Majors Mobility: Keep moving

By Rich Livingston
Freelance Writer

A small but increasingly crucial component of medical care is the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) industry, providers of all sorts of apparatus including canes and bath seats, walkers, manual wheelchairs, lift chairs, and even scooters and power chairs.
“We specialize in keeping people moving,” explained Ms. Tyrrell Hunter, president of Majors Mobility in Topsham and Scarborough. “We help people stay in their homes and out of hospitals and nursing homes. The most important consideration in our selection of equipment we provide our patients and clients is ‘does it help you move optimally?’ If so, we want people to have easy, uncomplicated access to what they need.”
Located in Topsham since 1995 – and in Scarborough for two and a half years – half of Majors Mobility business is from the Lewiston-Auburn area. Referrals come from physicians, occupational and physical therapists, hospitals; assisted living, nursing homes and group homes. And half of the equipment provided by Majors Mobility is selected directly by patients or caregivers.
With a wide variety of equipment available, one of Majors’ most important responsibilities is to match patients with the equipment that best meets their specific needs, that most helps “keep them moving.” It’s a complicated process, made more difficult by a confusing maze of Medicare and Maine Care requirements.
Majors Mobility meets all Medicare conditions and provides the services of Assistive Technology Practitioners. “ATP certification is not required for all DME suppliers,” Hunter said, “but completing the arduous certification process ensures that we can provide expert counsel and advice, custom fitting, appropriate instructions for our clients, and better match patient needs with Medicare restrictions.”
Certification comes after successfully completing a four-hour examination, but the prerequisites for the exam include some combination of a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation science or work experience.
“We don’t just sell or rent equipment,” Hunter suggested. “We are full members of the total healthcare team. We provide specialized services, often during stressful or delicate family circumstances. We help other healthcare providers understand the variables of DME options, and we help patients and their families achieve optimum insurance coverage or reimbursement by carefully navigating through the complex regulations.”
For example, according to Hunter, many people don’t understand that by selecting inappropriate equipment too soon in a rehabilitative or chronic medical situation, a patient may be relinquishing opportunities to upgrade equipment at a later stage. Matching needs with coverage, planning for changing physical requirements over time, planning for long-term or life cycle care is complex and challenging, and Majors Mobility specializes in helping people meet their present needs while also being prepared for what may lie ahead.
Majors Mobility staff will ensure that patients are thoroughly familiar with how to use and care for the equipment they have been provided, including an audit of the home to be sure that appropriate equipment is being used; safe and proper operation and maintenance, emergency preparedness; important Majors Mobility contact information including after-hours phone numbers.
Recently, Majors Mobility added a licensed respiratory therapist to its staff, so they are now able to offer a full range of oxygen therapy and equipment, as well. “Combining oxygen services with our DME enables us to provide a complete, one-stop package to hospital discharge planners,” Hunter explained.
“We’re very excited to be able to offer the new ‘wearable’ oxygen concentrator,” Hunter said. The new system is a 4.4-pound device that works on AC power, a battery supply, or plugs into a car’s charger. “This portable concentrator replaces dangerous and unwieldy tanks, and is yet another way we can help keep people moving.”
The L-A area is served by the Topsham headquarters, conveniently located in the Topsham Fair Mall. Majors Mobility can be reached at 1-800-570-3393.