Archive: June 2015
Marble City Pharmacy wins top award from McKesson
June 30, 2015HME News Staff
SAN DIEGO - Marble City Health Mart Pharmacy in Sylacauga, Ala., has been named the 2014 Pharmacy of the Year by McKesson. The award recognizes independent pharmacies that are best-in-class in a range of areas, including innovative approaches to their business and outstanding service to their community. McKesson recognized three additional pharmacies as regional winners: The Prescription Shop Health Mart Pharmacy in Montebello, Calif., Towncrest Health Mart Pharmacy in Iowa City, Iowa, and First...
Short takes: Therafirm, Brightree, ACHC
June 30, 2015HME News Staff
Therafirm'snew Ease brand of compression legwear was named Most Innovative Retail Product of 2015 as part of the “Retail Idol” competition at The VGM Group's recent Heartland Conference. During the competition, manufacturers demonstrated their products and answered questions from a judging panel and audience members…Brightree has appointed two new executives to support growth at the company: Lori Jones as executive vice president and general manager of home health, hospice and private...
Firm picks up fourth community pharmacy
June 30, 2015HME News Staff
DALLAS - Ascendant Solutions, an investment firm, and its healthcare subsidiary, Dougherty's Holdings, have acquired The Medicine Shoppe pharmacy in McAlester, Okla.It's the fourth recent acquisition for Ascendant, which trades on Pink Sheets and is focused on acquiring, managing and growing community-based pharmacies in the Southwest region under Doughtery's Holdings.“Given its excellent reputation as the premier independent pharmacy in McAlester, we intend to continue to operate this...
Medela's staff gets certified
June 30, 2015HME News Staff
MCHENRY, Ill. - Medela has partnered with the Wound Care Education Institute to provide industry certification to its professional wound care staff. The institute's Certified Wound Care Market Specialist program educates professionals on evidence-based current standards of care in wound management. The institute has trained and certified nearly 1,000 wound care sales and marketing professionals in both the healthcare and manufacturing industries. "This partnership ensures Medela sales and marketing...
Apria is the top provider of transfilling technology�for now
June 29, 2015Liz Beaulieu, Editor
I'm working on a story about oxygen transfilling technology.
I'm working on a story about oxygen transfilling technology because Invacare has reported, for the past few quarters, the loss of a significant order of HomeFills by a national account.
I thought it was a good time to check in on this technology.
I'm still in the middle of interviewing sources, but in trying to determine whether this was a one-off or a trend, I first looked at some data.
In our HME Databank, we track...
AAH adds Plauché to gov't affairs team
June 26, 2015HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - AAHomecare has named Ashley Plauché to the newly created role of manager of government affairs. She will manage three association councils and provide support on government relations initiatives. AAHomecare hopes the new position will help improve the flow of information between Washington and the homecare community. Plauché was the director of communications and public relations for her family's business, Lambert's Health Care in Knoxville, Tenn. She is also co-founder, vice president...
Contract providers receive termination letters
June 26, 2015HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - “Secret shopper” calls have lead to dozens of termination letters for contract providers, The VGM Group reports. Providers are receiving the letters after failing to respond to the calls. “Regional liaisons of the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor cited numerous complaints about out-of-state suppliers not honoring their contracts and in-state providers not offering all product codes within a category,” VGM says. If they receive a termination letter,...
Stakeholders wait on bill as appeals backlog grows
June 26, 2015Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON - Industry stakeholders say, despite slow progress, the reintroduction of an audit reform bill is still a “high priority.”
They had hoped to see Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., drop the bill this spring.
“Obviously, we wanted it sooner than this,” said Beth Bowen, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Medical Equipment Services, who's been working with Ellmers on the bill. “It's still in the works, still a high priority.”
The...
Wheel:Life publishes traveling guide
June 26, 2015HME News Staff
ATLANTA - Wheel:Life, an online community for wheelchair users worldwide, has published “Discovering: An Accessible US Travel Guide for Wheelchair Users” as an e-book on amazon.com. These accessible travel suggestions were gathered as part of the annual “Get Out & Enjoy Life” program, a joint educational initiative between Wheel:Life and Sports 'n Spokes Magazine. The book culminates a month-long education program and photo contest launched June 1. “We are thrilled...
'It's coming and they need to educate themselves'
June 26, 2015Liz Beaulieu, Editor
CARMEL, Ind. - Carmen Davies believes e-prescribing can help HME providers achieve a trifecta of improvements in patient care, compliance and profitability.Here's what Davies, who recently became an executive vice president and the chief compliance officer at Stratice Healthcare, a vendor of an e-prescribing software solution for HME, had to say about how technology is upending health care.HME News: What's behind the push toward e-prescribing?Carmen Davies: We've all seen the numbers of how home...