In brief: Inogen’s activist investor, industry’s fraud recs, Apnimed’s financing

BEVERLY, Mass. – Inogen has named Vafa Jamali to its board as an independent director and, in connection with that appointment, has entered into a cooperation agreement with Kent Lake Partners.

As CEO of ZimVie, Jamali led the company’s Nasdaq listing following the spin-out from Zimmer Biomet and helped each of the businesses (Spine and Dental) through significant portfolio optimization actions to support a turnaround to higher growth and profitability. Prior to ZimVie, he spent nearly 12 years at Covidien and Medtronic, where he most recently served as senior vice president and president of the Respiratory, Gastrointestinal & Informatics division, a $3 billion business that included 10,000 team members across four businesses and 14 manufacturing sites.

“We are pleased to welcome Vafa to the board and look forward to benefiting from his unique perspectives,” said Beth Mora, chair of Inogen’s board. “Throughout his many years of leading medical device companies, Vafa has established a track record of driving strategic execution and delivering sustained growth. As we continue advancing our transformation from a single product oxygen company into a diversified respiratory care platform, we believe Vafa’s insight and direction will help guide our management team to execute on its path forward and continue to deliver strong top-line growth and improve profitability.”

Inogen’s agreement with Kent Lake Partners LP, Kent Lake PR LLC and Benjamin Natter (collectively, “Kent Lake”) includes customary standstill, voting and other provisions. The firm is an activist investor known for taking significant positions in companies to drive governance changes.

• Related: Inogen makes three appointments to exec team.

Stakeholders push for targeted fraud-fighting efforts

WASHINGTON – Industry stakeholders VGM Group and AAHomecare have submitted comments on a request for information (RFI) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare (CRUSH).

VGM says its comments reflect its support of CMS’s goal of strengthening program integrity and its shared goal of protecting Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayer dollars from fraud, waste and abuse.

The organization’s recommendations include:

• Strengthening DME MAC oversight authority over new providers.
• Improving quality of site visits with inspector training program.
• Promoting e-orders.
• Improving cross-program enforcement.
• Improving Medicare Advantage oversight by requiring providers enroll in PECOS.
• Implementing mandatory Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) for new suppliers.
• Levering technology for “real-time” claims reviews.
• Expanding prior authorizations.

Read VGM’s submitted comments here.

In its comments, AAHomecare emphasized that to ensure fraud-fighting efforts are successful without inadvertently harming patients and the legitimate DMEPOS supplier community, CMS needs to adopt a more nuanced approach that targets at-risk and bad actors while minimizing the administrative burden on ethical suppliers.

The association’s recommendations include:

• Enhancing provider enrollment requirements for new suppliers by implementing a robust identity verification and authentication process.
• Improving the audit program by placing all new suppliers into Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE).
• Improving cross-program communication and enforcement.
• Promoting technology solutions like e-ordering, data-sharing and real-time verification.

Read AAHomecare’s comments here.

Medline launches custom product fulfillment technology

NORTHFIELD, Ill. – Medline has launched a product fulfillment system called Pick Pack Pro at its distribution center in Montgomery, N.Y. The company says the system marks a significant investment in advanced automation to support its health plan customers, including providers that administer Medicare benefits.

Medline engineered Pick Pack Pro to help with orders that are pulled from a smaller range of products at high order volumes.

“We want to help the health plan providers we serve drive greater member satisfaction and better overall care outcomes,” said Brad Mariam, executive vice president, non-acute care sales, for Medline. “With our Pick Pack Pro system, we can support commitments our health plan customers make to their members by getting benefit items to members quickly and accurately, as well as delivering directly to their homes.”

The problem: Managing intense fulfillment spikes

Unlike traditional distribution models that support thousands of products, health plan orders typically draw from a more select catalog of medical supply items for everyday use, such as over-the-counter medications, heating pads and compression socks. Plan members purchase these items inside specific ordering timeframes. This ordering pattern creates intense fulfillment spikes throughout the year, followed by more consistent volume during the remainder of that year.

The solution: Maintaining delivery times & order accuracy

Pick Pack Pro integrates optimized order batching, robotic sortation and automated packing and shipping to address the challenge of maintaining delivery times and order accuracy inherent in serving health plans and their members. The system is expected to allow Medline to improve accuracy and speed of delivery to health plan members, an important part of serving customers who are health plan providers.

Medline developed the Montgomery installation with three key vendors, representing its first capital and staffing investment in this technology. The company plans to deploy Pick Pack Pro to other locations throughout its network of 45 distribution centers across the U.S.

Reliable Medical adds new execs to spur growth

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Reliable Medical has named Tim Williams as a business development consultant to support growth in its complex rehab technology (CRT) division. With 45 years of industry experience and as an assistive technology professional (ATP) since 1987, Williams brings deep expertise in multi-state business development, accreditation and organizational growth, the company says. “Tim’s career has been guided by a steadfast commitment to quality client care and advocacy for the CRT industry – values that align seamlessly with Reliable Medical’s mission to improve each of the lives we serve,” the company stated in a LinkedIn post. Williams’ background also includes years as a surveyor for the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). Reliable Medical also recently named Laura Carrico as chief compliance officer and Noah Hilt as vice president of strategic initiatives.

• Related: Reliable Medical to expand CRT reach, modernize systems with Gauge Capital.

CMS switches to C2C Innovative Solutions for Medicare Advantage appeals

WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded the Part C Independent Review Entity (IRE) contract to C2C Innovative Solutions. Effective May 1, 2026, C2C will be responsible for conducting appeals of adverse reconsiderations issued by Part C plans, as well as reviews of plan dismissals of appellant reconsideration requests. The existing Part C IRE, Maximus, will continue to process appeal requests received on or before April 30, 2026. Appeal requests received on or after May 1, 2026, will be processed by C2C. CMS says there will be a short period where both Maximus and C2C will be issuing decisions. C2C began posting important updates on its website (https://www.c2cinc.com/) regarding the procedures for submitting appeals case files (such as secure portal registration and usage information, mailing address, etc.), as well as other communication protocols beginning on April 1, and will continue to do so throughout the transition.

Sanford Health opens DME store in Bismarck

BISMARCK, N.D. – Sanford Health has opened Sanford Health Equip in Bismarck, N.D., in a former Joann Fabric location. The new store provides patients and customers with an enhanced experience, featuring a modern design, expanded consultation rooms and a variety of services conveniently offered under one roof, it says. Products offered include CPAP products and supplies, home respiratory and oxygen products, and power scooters. Sanford Health Equip has 30 stores in four states. Sanford Health also recently opened a store in Dickson, N.D.

Medline spotlights top manufacturing facilities

NORTHFIELD, Ill. – Medline has announced its Golden Cone Awards winners for its top-performing manufacturing facilities in the U.S. These awards recognize the company's 17 manufacturing facilities across three size tiers based on employee count and hours worked, and are evaluated using monthly safety metrics, employee engagement in safety advocacy and awareness, and execution of an annual safety plan. "The quality our health care customers rely on every day comes from our team members,” said Amanda Laabs, executive vice president and chief product officer. “These awards recognize the dedication of our teams and the pride they take in doing their jobs in a safe manner that delivers for the health care industry." The 2025 Golden Cone Recipients are:

• Tier 1: North Mankato, Minn.
• Tier 2: Arlington Heights, Ill.
• Tier 3: Laredo, Texas.

Medline says it delivers approximately 335,000 products to health care providers, including approximately 190,000 unique Medline Brand products across its surgical solutions, front-line care and laboratory & diagnostics divisions.

Apnimed secures $150M in debt financing ahead of planned launch of pill to treat OSA

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Apnimed, a pharmaceutical company developing oral therapies for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), has entered into a senior secured credit facility for up to $150 million with funds managed by HealthCare Royalty Partners (HCRx). The company plans to use the capital to support commercial readiness activities and the planned U.S. launch of its lead product candidate, AD109, if approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "HCR is a highly respected health care investor with deep experience in credit financing, and their investment represents an important validation of our investigational product, AD109 and its commercial potential," said Larry Miller, CEO of Apnimed. "This strategic financing provides significant financial flexibility and supports our continued progress toward the potential U.S. commercialization of AD109, if approved." Under the terms of the agreement, Apnimed will receive $50 million at closing. An additional $50 million tranche will become available upon FDA approval of AD109, and the company may access a third $50 million tranche upon achievement of a pre-specified sales milestone, subject to customary closing conditions. The financing includes an interest-only period of four years, which is extended to five years, if Apnimed achieves a specified net sales milestone. Apnimed also agreed to pay a synthetic royalty equal to a low single-digit percentage of net sales of AD109 and certain other specified revenues, subject to customary terms and conditions. Apnimed previously reported positive results from the pivotal SynAIRgy and LunAIRo Phase 3 trials for AD109, which will support the planned submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, expected later this quarter.

• Related: Apnimed receives $100M for joint venture.