Archive: February 2025
Representatives introduce CRT companion bill
February 28, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Reps. John Joyce, R-Pa., and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., have introduced legislation to improve access to titanium and carbon fiber wheelchairs for Medicare beneficiaries.
H.R. 1703 creates two new HCPCS codes for complex rehab technology manual wheelchairs and allow for an upgrade within a code. The bill includes the same language as S. 247, which was introduced in the Senate on Jan. 24.
"This legislation allows manual wheelchair...
Inogen expects ‘positive margin impact’ from Yuwell
February 28, 2025Liz Beaulieu, Editor
GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen, in collaboration with Yuwell, will now have a stationary oxygen concentrator to package with its portable oxygen concentrator, giving its sales organization “more productivity per run,” said Kevin Smith.
The company will offer stationary oxygen concentrators from Yuwell that are branded as Inogen “across our channels,” said Smith, president and CEO, during a recent conference call to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and full-year...
Philips says ‘momentum’ continues for sleep business
February 28, 2025Liz Beaulieu, Editor
AMSTERDAM – With its recent clearance in France, the Sleep & Respiratory Care business at Philips can once again sell products in all countries except for the United States.
“If you talk about S&RC, indeed, the momentum is coming into that business again,” said Roy Jakobs, CEO, during a Feb. 19 conference call to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and full year financial results for 2024. “(It’s) driven by the return to the market outside of the U.S.,...
Medlyze cuts through ‘noise’
February 28, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
NEW YORK – Medlyze Technologies, which recently partnered with AAHomecare to develop a payer transparency portal, cuts through complexity and reveals the true costs of health care, says Wayne Carlson.
“It’s a lot of information and there’s a lot of noise in that information,” said Carlson, co-founder and CTO. “Our passion is around getting insights out of data because a lot of companies don’t know what to do with it.”
Medlyze, which...
Option Care prioritizes practitioner model
February 28, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. – Option Care Health in January closed on its acquisition of Intramed Plus, a South Carolina-based infusion provider, in a strategic move to broaden its advanced practitioner model, company execs say.
“We believe the advanced practitioner clinical model is highly complementary to our network of compounding pharmacies, and we intend to continue enhancing and expanding our infusion site network to incorporate broader clinical capabilities,” said CEO John...
In brief: Owens & Minor explores P&HS sale, Grassley challenges UHC, CCS details burnout
February 28, 2025HME News Staff
RICHMOND, Va.– Owens & Minor is looking to sell off its Products & Healthcare Services business, while it remains “bullish” on its Patient Direct business.
The company made the announcement today, as part of its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings results.
“Our commitment to directing capital toward the higher growth and higher margin Patient Direct segment has been increasingly evident in recent years and is consistent with our strategy,” said...
Owens & Minor explores sales of Products & Healthcare Services division
February 28, 2025HME News Staff
RICHMOND, Va.– Owens & Minor is looking to sell off its Products & Healthcare Services business, while it remains “bullish” on its Patient Direct business.
The company made the announcement today, as part of its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings results.
“Our commitment to directing capital toward the higher growth and higher margin Patient Direct segment has been increasingly evident in recent years and is consistent with our strategy,” said...
ResMed on sleep health: ‘Millions struggle in silence’
February 27, 2025HME News Staff
SAN DIEGO – People lose an average of nearly three nights of restorative sleep each week, according to a new survey from ResMed.
Despite a trend toward growing awareness of sleep’s importance, many continue to suffer in silence and remain trapped in a cycle of exhaustion, the survey found, with poor sleep impacting everything from work to relationships to mental health.
“Chronic poor sleep impacts our relationships, workplace productivity, and increases the...
Sen. Grassley presses UnitedHealth Group on billing practices
February 27, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has sent a letter to UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty demanding detailed information on the company’s Medicare billing practices.
Grassley’s letter cited reports of apparent fraud, waste and abuse at UnitedHealth Group, including efforts to diagnose enrollees with obscure revenue-generating diagnoses that were irrelevant or inaccurate....
Kansas man pleads guilty to $1B fraud scheme
February 27, 2025HME News Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. – Gregory Schreck, of Johnson County, Kan., has pleaded guilty to operating an internet-based platform named DMERx that generated false doctor orders to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs of more than $1 billion. According to court documents, Shreck and his co-conspirators targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to provide their personally identifiable information and agree to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces, pain creams...