In brief: Drive secures loan, Medtrade recognizes best

BETHESDA, Md. - Drive Medical is refinancing existing debt and supporting ongoing capital and growth needs with a $115 million loan, according to financing administrator GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services. The senior credit facility may be increased to as much as $165 million under certain conditions and can be used to make acquisitions, according to an Oct. 8 release. “GE worked closely with us to provide the capital and flexibility we will need to continue our growth and maintain our position as a leader in our market,” stated Richard Kolodny, Drive Medical president, in the release. Headquartered in Port Washington, N.Y., Drive Medical manufacturers more than 2,500 durable medical products for markets around the world.

Medtrade announces best products, booths

ORLANDO, Fla. - Medtrade product and booth award winners were announced Oct. 10, the final day of the show. Voted on by show attendees, the best products were iWalk Free's iWalk2.0 Hands Free Crutch, Innovation Award; Triloc from iLoc Technologies, Providers' Choice Award; and FrozenPeaz by FrozenPeaz, Merit Award. The best booths were Caire, best booth larger than 400 square feet; Maxtec, best booth 100-400 square feet; and Strategic A/R, Creative Concepts Award.

App tracks HME, meds, home care visits

BOSTON - Skycore LLC, developer of codeREADr, has unveiled an app designed to securely track HME, medications and home care visits, the company announced Oct. 8. On display at Medtrade, the app uses NFC-enabled smartphones and tablets to read unique ID (UID), simultaneously recording the location and capture type. “When authenticating an NFC tag's UID and capture type, service providers know the captured ID wasn't from a fraudulent source, such as a copied barcode, or manually input by the app user,” said Rich Eicher, CEO of Skycore, in a prepared statement. Caregivers, auditors and technicians can capture data in the field and process it on cloud-based or local servers, Eicher said in the release.

Brightree debuts new resupply solutions

ATLANTA - Brightree released at Medtrade last week two new Brightree Connect solutions designed to streamline HME resupply, increase patient connection rates and maximize ordering potential, the company announced Oct. 7. The solutions leverage Brightree IntelligentQ and may be used online or with email, allowing patients to order 24-hours a day. “In today's healthcare environment, providers are always seeking new opportunities to decrease costs, streamline workflow and do more with fewer resources,” stated Chris Watson, chief marketing officer, in the release.

Mediware to develop HME biz management platform

LENEXA, Kan. - Mediware Informations Systems plans to combine features of its various products to develop a business management solution for HME, home infusion, specialty pharmacy and home health providers, the company announced Oct. 7. Mediware will invest heavily in the recently acquired CPR+ platform, using it alongside other products acquired in the last five years to develop the new software. “In the coming months, we will add development resources to the CPR+ platform in order to accelerate development of a robust data migration engine and best-in-class functionality,” stated Thomas Mann, president and CEO of Mediware, in a release. “This investment will bring all the strengths of our company into a single product platform.”

Patientco, Jaysec partner to help streamline billing

ATLANTA - A new partnership between Patientco and Jaysec will help providers decrease collections costs while improving efficiency and patient satisfaction, the companies announced Oct. 7. HME software company Jaysec will use the cloud-based payment solution Patientco has developed to help providers automate payment systems. HME providers can use the Patientco system with existing management software, according to the news release. “With ongoing changes in the HME industry, including competitive bidding, it is more important than ever that providers are well equipped to collect payments from patients easily and efficiently in order to remain profitable as a business,” said Dan Dillon, Jaysec CEO, in a prepared statement.

COPD market forecast to hit $15.6 billion by 2019

LONDON - The $11.3 billion COPD market is expected to reach $15.6 billion by 2019, according to a recently released GBI Research report. New combination drugs, as well as more effective and convenient products, are driving the growth, according to the report. Efforts to increase awareness of the disease have led to a rising rate of diagnosis, which also contributes to market expansion.