Disruption, innovation and growth in first half of 2023

We’ve burned through the first half of 2023 already and what do we have to show for it? 

If the most read stories from January through June are any indication, it’s disruption, innovation and growth. 

Let’s start with disruption. It has come in a number of forms in 2023, including one of the HME industry’s legacy manufacturers, Invacare, filing for bankruptcy. We posted a story about that to our website in February, and it remains the most read story of the year so far. Since that story was published, we’ve published subsequent stories on the company’s emergence from bankruptcy, its partnership with national sales organization MTMC and its CEO’s take on the path forward. 

Disruption in the first half of the year has also come in the form of Humana partnering with AdaptHealth and Rotech Healthcare to provide HME to about 1 million of its Medicare Advantage HMO members. Like Invacare's bankruptcy, this story also had what we call “legs,” spurring subsequent stories that, for example, took a closer look at Medicare Advantage contracts and the consequences of being locked out of them. 

Let’s look at innovation next. Managing Editor Theresa Flaherty has been closely covering the uptake of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and our third most read story of the year so far takes a look at CMS’s decision to expand coverage guidelines for the technology. Most recently, Theresa wrote about efforts by providers to get referral sources up to speed on CGMs, increasing their likelihood of prescribing the technology. 

Speaking of CMS’s ability to innovate: In the first half of 2023, we were still writing about the agency’s decision to expand coverage and eliminate the certificate of medical necessity for home oxygen therapy. Our fifth most read story so far this year delved into an updated FAQ that provided and addressed concerns related to the transition.

As for growth, this is the most exciting stuff in my opinion and we have a number of stories about companies that fit the bill. Take our story on React Health and its two-year journey of getting a new name and new leadership and making a number of sizable acquisitions (third most read story so far this year). Or our story on Reliable Medical, which in the first quarter of this year closed on two acquisitions and opened five new locations (seventh most read story). 

I was surprised – and pleased, TBH – to see only one story in the 10 most read stories about the CPAP recall, a topic that I feel dominated our headlines in 2021-22. 

Onward to the second half of 2023!