Price Reduction on Pulse Oximeters!

Price reductions don't happen very often so we were excited when it happened on our pulse oximeters! 

What is a pulse oximeter, you ask?  It is a little device that you place on the tip of one of your fingers that easily measures your pulse rate.  Its easier than putting two fingers on your wrist, shushing everyone nearby to be quiet, counting the beats within a certain period of time and then doing the MATH to calculate your actual heart rate. 

And now you can get pulse oximeters for LESS!

The OPE1 Oxi-Go Elite was $52.29, NOW $46.14

The OPP1 Oxi-Go Premier was $46.14, NOW $38.31






We have a handy accessories for your pulse oximeter as well:

Oximeter Belt Case in various colors

Oximeter Protective Skin in clear






For more information or to order Pulse Oximeters and accessories, visit our website today!

Medical Professional Students - We Have Back To School Supplies for You!

Medical Professional students are heading to school with a supply list that is a little bit different than the typical supply list - stethoscopes, penlights, protective eyewear, medical shears, the list goes on!

We have great products at wonderful prices and all at one place - including SCRUBS!  Check us out!

We carry a wide range of stethoscopes and otoscopes that work for any speciality!  Prices start at just $15.44 for stethoscopes and $9.92 for otoscopes.

 

Need a Aneroid Sphygmomanometer?  We have several to choose from and prices start at just $25.49.

Scissors and shears come in every shape and size.  Check out our inventory, starting at just $3.75.

Need medical scrubs?  Our Laurel Uniforms & Apparel site has a full line of the latests fashions, basic solid scrubs and everything in between.  Prices start at just $11.99!








Have more on your list?  Check out Mountain View Medical Supply and Laurel Uniforms & Apparel for all of your supply list needs today!

A Nurse's 18 Lessons In Stress Management

ScrubsMag.com, by Nurse Rene • August 6, 2012

How many nurses feel like they must carry the weight of the world on their shoulders?

We have all been guilty of this, but the key is knowing when to let go. I love the following story for that reason:

A young lady confidently walked around the room with a raised glass of water while explaining stress management to an audience. Everyone knew she was going to ask *that* question:

“Half empty or half full?”

She fooled them all. ”How heavy is this glass of water?”

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

She continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.
As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden–holding stress longer and better each time practiced.”

So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night…pick them up again tomorrow.

These 18 life lessons are some of my favorite reminders to de-stress:

1.Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon and some days you’re the statue!

2.Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3.Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4.Drive carefully…it’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

5.If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

6.If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

7.It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8.Never buy a car you can’t push.

9.Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.

10.Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

11.Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

12.The second mouse gets the cheese.

13.When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.

14.Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

15.We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

16.A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

17.Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.

18.AND MOST IMPORTANTLY — Save the earth…it’s the only planet with chocolate!

Should Nurses Be Required to Wear Color-Coded Scrubs?

What do YOU think? 

Are You a Diabetic on Medicare?

Are you a diabetic on Medicare?  If so, here is something you might want to keep an eye on!

CMS Sharpens Price-Cutting Tool
By Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor, HME News, August 2012

CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) isn’t stopping at competitive bidding to slash payments for diabetes supplies.

CMS announced June 22 that it would hold a public meeting July 23 to discuss using inherent reasonableness (IR) to adjust prices for non-mail order supplies.

“There is significant spending in that area and they believe that, based on the mail order competitive bid pricing, that this is something they need to take a closer look at”, said Walk Gorski, Vice President of Government Affairs for AAHomecare.

Through IR, CMS may adjust fee schedule amounts up to 15% per year to create what it believes to be more equitable pricing. Round 1 of competitive bidding has already reduced reimbursement for mail order supplies by an average of 56%, and Round 2 is expected to produce similar results. Non-mail order supplies obtained at retail locations were not included in bidding.

“Think about it”, said Denise Fletcher, and attorney with Brown & Fortunato. “Why would CMS pay more for somebody to have the convenience of going and picking up their stuff?”

If CMS tries to bring pricing for non-mail order supplies in line with mail order supplies in bid areas, which are lower than average wholesale costs, it’s going to be much harder for beneficiaries to obtain name brand products, stakeholders say.

“Retail stores are going to have to get better prices from manufacturers, sell product at a loss to Medicare beneficiaries, or stop carrying major brands,” said Seth Lundy, a partner with King & Spalding. “That’s a problem for Medicare because, in Round 1, they’ve redirected beneficiaries from mail order back into retail when they are unable to obtain their preferred products.”

To avoid that in Round 2, CMS required providers to base their bids on products that have at least 50% of the market and will prohibit contract providers from switching beneficiaries to lower priced products. IR offers no such protection, stakeholders point out.

“It will make access to certain supplies not possible, including the most frequently used ones that physicians are comfortable with and integrated into their practice,” said Tom Milam, and industry consultant. “I could see providers just looking at it and saying, ‘It’s not even worth it to carry diabetes supplies.’”

Back to School!

With school starting back this week, parents and their students are crazy busy getting supplies, new clothes and any other items on the requisite "Supply List".  As a little repreve, here are a few funny's to lighten your day!

New Fall Scrubs - Part 6!

Just when you thought we couldn't get anymore cute scrubs in, here come a few more!

Dear Ostomate, Just Have Fun!

Adapted from Ostomy Association of Metro Denver, Inc., Newsletter, July/August 2012

By Jim Folsom

I came down with a very nasty case of Ulcerative Colitis and this resulted in having my colon, rectum, and anus being removed.  My surgery was in January 2008 and I now have a permanent ileostomy. 

With only a few complications, my recovery went well but any chances of engaging in my over-45-mens-softball “social event” were gone for the following spring and summer.  So I got on my bicycle to get some exercise.  I was reluctant to get on that bicycle seat because my rear end was still in the healing process, but my fears proved to be unfounded.  The next spring eventually came, and along with it, softball season.  Similar to my concerns about returning to bicycling, I was hesitant to get back on the team.  Could I run the bases well?  Would I be too vulnerable standing at the plate?  Could I continually be bending over and fielding ground balls?  I knew I wasn’t going to be sliding head first into any of the bases.  With encouragement from my team, I decided to play.

My position was first base.  I played the first few games without incident.  But then came THE game.  The other team was to bat first which meant that we took the field and I took my position at first base.  The first batter hit a ground ball slightly to my right, I took a couple of steps, backhanded the ground ball then beat the runner to the bag.  The second batter was left handed which puts the first and second basemen on high alert.  And sure enough, he hit an extremely hard ground ball directly to me.  It took a bad bounce, bypassed my glove and hit me on the upper left thigh.  This was just inches from my ileostomy bag.  The ball traveled those few inches and hit the bottom part of my bag but not my stoma.  But I didn't know that at the time.  I fell to my knees in pain not really caring about the ball or the runner.  I reached for the collar of my t-shirt, pulled it away from my neck and looked inside.  It was full of...well you know what.  I looked at our team manager and told him he was playing first base.  I excused myself from the game and grabbed my equipment bag which also had all the necessary stuff for “accidents”.  I ended up discretely kneeling/hiding behind a large tree, stripped to the waist, wiped myself up and replaced the bag.  I fortunately wear a two-piece system.  By the time I put on a clean t-shirt and went back to the bench I discovered that I had missed only one inning.  The manager put me back in as catcher, a rather safe position to play on a “geezer league” slow pitch team.  Those on the team that didn’t know I was an ostomate surely learned something that day! 

I tell you my “softball” story for a couple of reasons. First, being an ostomate, having a stoma, wearing a bag might be cause for making some adjustments in your life but it doesn’t mean that you can no longer participate in activities you’ve always been accustomed to.  I still ride my bike.  I can still play softball.  I can still go skiing.  The list goes on.  Playing full contact football, or ultimate fighting (which I’ve never considered) might be the exception but I think you understand my point.  Second, people can be very understanding, patient and helpful in the event you have one of those untimely and messy “accidents”.  We tend to think other people will be disgusted that you wear a “crap sack”.  That’s not usually the case.  Everyone at the game was very understanding.  I cleaned myself up, got back in the game and moved on.  If we keep it in proper perspective and display a sense of humor about our condition, other people will too.  Being comfortable with who we now are goes a long way at putting other people at ease.