN (Certificate of Medical Necessity) to get paid for the product that they gave to their patient. Some products require more information and some are real easy to get paid. 3. After submission, the company has to wait on the payment. With some products they get paid right away for it like a Gel Mattress for a hospital bed and some they have to bill the insurance monthly over the approved time. For instance, a hospital bed, the company puts the patient on it and they submit payment once a month for 36 months at $15.95 per month. With this, they have to attend to the patient and do what the guidelines are recommended. There is a lot of flaws in this system and I really DO not see any positives about how this is done (I have been in this industry for over 10 years) except that the little “mom and pop” dealer most of the time really cares about the patient and will do what is right to make sure that the patient is getting what they want and will be doing exactly what the guidelines ask for. I have compiled a list of the biggest problems with this plan: 1. Government is paying way too much for these products both up front and monthly. 2. Too much greed with the dealers and with the high overhead. It is all about making money. 3. Really no personal care anymore and these companies providing service puts the patient on used and cheap equipment and the patient is at the mercy of the prescription holder and has no choice what he or she gets and MANY other factors but I could literally write a book on this. My solution is really simple and it could save our economy and government BILLIONS and there would be no tie up in cash because everything flows. Right now with the system in place, the manufacturer fronts the product on terms and the dealer buys it on terms and then the patient gets the product for free and the dealer has to wait to get paid and does not pay bill until they receive the money and sometimes they did the paperwork wrong and so on and so on. This causes a lot of cash flow problems (this happened on my distribution side of my business) for all the people involved. With my plan, the money that the government would save would solve our credit crisis along with not allowing these CEOs of fortune 500 companies to make millions in bonuses and then leave or retire but this is an entirely different issue. Please see solution: 1. Allow the patient to submit the form that the government provides, the CMN or prescription and a receipt from buying direct either on-line or at a local dealer and then the patient waits on the reimbursement. What happens here is the patient is liable and the patient can pick out his or her own product and the product is NEW. Now, I agree that there should be dealers available to help, set up, choose or give advice but this is the built in cost of the sale that the dealer will profit from but these margins are way less then what they are now. 2. Retail plan would save the government Billions how? I will give you one small example. For instance, a COPD patient has just been diagnosed and he/she has a prescription for oxygen. The doctor says go over to the local national dealer and give them the prescription to fill your order. So, they go over to the dealer and the respiratory therapist sets them up on a concentrator and provides them training and does the set up in the home. Most of the time, the patient will get some old, loud, bulky unit that is not the best solution. Then the company will be responsible to check on the patient once a month, bring them tubing, clean filters and with that they bill the insurance $135/month for 36 months. This is a total amount of $4860 during the 36 month term of the product. I have factored time and money and cost if they happen to buy a new concentrator at about $3,000 plus that the government handed over to this company. If this patient went on line or into a local showroom and purchased the unit for $620.00, it would save the government about $2500 per concentrator. Lets multiply that by about 100,000 concentrators a year that are funded by the government and now we are looking at a savings of $25,000,000 and there is about 5,000+ items that are being reimbursed. Now, I agree with the local serviced company and the government could have these dealers on call to help these patients out if something happens and they need help with their retail order but it does not happen often and the company will get reimbursed by the government for a fee to take care of the issue. But it is an hourly fee and must have proof and guidelines. Also, the patient that cannot make the choice could be done by a loved one or whoever is put on as the caregiver. Also, for the patient that cannot afford to buy the product via credit card can get the product purchased by the government direct. This is a real simple and easy way to pay for medical supplies and the way that I have done this letter is in the simpliest form of writing so that way the full understanding is there. This plan is guaranteed to work and I could literally put it together in a week.Please contact me with any questions at 602-920-8847. I am the little guy that is for the little guy and this will be my mission in life to guarantee that the patient is covered the right way once in for all. A very concerned American and citizen, Robert E. Remitz 9-12-08 Because of our very successful PENNY special campaign, we have added a few more products to our website but you have to look for them. It is like an Easter Egg hunt for adults. But please limit this special to up to 4 specials per order. We don't want you to break the piggy bank. Have fun and happy searching! GoSouthernMD.com GO RETAIL! 9-4-08 EVERGO and the NEW EVERFLO "Q" customers that have been waiting almost 8 weeks for your EVERGO's because of the national backorder. They are FINALLY in stock and will ship today and tomorrow. We will be sending extra cannula's to you with the unit and will go out separately. Although this back order situation is not our fault, we feel obligated to get you something extra for your patience. We waited for the new "Q" to come in instead of shipping you the OLD EVERFLO model with no UPCHARGE and it took awhile. Thanks for your patience. DRIVE MEDICAL Concentrator customers that are waiting for the new 33 pound unit are still on track to ship September 9th, 2008. Thanks, GoSouthernMD.com shipping department 8-29-08 Well, GoSouthernMD.com customers, we finally are in our new office. All week, we have been frantically working on everyone's order without phones(QWEST was late) and internet and we have been doing the best we can to provide everyone with information you seek BUT it has been very difficult. THANK you very much for your patience and consideration. Today, we finally have phones and internet and everyone at GoSouthernMD.com is in our new home. You should be seeing tracking information today and I want to tell you our customers have been fantastic through this relocation experience. We all hope you have a great holiday and please call us anytime. We are always working hard for you. GoSouthernMD.com management 8-19-08 Helpful Guide to Medical Distributors from Business.com HEY LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT US! THANKS NIKI! Click Here for Full Guide and Article By Niki Hampton Action Steps
I recommend: Southern Medical Distributors in Arizona offers a large selection of wholesale medical supplies and equipment. They even have a clearance section, offering you the best deals possible. They accept orders online with multiple forms of payment available. AmeriMed Corporation is a minority-owned company offering wholesale, high-quality medical products. Tips & Tactics We are proud to announce that we are adding a new manufacturer to our line up. Drive Medical Design and GoSouthernMd.com will be adding 633 products to our website in the next couple of weeks. Please be patient while we add pictures and information to new categories and products. If you have any questions about any of Drive's Porfolio of products on our website, please feel free to contact us. 7-2-08 Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Website Links |
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