| SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Environmental
Tectonics Corporation (Amex: ETC) announced today that the U.S. Dept of Health
and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has made
important changes in reimbursement rates which should increase ETC's
opportunities in hyperbaric medicine. Two very important changes in the reimbursement provisions for clinical hyperbaric medicine here in the U.S. will create significant opportunity for growth for ETC. The U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that they would be increasing the reimbursement rate for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) from $75.00/30 minute segment to $162.27/30 minute segment with 20% co-pay effective 01 January 2003. Secondly, after an extensive data review they will be adding Non-healing Diabetic wounds of the lower extremity to the list of indications that qualify for Medicare reimbursement. Michael W. Allen, Vice President of ETC's BioMedical Systems Group, said: "We believe these determinations will lead to a substantial growth in the use and acceptance of HBO. The primary application for HBO in the US is in wound care, which is growing as the aging population increases. A significant number of elderly patients develop an adult form of Diabetes, which can lead to non-healing ulcerating wounds in the lower extremities and a high percentage of amputations. Resultant healthcare costs are enormous, and the quality of life for these individuals is almost certainly affected. The inclusion of reimbursement for this problem is an extremely important `plus' for elderly people and should bring a reduction in the overall costs of treatment by helping to resolve a large percentage of otherwise non-healing wounds. "Currently only a small percentage provide this service. The new reimbursement rate ensures that such a service can be justified on revenue grounds, and the new indication will be adding a large number of patients to the group who will qualify for this very effective modality. Another factor is tertiary billing, which can add as much again to the revenue stream. ETC's BARA-MED(R) monoplace hyperbaric chamber offers the most cost effective way for a hospital to put together a hyperbaric service. The ETC BARA-MED(R) monoplace chamber is the most advanced of its type available today. A hyperbaric service using the ETC BARA-MED(R) can be set up at minimal cost and easily extended as patient loading increases. This means that income and expenditure can be closely matched to ensure return on investment is maximized. "These recent decisions by CMS are very exciting and will change the face of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in America. We believe that as the effectiveness of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy becomes more widely recognized we will see a steady increase in the number of indications that qualify for reimbursement. It is the pressure we use to get the oxygen into the tissues that encourages healing and makes this therapy work. The chamber is simply the syringe we use to "inject" it. We think the day will come when a doctor thinks no more about using a chamber than picking up a syringe to give an injection." ETC also designs, develops, installs and maintains aircrew training systems, public entertainment systems, process simulation systems, (sterilization and environmental), clinical hyperbaric systems, environmental testing and simulation systems, and related products for domestic and international customers. This report contains certain "forward-looking" statements including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believes," "intends," "expects," and words of similar import relating to the Company's operation. There are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements including contract cancellations, political unrest in customer countries, general economic conditions and the risk factors detailed from time to time in Environmental Tectonics Corporation's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, Environmental Tectonics Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 22, 2002. |
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