June 24, 2025

Enhance Order Accuracy & Decrease TCT with NSM's NEW

Wheelchair Cushion & Back Selection Guide!

With NSM’s ground breaking Payer Green Light System in place, we discovered that cushion and back selection not matching client diagnosis and/or missing medical justification caused the bulk of the first pass fails for audit.  This identified the integral need to identify patient diagnosis and Medicare’s coverage criteria during evaluations to support accurate cushion and back selection in addition to cuing the medical justification by the therapist to medically qualify the client for the right level of cushion. 

As a result, we have developed a new Wheelchair Cushion & Back Selection Guide. The Cushion and Back Selection Guide is available digitally for immediate download on WNSM and NSM-Seating.com. We will also be shipping hard copies to ALL US branch locations soon. To order more hard copies, the guide will be available on our company store. 

We highly recommend that ALL ATPs have their own hard copy guide to reference with the clinician during evaluations.  Should the client’s medical chart fail to have a qualifying diagnosis, it is appropriate to ask the clinician and/or physician whether one of the diagnosis in the guide is relevant to the client and if the diagnosis should be added to their medical chart.  We should not recommend the diagnosis specifically to the Clinician or Physician.

If you have any questions, contact Stacy Clouse, NSM’s National Director of Product Management.

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COMPANY

COMPLIANCE ALERT: Items Included in the Base

At the beginning of this year, we started a compliance audit process where we select random work orders across all regions, looking for ‘out of compliance’ issues. As part of this process, we also provide guidance where employee education and/or reinforcement is advised.  

Areas of Focus

Some common areas where we see work orders ‘out of compliance’ are convenience items, upgrades, and color options. These items can NOT be included with base or other billable components. Most payers will not pay for these items, and as a result, they will generally either not be approved or be self-pay for the client. If you believe there is an exception for a particular payer that allows items to be included with the base, please be certain to verify by referring to the UPD or other resources to make certain the exception applies in your case (Payer Relations, Compliance, etc.).  In addition, if a write-off for convenience items, upgrades, and/or color options are requested, the request should first be approved by the corresponding Regional Area Director and then sent to the Compliance Department for review and approval.  

Compliance Risk

Approval to write off or not charge for convenience items or upgrades will be in extremely limited circumstances, as providing anything of value to a client can be considered an inducement.  Inducements are not compliant with law or regulation and can put NSM in jeopardy of significant fines and penalties being levied against us by the States, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services and other government agencies. 

Click here to view a list of upgrade and convenience items that are NOT typically considered medically necessary. This is not a comprehensive list, and there are likely additional items to consider for each payer.

We encourage everyone to know what each payer allows before submitting work orders, but there are always scenarios that come up (i.e., transit tie downs), so if you have any questions or we can help in any way, please let us know.  As always, we appreciate all of your support to ensure we are compliant at NSM. If you have any questions, contact Compliance@nsm-seating.com.  
 

NSM Google Review Overall Company Rating Dips to 4.3 Average So Far in June

June has been a good month for us, though we've seen a slight dip from a 4.6 average in May to a 4.3 overall average Google Review star rating for the company this month. So far we have 182 total Google Reviews. 

Click here to download and view the current leaderboard. Currently, 55% of NSM branches have reached the goal of a 4.0 - 5.0 score, while 19% are on the cusp between a 3.5 and 3.9, and 26% of NSM branches are sitting between a 1.0 and 3.4 Google Review rating. 

With this in mind, please remember the importance of the power of a positive Google Review rating and continue to just ask happy clients for more reviews. The more positive scores, the higher your overall star rating will climb. Click here for helpful resources to assist you!
 

Scan Doc Titles Added to Mobility Advisor to Help Ensure Consistency & Improve Clarity

When scanning or uploading documents into Mobility Advisor, it is essential that they are correctly titled. To ensure consistency and improve clarity, new document titles have been added to the dropdown selection, and some outdated titles have been removed.

Click here to learn more about the newly added and updated titles. 

Driver’s Corner: Quadrennial Replacement Fuel Cards En Route to Each U.S. Branch Location

Every four years, NSM updates all fuel cards assigned to the company fleet vehicles, and the current fuel cards are scheduled to expire July 31, 2025.  Replacement cards will begin to arrive at each branch location.

Highlights of this upcoming process:

• Each company vehicle should have an assigned fuel card with the applicable Vehicle number printed on the front of the card, lower left corner.
• All current cards will expire on 7/31/2025 so replacements will arrive by mid-July.  If you have not received your card by 7/15, please send an e-mail to fleet@nsm-seating.com
• Fuel cards PIN’s will remain to be the assigned driver’s Employee ID#.
• Once the new fuel card is received, please test your first transaction with the new card.  Once the first fuel charge goes through with no issues, please cut up the old fuel cards.
• Maintenance cards are separate and do not expire so there is no scheduled re-distribution but as always, please reach out to fleet@nsm-seating.com if replacement maintenance cards are needed. 
• This is an outstanding time for managers to verify branch fleet inventory as new fuel cards are distributed. 
• Attached below is an image of a company fuel card example for reference.
• Please do not stress about this quadrennial event as we will get through this task together!

As always, the Fleet Team is here for you, and we are open to any questions you have regarding this process. 

 

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PEOPLE

June Employee Milestone Anniversaries 

Click here to see which NSM employees are celebrating a June milestone anniversary of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35 years. Congratulations on your anniversary. Thank you for your service! 
 

Welcome to NSM! | June New HIres

Click here to see who all has joined NSM as a new employee and be sure to welcome those in your area! 
 

NSM Teamwork Shoutout: NSM Centralized Customer Service Team Steps Up During the Independent Mobility Plus Acquisition

During NSM’s recent acquisition and integration of Independent Mobility Plus in Green Bay, Wisconsin, NSM’s Centralized Customer Service Team, led by Shelby Webber, stepped up in a significant way.

Faced with an extensive backlog of rental clients, the team rolled up their sleeves and jumped right in, working tirelessly to input and process orders. Their dedication and focus were instrumental in ensuring a smooth transition and setting the tone for exceptional client service from day one.

We also want to give a special shout-out to Page Ratcliff (Funding Specialist Lead) and Allison Arnold (Operations Supervisor), who spent two weeks on the ground in Wisconsin helping to load all clients into our system and push orders forward to funding and supply chain. Their on-site support made a significant impact.

It was truly inspiring to see different parts of the business unite around a shared mission — getting our clients the care they need without delay. A heartfelt thank you to Paige, Angelina, Shelby, and Allison for your incredible team for going above and beyond!

Submitted by Kourtney Kropp, NSM Supplies Sales Manager

 

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PURPOSE

 

Mission Moment: New Custom Seating Ensures Logan is Ready to Celebrate the Big 3-2!

It was great to see NSM client, Logan, come through the doors at the NSM Barrie store!

Logan's quite the character and loves his stuffies and Stompin’ Tom Connors, Big Red Mud!

I hadn't seen him in nearly 6 years, so I was thrilled to do new custom seating for him as he gets ready to celebrate his 32nd birthday!

 

5-Star Google Review Shoutouts 

5-Star Shoutout for Branch 116
From the beginning when I selected the wheelchair to selecting the options that went with it I was very pleased with the knowledge of the NSM representatives. They were patient and most helpful. NSM comes highly recommended.

5-Star Shoutout for Branch 132
Special thanks to Stephanie Arroyo our technician from National Seating and Mobility. She went above and beyond for my husband & was even able to get him a loaner wheelchair while his chair is being repaired. 

5-Star Shoutout for Branch 161
Very good experience. There were a few things that needed to be tweaked, and they were kind and professional and made sure everything was right. Our handicapped son LOVES the new ramp. I'll post a video soon.

5-Star Shoutout for Branch 250
This was a very easy transaction. Customer service, the salesman Joe, and Chris the installer were all very courteous and professional. They took the time to explain everything and answer our questions. The stairlift itself works perfectly. What more could you ask for?

5-Star Shoutout for Branch 275
Getting a mobility scooter through these guys was easier than I had ever dreamed… Filled out the paperwork, they did all the work, next thing you know they’re bringing a scooter to my door. The guy was here about 30 minutes, showing me how to use it and telling me all about it. Very informative and very good company. Thank you for your service!

View more 5-star Shoutouts on the Google Review WNSM page.