In brief: AdaptHealth moves on, Boeye moves to Parachute 

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. – AdaptHealth and Crispin Teufel have agreed to terminate Teufel’s employment contract. 

The company had appointed Teufel as CEO in June, with a start date of Sept. 1, but he was sued in August by former employer Linde, which was seeking to block his appointment for an unspecified time. In the lawsuit, Linde alleged breach of contract, breach of duty of loyalty and misappropriation of trade secrets.  

In a filing in late August with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, AdaptHealth said a U.S. District Court issued a temporary restraining order preventing Teufel from starting his employment with AdaptHealth until Oct. 15. 

Richard Barasch, who stepped in as interim CEO on July 1 after the departure of Stephen Griggs, will remain in the role until a successor is found. 

AdaptHealth is not named in the lawsuit. 

Independence Bed will be distributed through Journey Health 

NATICK, Mass. – Customatic Technologies is expanding the reach of its Independence Bed through an exclusive distribution agreement with Journey Health & Lifestyle.  

Journey will sell the bed on its e-commerce site, as well as through its network of stores, under the UpBed Independence brand. 

“Since launching the Independence Bed, we have seen a strong response due to consumer needs and growth from both the home medical equipment and brick-and-mortar furniture categories,” said Phil McCarty, president and CEO of Customatic Technologies. “We are excited to announce this partnership and the future growth for the product, which will continue to allow us to bring a sleep solution to our seniors to age in place at home.” 

Customatic launched the Independence Bed in 2021. 

Journey’s Mitch Yoel says the bed perfectly complements the company’s existing product portfolio. 

“Combined with a robust line of lightweight mobility products, a premium bathroom safety suite, and a portfolio of luxury comfort and sleep offerings, this exclusive partnership reflects Journey’s ongoing commitment to provide home medical equipment providers curated retail offerings of innovative, high quality, customer-centric solutions,” said Yoel, CEO of Journey Health & Lifestyle. “I am thrilled to announce our latest milestone in offering our home medical equipment partners access to premium, feature-rich, exclusive retail products that help individuals age gracefully in their own homes.” 

Earlier this year, Journey bought LifeWalker Mobility Products, the manufacturer and distributor of the UPWalker family of products.   

Synapse Health hires CTO 

EVANSTON, Ill. – Synapse Health has hired Tim Frederick as chief technology officer. Most recently, Frederick led the product engineering teams at Alto Pharmacy, a $1 billion retail and specialty pharmacy, and prior to that, he led the engineering groups at Uber during its hyper growth phase. “We are absolutely thrilled to be bringing Tim on board in a time of such exponential growth for our organization,” CEO Tony Kilgore said. “His experience with product development, background in the healthcare industry and investment in our mission pair well with our culture and where we are headed as a company. His leadership will undoubtedly be an asset for our technology teams.” Frederick, whose career has been devoted to software product development, including roles in engineering management, product management, and program management at both startups and Fortune 500 companies, is eager to join Synapse and work toward fixing “one of the most broken parts of our health care system,” he says. “In early conversations I connected with the vision and saw that the senior leaders have assembled a talented team to achieve it,” he said. “I can’t wait to get up to speed and help realize the impact that technology can have on this problem.”  

BodiMetrics joins innovators’ network 

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – BodiMetrics, maker of the circul pro Ring, a smart ring oximeter that is proven to address chronic sleep and respiratory conditions in all skin tones, has joined the Innovator’s Network of the American Heart Association Center for Health Technology & Innovation. The center is focused on building and fostering health technology relationships to develop innovative and scalable solutions. “We are excited to join the association’s Innovator’s Network as we address health inequity and pulmonary related chronic conditions,” said Mark Goettling, CEO at BodiMetrics. “The timing couldn’t be better for BodiMetrics to join the Innovators’ Network as the association recognizes sleep health as a key component of cardiovascular health, and which is also a key component of BodiMetrics’ solutions.” The Innovators’ Network is a health care technology consortium that connects entrepreneurs, providers, researchers and payers. Its members collaborate with the center in different ways, including building models for clinical outcome studies, lowering the significant cost of developing those studies independently, helping connect the science to technology, and providing evidence that a digital platform improves health care outcomes – a key concern for providers and payers. 

Parachute hires former Brightree exec 

PRINCETON, N.J. – Parachute Health has hired Rob Boeye, formerly executive vice president at Brightree, as commercial leader – HME. Boeye joins Parachute Health with more than 25 years of experience working with HME providers to drive product innovations and digital transformation. At Brightree, he led initiatives to help providers improve business performance through workflow automation and analytics. "We are thrilled to welcome Rob to the Parachute Health team,” said Catie Moser, senior vice president of client success “His depth of expertise in the HME industry and passion for helping providers succeed will be invaluable as we continue enhancing our platform to meet the evolving needs of our customers.” Boeye plans to leverage his experience to help shape solutions that tangibly improve HME provider workflows and simplify the clinician experience ordering products for their patients. "It's clear that the team at Parachute Health truly understands the pain points HME providers face in managing workflow for their referral sources and patients,” he said.  

Sleep lab operator pleads guilty to fraud 

FRESNO, Calif. — Travis Gober, who owned VIP Sleep Center, has pleaded guilty to health care fraud and aggravated identity theft charges for submitting more than $1 million in fraudulent claims for sleep studies to Medicare, U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert has announced. From October 2019 through September 2021, Gober caused the VIP Sleep Center to submit thousands of claims to Medicare for sleep studies that were not actually performed on patients. The claims also falsely stated that the patients had been referred for the sleep studies by physicians with whom Gober had previously worked. This was done because Medicare will not pay for a sleep study unless the patient was referred by a physician. The Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the California Department of Health Care Services participated in the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case. Gober is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 16. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison for the health care fraud conviction, and an additional, mandatory two years in prison for the identity theft conviction.  

Apnimed appoints Yee as senior exec 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Apnimed, a pharmaceutical company focused on developing oral pharmacologic therapies for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and related disorders, has appointed John Yee, MD, MPH, as senior vice president of medical affairs. Dr. Yee will lead Apnimed’s efforts to engage and inform the clinical community about the company’s lead drug candidate AD109, as well as other pipeline assets, as they progress through clinical development toward commercial launch. “We are thrilled to welcome John with his experience and expertise in new product launches and expansions as our Phase 3 registration trials get underway for AD109, our first-in-class oral therapeutic for OSA,” said Larry Miller, MD, CEO of Apnimed. “John’s experience will be essential in informing clinicians about the emerging clinical data for AD109 in the treatment of OSA.” Yee has more than 25 years of leadership experience at leading biotechnology, pharmaceutical and health care technology companies, and at a major academic medical center. Prior to joining Apnimed, he served as chief medical officer at Sobi North America.