2013 kicks off with news galore

Boy, did the HME News team get a rude awakening this week.

We all officially came back to the office on Wednesday, after two weeks shortened by holidays (and Theresa's and my birthdays, I might add), snow storms (almost two feet, all told) and illnesses (there's a nasty bug making the rounds of our office).

And it's been non-stop ever since.

Just the news coming out of the complex rehab market, alone, this week is crazy. First, there was a new private equity owner for National Seating and Mobility (NSM). Then there was a merger between ATG Rehab and United Seating & Mobility (USM).

I totally didn't see that last one coming, at least not so soon. I pictured NSM, USM and ATG each continuing to acquire smaller companies in 2013, with some merger between two of these nationals coming years down the road. This adds a new wrinkle to a series of stories that Associate Editor Elizabeth Deprey wrote about consolidation in this market for the January issue. Foreshadowing, anyone?

There was acquisition news elsewhere in the industry, too: Advanced Home Care bought Extrakare and Brightree bought CareAnyware.

There was also the realization that the recently passed “fiscal cliff” deal didn't include language on the industry's market-pricing program (MPP) but did include a provision to apply competitive bidding pricing to retail diabetes supplies. Check out the HME Newswire on Monday for complete coverage on that.

I mean, what a week.

And the Round 2 payment amounts haven't even come out yet (or not as of the writing of this blog).

Now that I think of it, it was non-stop during the holidays, too, between Invacare's agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), AssuraMed's acquisition of Invacare Supply Group (ISG) and Philips Respironics' pilot project with Kroger.

Hang on. It looks like 2013 is going to be a wild ride.