In brief: AdaptHealth board, Heartland speakers, orthotics allowables

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – AdaptHealth has appointed Diana Nole, who has 18 years of senior leadership experience in the health care AI and IT industries, to its board of directors. She most recently served as the executive vice president and general manager of the health care division of Nuance Communications, a Microsoft Cloud and AI company that provides AI driven clinical documentation creation, clinical revenue cycle integrity and diagnostic radiology cloud solutions to the global health care industry. “We are thrilled to welcome Diana to the AdaptHealth board of directors,” said Dale Wolf, chairman of the AdaptHealth board of directors. “Her extensive leadership experience in the health care technology sector caught our eye and we soon discovered that her decisive, resourceful leadership style and expertise in business transformation aligned perfectly with our current goals as an organization,” At Nuance, Nole worked to accelerate recurring revenue growth, successfully completed the divestiture of a declining business segment and developed the leadership team and culture in an effort to create sustainable growth and innovation. Prior to joining Nuance, she spent five years as CEO of the health care division of Wolters Kluwer, a company specializing in software solutions and services for health care professionals, where she directly led the restructuring of the organization, IT systems, and operational processes. 

VGM opens call for Heartland speakers 

WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM Group is now accepting proposals from prospective speakers for its annual Heartland Conference, which will take place here on June 9-11, 2025. The Conference Committee seeks speakers to offer their knowledge on a variety of topics related to the HME industry, including billing and compliance, business operations, complex rehab technology, leadership and people strategy, sales and marketing, specialty markets like women’s health and more. “We are also excited to share that in response to the ever-evolving climate of the industry, we have revamped our educational tracks to better address current trends,” said Arienne Martinez, Heartland education chair. “We understand the importance of providing relevant educational content to support industry professionals, and we are confident that these sessions will enhance attendees’ Heartland experience." Speakers will be able to share their insight and knowledge with more than 1,000 attendees from across the country from the HME, respiratory and complex rehab space. They’ll have opportunities not only to share their expertise with attendees, but also to build professional relationships and network with individuals from all parts of the industry. “The opportunities are endless for presenters at Heartland,” said Martinez. “Getting together all in one place and sharing knowledge between peers to help one another will make a lasting impact on businesses across the country.” Speaker proposals are due Dec. 1, 2024. To submit a session, visit events.vgm.com/heartland/speak and complete the online form. 

OIG to Medicare: Adjust allowables for orthotic devices 

WASHINGTON – The Office of Inspector General has included on its “Top Unimplemented Recommendations” list a recommendation that Medicare review Medicare allowable amounts for 161 orthotic device HCPCS codes that it says the agency and its beneficiaries have paid an estimated $337.5 million more for than select non-Medicare payers. The OIG also recommends that Medicare adjust the allowable amounts, as appropriate, using regulations promulgated under existing legislative authority or if the allowable amounts cannot be adjusted using regulations in that way, seek legislative authority to align Medicare allowable amounts for these items with payments made by select non-Medicare payers. The OIG first made this recommendation in October 2019. Read its report on the issue here. 

EZ-Access sponsors ‘Make America Healthy Again” event 

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. – EZ-Access is the title sponsor of the “Make America Healthy Again” roundtable discussion featuring Donald J. Trump, Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Phil McGraw. As the title sponsor, EZ-Accessunderscores its commitment to accessibility and public discourse, aligning with a strong focus on community empowerment and public health initiatives. “We believe that good health starts with freedom and independence,” said EZ-Access CEO Don Everard. “As a proud American-made access company, we are committed to supporting national conversations around community empowerment and public health. Our mission is to remove barriers and create opportunities for all individuals to live healthier, safer, more independent lives—whether at home, at work, or at play.” The event premiered on Oct. 19 on MERIT+ television and replayed various times throughout the weekend. The round table is part of the “Make America Healthy Again” tour, bringing together prominent voices to address pressing national issues, moderated by McGraw. 

Withings enhances BPM with other patient info 

BOSTON – Withings Health Solutions has announced a new cellular blood pressure monitor that not only collects highly precise measurements but also adds a Patient Insights feature that gathers critical information like symptoms and medication adherence, reducing clinical workload and freeing up care teams to dedicate time to patients with the highest need. “At-home blood pressure monitoring has become a standard across the industry for managing chronic conditions like hypertension and heart failure but poses a real challenge in making sure the data collected is consistent, reliable, and actionable for care teams,” said Aline Criton, chief clinical and regulatory affairs officer at Withings. “Elevated readings may result from simple factors like improper rest before a measurement or signal more serious issues such as the start of a hypertensive crisis. BPM Pro 2 addresses these challenges with advanced features that enhance data reliability, and provide contextual patient insights that help care teams differentiate between routine variations and critical health events allowing for more timely and personalized care intervention.” BPM Pro 2 measures heart rate and blood pressure and comes with the future capability to take a 1-lead ECG to detect atrial fibrillation (following clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration). The device is portable, compact and designed to be user-friendly. Withings plans to make the BMP Pro 2 available in November 2024, pending clearance. 

Tennr raises $37M 

NEW YORK – Tennr has secured $37 million in Series B funding to grow its efforts to use AI to power the fax machine to automate referral processing, payment posting, claims auditing and medical record management.  The funding was led by Lightspeed Ventures with participation from existing investor a16z and Foundation Capital. “Our customers, spread across the U.S., run tight operations and process patients with excellent service,” said Trey Holterman, CEO and co-founder. “We align ourselves with these objectives that’s helping us drive growth. In the face of fixed-fee structures on the revenue side and constant inflation on the cost side—they want to be known as the best place to send patients, but they have an insurmountable amount of admin work that they have to do to get the job done. So, whether they always know it or not, it actually really matters to them that we try to be the best in the world at reading checkboxes, and drive these models forward.” Other investors include YCombinator, Zaza Pachulia and Jennifer Kaehms. In June, Tennr raised $18 million. In all, the company has now raised more than $61 million.