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WATERLOO, Iowa – The VGM Group hosted a socially distanced and masked-up meeting with newly elected member of Congress, Ashley Hinson, at its corporate headquarters on Jan. 25. Rep. Hinson, R-Iowa, met with VGM senior leadership, as well as John Gallagher, Tom Powers and Emily Harkin of the Government Relations team. The group discussed concerns within the HME industry, primarily decreased reimbursement rates and regulatory burdens. “The discussion was constructive, and both parties were...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen’s board of directors has appointed Nabil Shabshab as president and CEO effective Feb. 8.  Shabshab will replace Scott Wilkinson, who announced that he would be retiring in June last year.  Shabshab will also serve as a Class II director, with a term expiring at the annual stockholders meeting in 2022.  Shabshab, 56, has most recently served as worldwide president of diabetes care and digital health at Becton...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – National Seating & Mobility has appointed Allan Villegas chief financial officer. Villegas has more than 20 years of experience in financial leadership positions at private equity portfolio companies focused on the execution of growth and operational improvement initiatives. “Allan’s extensive financial background, combined with his deep acquisition and integration experience to drive growth opportunities for industry leading companies in a variety of sectors,...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Motif Medical and VGM & Associates have executed a program agreement to provide breast pumps, maternity compression and more to VGM members. “Being part of the VGM family allows us to help DME partners expand their product line and grow their businesses, while bringing our award-winning products to moms,” said Brandon Fonville, director of Motif Medical. VGM members will have access to Motif Medical’s full line of double-electric breast pumps, like the flagship...

I received a press release last week from the DOJ about the latest news in Medicare fraud involving, what else, braces! Juan Camilo Perez Buitrago and two of his employees submitted more than $109 million in false claims for arm, back, knee and shoulder braces. (nothing to see here). But it’s the details that really made me say, WTF? You see, as part of his scheme, Buitrago had the employees, Jessica Jones and Elizabeth Putulin, list his wife, mother and yacht captain as directors for...

IRVING, Texas – National HME, a provider of DME solutions to the hospice market, has appointed Andy Ingram as CEO. Before joining National HME, Ingram spent 11 years at Encompass Health in senior leadership roles, including executive vice president of operations. In this role, Ingram was responsible for the organization’s hospice service line, which generated about $200 million in annual revenues throughout 85 locations across 18 states. Prior to Encompass, he served as regional vice...

LAKE FOREST, Calif., and BOISE, Idaho – DMEhub, an e-prescribe platform for ordering medical equipment and supplies, has partnered with Kno2 to enhance and further automate the DME ordering process. With Kno2’s interoperability as a service, DMEhub integrates with virtually every electronic health record system to save time, support the evidence for medical necessity and avoid duplicate orders. “This partnership with Kno2 gives DMEhub a greater...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association and its more than 21,000 independent pharmacies applaud President Joe Biden on his COVID-19 strategy and are eager to work with the administration going forward. “We’ve shared with the administration how, when engaged by local health departments, community pharmacies are successfully battling the COVID-19 disease,” Douglas Hoey, CEO of the NCPA, stated in response to Biden’s “National Strategy...

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – After a lengthy period of relative quiet, Apria Healthcare’s planned IPO could signal a company that is ready to grow, say M&A analysts.  The provider on Jan. 15 filed a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a step it must take before filing an initial public offering.  “They’ve been a bit conspicuous by their absence in doing transactions,” said Jonathan Sadock, managing partner/CEO of Paragon...

WASHINGTON – Industry stakeholders are still digging through the Round 2021 data that CMS furnished late on Jan. 15 and trying to figure out what’s behind the sometimes drastic variance in payment amounts.  For example, the amount for an oxygen concentrator was $72.36 in Akron, Ohio, but $189 in Chicago. The amount for CPAP devices was $38 in Oxnard, Calif., but $110.80 in Las Vegas. (Click here for more examples.) “It’s difficult to say...