B. Medical appliances

Medical appliances are items of medical equipment owned or rented by the HHA placed in the home of the patient to facilitate their treatment and rehabilitation. Medical appliances are generally defined as items which can withstand repeated use, are primarily and customarily used to serve a medical purpose, and are generally not useful to a person in the absence of illness or injury. This definition includes (but is not limited to), bedpans, hospital beds, wheelchairs, crutches, trapeze bars, oxygen tents, and intermittent positive pressure breathing machines.

Appliances which customarily serve a medical purpose but are also considerably useful to persons who are not ill or injured, appliances which customarily serve a nonmedical purpose but which may serve a medical purpose in a specific case, and appliances which are primarily designed to prevent illness or injury may be considered as medical appliances only when (1) the physician's plan of treatment specifically includes the use of such appliances in connection with the patient's treatment regimen and specifies any limitations which should be placed on the use of the appliance due to the patient's condition, and (2) the appliance may be expected to contribute meaningfully to the treatment of the illness or injury or to improve the functioning of a malformed body member. Examples of the type of appliances which may fall into this category include heat lamps, exercycles, flotation mattresses, bed baths, etc.