Specialty Providers
DMEs improve adherence, lower costs & reduce utilization, study finds
March 25, 2025HME News Staff
DALLAS – There are significant advantages for patients receiving continuous glucose monitors through DME providers compared to pharmacy channels, including higher adherence rates, according to a new study published in Clinical Diabetes, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Diabetes Association.
The study, supported by CCS, demonstrates that efforts to expand access to CGMs by adding pharmacy as a new channel for distribution — alongside the established DME provider channel...
Optum Rx says it’s looking to ‘correct imbalances’
March 24, 2025HME News Staff
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Optum Rx will align payment models more closely to the costs pharmacies may face due to manufacturing pricing actions effective immediately and with full implementation by January 2028.
The company says the change will positively impact its non-affiliated network pharmacies, including the more than 24,000 independent, community pharmacies it serves.
“Pharmacies and pharmacists provide important care to patients, and we recognize that increasing...
‘Now is the time to push for greater investment in CGM tech,’ report finds
March 24, 2025HME News Staff
EDINBURGH, Scotland, and SAN DIEGO – Tech, not medicine, is the future of care for Type 2 diabetes patients, according to a new report from Dexcom.
Fifty-two percent of health care professionals ranked access to continuous glucose monitors and education as having the potential to positively help people with Type 2 manage their condition in the next 10 years compared with 30% who cited better or more effective medications.
“With policymakers increasingly focused on digital...
DME providers can help physicians manage diabetes population, study finds
March 21, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
DALLAS – The No. 1 reason physicians cite for not prescribing a continuous glucose monitor is its complexity, a roadblock that DME providers can help clear, according to a new study from CCS.
That complexity, along with a surge in the number of diabetes patients, leaves primary care physicians and endocrinologists feeling overwhelmed and not able to keep up-to-date on technology, and, ultimately, struggling to offer enough health coaching and education to their patients. That creates...
Dr. Watson: It pays to help patients take that final step
March 21, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
MADISON, Wis. – When patients receive an obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis but don’t initiate successful PAP therapy, that creates an opportunity cost across the health care continuum, says Nathaniel Watson, MD, chief medical officer at EnsoData.
“Once somebody's gotten all the way to that point, it's actually really important to get them to be adherent to their treatment,” he said. “To lose out on that last little step is problematic because of all...
Sleep apnea patients on CPAP therapy live longer, study finds
March 19, 2025HME News Staff
SAN DIEGO – CPAP therapy significantly reduces the risk of death for people with obstructive sleep apnea, according to a landmark meta-analysis supported by Resmed and published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
The study, which analyzed data from more than 1 million sleep apnea patients worldwide across 30 studies, found those on CPAP therapy have:
A 37% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those with OSA who do not use CPAP.
A 55% lower risk of dying...
Re-introduced legislation seeks to modernize home infusion benefit
March 17, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate have re-introduced legislation that would create a complete home infusion benefit for Medicare beneficiaries with conditions that require an infusion pump.
The “Preserving Patient Access to Home Infusion Act” would:
Provide technical clarifications that would remove the physical presence requirement, ensuring payment regardless of whether a health care professional is present in the patient’s...
Viemed stays ‘nimble’
March 14, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
LAFAYETTE, La. – Viemed Healthcare is leaning into clinical labor, a “purposeful change” reflecting its commitment to comprehensive care, says CEO Casey Hoyt.
In addition to respiratory therapists, that clinical labor includes social workers who can provide in-demand behavioral health services, he said on a recent call to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings.
“(We have the) ability to go out and pursue those types of (behavioral...
Henry Schein makes advance in ‘particularly attractive’ CGM market
March 14, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
MELVILLE, N.Y. – The combination of Henry Schein’s distribution capabilities with Acentus’ technology expertise will pack a one-two punch as they position themselves for future growth in the competitive diabetes market, the companies say.
Henry Schein closed recently on its acquisition of the Tampa, Fla.-based Acentus, a national supplier specializing in CGMs, in a deal that broadened its portfolio of home medical supply products.
“Acentus really enhances and integrates...
Senators move to protect indie pharmacies
March 13, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., along with Sens. Roger Marshal, R-Kan., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., has introduced legislation to limit what they say are abusive pricing practices by pharmacy benefit managers.
The “Protecting Pharmacies in Medicaid Act” cracks down on what they call “spread pricing” - charging Medicaid more than PBMs charge pharmacies for a drug, driving up costs for Medicaid and short-changing pharmacies. The legislation...