The process of getting a custom seating and mobility system is both time-consuming and complex. It involves working in partnership with you, your healthcare providers and many different equipment suppliers to design and deliver the right seating & mobility equipment to meet your individual needs.

Step 1 - Performing The Evaluation & Designing Your Chair

The process of receiving your new seating & mobility equipment begins with a thorough evaluation of your condition and is performed by a highly skilled and experienced clinical professional from NSM, known as a Rehab Technology Supplier (RTS).

The evaluation will take anywhere from a few minutes to possibly an entire day, depending upon your individual situation. During this time,

• Your medical situation will be thoroughly reviewed
• You will be measured and fitted
• Your logistical and safety needs will be discussed
• Issues involving your personal preferences will be discussed
• Equipment options that are available within the cost guidelines of your funding source
will be reviewed

The result of the evaluation will provide our professionals the necessary information to design a custom seating & mobility system that will give you the function prescribed by your physician and/or therapist.

To design your equipment, NSM works with you and your healthcare team to select the appropriate chair and components from its network of several hundred suppliers. If a necessary component is not available, or needs to be modified, NSM has it fabricated or adapted to fit the need.

Step 2 - Obtaining Funding Approval

This step is the most complex, time-consuming and at times, the most frustrating, because it is largely out of our control.

A seating & mobility system is a major expense, so it must be carefully documented and reviewed in order to meet the approval guidelines of your funding source.

The process begins on the day of the evaluation when you are asked to sign an Assignment of Benefits statement so your insurance company will pay us for the equipment you receive. This form also allows us to receive the necessary medical documentation from your physician and therapist that helps us treat you. Unless this form is signed, your physician and therapist are prohibited by law from releasing your medical information.

NSM then gathers all the necessary documents to submit to your funding source. Since we typically need to collect these from many different sources, it can take from several weeks up to several months, depending upon the complexity of your equipment, the cooperation of everyone involved and the requirements of your funding source. We realize that the waiting you experience is frustrating, but this is a difficult and detailed process that is out of our control. Rest assured, NSM always conveys a sense of urgency for prompt responses. Should we encounter an obstacle, we may ask for your help.

Because we cannot control how quickly we can collect these documents, we ask you do not call to check the status of your order until at least two weeks following your evaluation.

Once all the documents are collected, we submit them to your funding source for approval. On average, approval is given within 30 days, but it can take longer. To help expedite this process, we may ask you to request your funding source act as quickly as possible to authorize your equipment.

Once we have received a written authorization from your funding source, we can order your equipment.

Step 3 - Purchasing, Delivering & Maintaining Your Equipment

Upon receiving approval from your funding source in writing, we order all the components of your equipment from our various suppliers. Manufacturing times vary with each supplier, but typically it takes from 3 - 4 weeks for us to receive all the components. If it is necessary to order a specific part not stocked or have a special part fabricated, it may take longer.

Once we have everything we need, the process begins to move much more rapidly. After we have inspected and verified all the components, we then assemble your system. Depending upon the complexity of your equipment, this can take from several days to several weeks.

Once your system is complete, we require that all deductibles be paid and verify that your funding source will still pay for the equipment. Then we contact you to schedule a time to deliver your equipment, make any necessary adjustments and review operational, maintenance and safety issues with you.

Warranties. The manufacturers of your equipment provide you with its warranties. And, if you experience any problems that are covered by your warranties, NSM works with the manufacturer to help correct them.

Repairs. Please check with your local NSM office for its policies regarding service calls and repair charges. To schedule an appointment to bring your equipment in for repairs, call (866) 317-6300, toll-free.

If we are to bill your funding source for repairs, it’s possible we may have to have prior authorization from them before we can do the work. It may be necessary for us to ask you to contact them to request they approve the authorization as quickly as possible.

And while we do everything we possibly can to take care of you and your equipment, we must also reserve the right not to repair any equipment that we did not provide.