In brief: GAO denies protest, OM reports growth, Numotion launches website

WASHINGTON – The Government Accountability Office has denied a protest by B&B Medical Services of six contracts for in-home oxygen and ventilator services awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs to Apria Healthcare. 

B&B argued that the VA’s solicitation did not properly reflect its requirements, the agency failed to consider a corporate transaction relevant to its evaluation of the awardee's responsibility and technical capability, Apria misrepresented the availability of key personnel, and the agency's best-value tradeoff decision was unreasonable. 

The solicitation established that the awards would be made on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering three evaluation factors, listed in descending order of importance: experience, price and service-disabled veteran-owned small business/veteran-owned. Proposals were due Jan. 18, 2021, and the contracts were awarded to Apria on March 30, 2022, the day after Owens & Minor finalized its acquisition of Apria. 

 On March 30, 2022, the VA awarded contracts for all six geographic areas to Apria, B&B protested and on April 11, 2022, the GAO dismissed B&B’s protest after the agency stated that it would take corrective action by reevaluating proposals and making a new award decision. 

On April 7, 2023, the VA again made an award to Apria for all geographic areas. 

OM’s Patient Direct segment continues to boost biz 

RICHMOND, Va. – Owens & Minor reported consolidated revenue of $2.56 billion in the second quarter of 2023, an increase of 2.5% compared to the second quarter of 2022. 

Of that, the company’s Patient Direct division had revenue of $633 million, up 10.5%. 

“The second quarter of 2023 shows a continuation of our Patient Direct segment’s exceptional performance, with another quarter of double-digit growth and strength across the major categories that we serve,” said Edward Pesicka, president & CEO. “In addition, the progress we have made in the Operating Model Realignment Program is encouraging, and we are beginning to see financial benefits from the work already completed.” 

During the quarter, the company paid down $49.3 million in debt. Adjusted EBITDA was $112.8 million compared to $163.4 million the previous year. 

OM revised its outlook for 2023 to revenues in the range of $10.2 billion to $10.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $535 million to $575 million. 

Soleo Health opens Ohio location 

FRISCO, Texas & CINCINNATI – Soleo Health, a national provider of complex specialty pharmacy services, has opened a new location in Blue Ash, Ohio, in the Cincinnati area. 

Soleo Health Cincinnati provides a broad range of specialty infusion therapies and pharmacy services to patients in their homes, as well as administration on-site at its ambulatory infusion center. The centralized location reaches patients residing throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.  

“The extensive reach of the new Soleo Health Cincinnati location allows the company to serve growing populations across three key Midwest states,” said Matt Brenamen, PharmD. “In addition, the Soleo Health Cincinnati facility is close to several reputable hospitals and health systems throughout greater Cincinnati. As a result, we are well-positioned to meet the distinct specialty pharmacy and infusion needs of our stakeholders, including patients, payers, providers and manufacturer partners. From this new location, we will be making a notable contribution to the local health care landscapes we reach.”  

Employing a team of highly experienced pharmacists and registered nurses, Soleo Health Cincinnati specializes in providing complex biologic and infusion therapies for patients with rare and ultra-rare diseases, as well as autoimmune disorders, such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis. It also treats patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, primary immunodeficiencies and thyroid eye disease, among others.  

Soleo Health has 23 pharmacy locations with national nursing coverage and pharmacy licensure in 50 states and is accredited by URAC, ACHC with Distinction in Rare Disease and Orphan Drugs, and The Joint Commission. Additionally, the company operates more than 40 infusion centers throughout the U.S. 

Royal Philips named a ‘best employer for women’ 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Royal Philips has earned a spot on the Forbes 2023 “America’s Best Employers for Women” list. This is the third year that Philips has appeared in the ranking, which includes only 400 organizations across the country, and this year, it climbed more than 250 positions. “We are proud of the culture we have created at Philips, adopting practices to enrich the experiences of our employees,” said Sonam Lalwani, head of diversity, inclusion and well-being, Philips North America. “This recognition is a testament to the commitment of our entire organization to empower women across Philips with initiatives around mentorship and sponsorship, health and well-being, and inclusion and belonging.” Philips is also one of the top three companies in the Health Care Equipment & Services category. The company has made efforts to improve women’s work experience through its EmpowHER Circles Mentoring Program, which pairs senior leaders with women to develop their career paths through mentoring and peer coaching. To date, the program has served more than 500 participants with help from 179 leaders. In addition, the company has a Philips Women Lead employee resource group to focus on empowering women across Philips in their personal and professional growth. 

Rehab Medical launches Express Service Center 

INDIANAPOLIS – Rehab Medical has launched its own Express Service Center to combat the ongoing industry wide challenges with ordering wheelchair parts that began with the COVID-19 pandemic. The company says its new Express Service Center streamlines the service order process, so requests are dealt with more efficiently, provides a concierge level of care for patients with mobility limitations, and sets a new industry standard for service needs. Rehab Medical says it will now be able to complete service orders in as little as five days, providing faster turnaround times and reducing the amount of downtime needed during a repair. 

KabaFusion signs deals with UCB 

CERRITOS, Calif. – KabaFusion has been selected by UCB as a limited distribution partner to provide RYSTIGGO (rozanolixizumab-noli) for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis in certain adult patients. “KabaFusion is proud to be a leader in home infusion and providing access to patients with new drugs that will improve their quality of life,” said Dr. Sohail Masood, founder and CEO. “We have a well-established history of successfully managing patients with myasthenia gravis and neuromuscular conditions and we are proud to have been selected by UCB as a limited distribution partner to provide RYSTIGGO to patients and providers.” People living with generalized myasthenia gravis can experience a variety of symptoms, including severe muscular weakness of the muscles of respiration, double vision, drooping eyelids, and difficulty swallowing, chewing and talking. 

Koru Medical inks agreement with biopharma company on Freedom Infusion System 

MAHWAH, N.J. – Koru Medical Systems, a medical technology company focused on the development of innovative and easy-to-use subcutaneous infusion solutions, has announced an agreement with a biopharmaceutical company to validate its Freedom Infusion System for use for use with the company’s drug. The company is expected to begin Phase III studies by the end of 2023 for treatment of a rare genetic disease with global prevalence of roughly 10,000 that currently has no pharmaceutical treatments. "Adding a late-stage pharmaceutical collaboration is a major milestone for our novel therapies business as we continue to progress our relationships to help drive greater knowledge and adoption around the benefits of subcutaneous drug delivery for patients in the home,” said Linda Tharby, Koru Medical’s president and CEO. “We are excited to partner with this rare disease biopharmaceutical company to bring a therapy to an area of significant unmet need where patients have few options today."  

Numotion launches supplies website 

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Numotion has launched a new website, Numotion Medical Supplies, specializing in the medical supply needs for those receiving rehabilitative care. The website, found at http://medicalsupplies.numotion.com, features a catalog of catheters from all major catheter manufacturers, as well as customer success stories, educational videos, articles and blogs, best life practices and an insurance navigator. “Growing Numotion’s medical supplies offerings with the addition of the new Numotion Medical Supplies website enables the medical supply team to more comprehensively serve the needs of an expanded customer base and allows us to continue to empower people to actively participate in everyday life,” said Neill Rowland, vice president of Numotion’s Medical Supply division. 

Amedysis exec joins The Braff Group 

PITTSBURGH – Kris Novak has joined The Braff Group as a managing director of home health, home care and hospice, where he will be responsible for the western United States, joining Mark Kulik, senior managing director of home health, home are and hospice, Eastern United States. Novak has 14 years of M&A experience in the home health industry, most recently at Amedisys, where he most recently served as senior vice president of mergers, acquisitions and integration. While at Amedisys, Novak led the organization’s merger, acquisition, health system joint venture, de novo and integration activities. He successfully completed more than 50 transactions, allocating $1.5 billion of capital and adding 325 locations, which contributed $1.2 billion in revenues. This included the acquisition of Contessa, the leading technology-enabled hospital-at-home provider. Novak also led Amedisys' two largest divestitures, which included home health, hospice and personal care locations nationwide. 
Miller’s expands in central Ohio 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Miller’s has opened a new location here, providing a full range of complex rehab technology, including power wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, mobility scooters, specialty seating systems and other adaptive equipment. Miller’s also offers on-the-road service and wheelchair repair visits in the home or at a facility. “We are thrilled to bring our unique customized approaches in wheeled mobility and custom seating to clients in Columbus and the surrounding areas,” said Miller’s President Johnny P. Miller. “We have served thousands of clients throughout northeast Ohio since 1949. Miller’s is proud to be family owned, Ohio owned and locally operated. Our dynamic team looks forward to providing personalized mobility solutions for clients in central Ohio.”  

Belluscura inks deal with McKesson 

LONDON and PLANO, Texas – Belluscura has signed a distribution agreement with McKesson Medical-Surgical to distribute its X-PLOR portable oxygen concentrator. “We continue to expand the distribution of the X-PLOR throughout the U.S. and this exciting agreement will extend our reach to patients seeking access to best-in-class devices," said Robert Fary, senior vice president of global sales, Belluscura. In April, Belluscura secured a marketing agreement with the popular website GoodRx to increase direct-to-consumer sales of its X-PLOR portable oxygen concentrator.   

Medicare beneficiaries can now access FreeStyle Libre 3 
ABBOTT PARK, Ill. – Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 3 reader is now available to Medicare beneficiaries. The reader features a small, thin and discreet sensor, and can also be used by patients who may not have a compatible smartphone. "FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring systems are prescribed by more doctors for their Medicare patients than any other system," said Jared Watkin, senior vice president for Abbott's diabetes care business. "With recent coverage expansion, there are another 2 million Medicare patients who manage their diabetes with insulin that are now eligible to use the FreeStyle Libre 3 system to track their glucose levels and have better health outcomes.” Abbott received clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the Freestyle Libre 3 in April.