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In brief: Knack for RCM, Valley Vital investment, Honest Medical donation 

In brief: Knack for RCM, Valley Vital investment, Honest Medical donation 

WOODBRIDGE, N.J. – Knack RCM, a provider of tech-enabled, end-to-end and customizable revenue cycle management services, has acquired HealthyBOS, a U.S. and Philippines-based provider of RCM services specializing in DME. The acquisition significantly expands Knack RCM’s fulfillment capabilities in the Philippines, growing its in-country team from 200 to 1,500 employees, and enhances its presence and expertise in the RCM market for DME. “This acquisition marks a transformative milestone for Knack RCM,” said Arvind Ramakrishnan, CEO of Knack RCM. “By expanding our team in the Philippines and deepening our expertise in the DME RCM market, we are growing in size and elevating the value we deliver to our clients. This is an exciting step forward as we continue to reinforce our leadership position in the revenue cycle management space.” By integrating HealthyBOS’s capabilities, Knack RCM says it will bolster its solutions with, among other things, voice-enabled services to streamline communication, speed up resolution times and improve client experience. Tammy Bishop, CEO of HealthyBOS, will join the leadership team at Knack RCM. “Joining Knack RCM is a natural evolution for our organization,” she said. “Their innovative technology, comprehensive service offerings, and unwavering commitment to client success align perfectly with our mission. Together, we are poised to redefine what is possible in the RCM market.” 

RF invests in Valley Vital 

NEW YORK – RF Investment Partners has announced its majority investment in Valley Infusion and Home Infusion Richmond, which do business together as Valley Vital, a part of the Vital Care Infusion Service franchise system. Valley Vital, which operates infusion therapy pharmacies across four territories of Virginia and West Virginia, plans to accelerate its growth organically and through acquisitions of new territories and potentially other franchisees. “With RF's industry experience and aligned strategic vision, this partnership will allow us to expand our resources and range of treatments while reaching new patients — ultimately better serving patients, referring providers and the communities where we are located,” said Valley Vital CEO Preston Estep, Pharm.D. Estep and Stefan Debski, Pharm.D., will continue with Valley Vital as CEO and COO, respectively. The company has also recently hired industry veterans Missy Coleman and Rafat Ansari. RF, a private equity firm managing about $700 million, has the capabilities to provide equity and debt capital to support strategic initiatives, such as acquisition financing, growth capital investments, recapitalizations, refinancings and management buyouts. It specializes in supporting family- and founder-owned businesses. 

CMS, PDAC detail plans for new E1028 code 

WASHINGTON – CMS has accepted some but not all NCART’s recommendations as part of its preliminary decision on the PDAC’s code application to review E1028 and establish three new codes to describe manual, swing-away and retractable or removable mounting hardware used in conjunction with medically necessary wheelchair accessories. NCART agreed with the programmatic need for the change but requested CMS consider several edits to more accurately describe the components associated with the hardware. CMS accepted the organization’s submitted description for E1032 and recognized the use of this type of hardware with other wheelchair accessories (like lateral thigh and knee supports, and medial thigh supports) but did not add its requested code EXXX4 as these components fall under the descriptions of “other” in the new E1028 HCPCS code. The new codes and descriptions are as follows: 

  • E1028 – Wheelchair accessory, manual swing-away, retractable or removable mounting hardware, other 
  • E1032 – Wheelchair accessory, manual swing-away, retractable or removable mounting hardware used with joystick or other drive control interface 
  • E1033 – Wheelchair accessory, manual swing-away, retractable or removable mounting hardware for headrest, cushioned, any type 
  • E1034 – Wheelchair accessory, manual swing-away, retractable or removable mounting hardware for lateral trunk or hip support, any type 

The new E1028 HCPCS code is in the capped rental pricing category, has an established reimbursement rate and may be purchased in the first month when used on a CRT wheelchair. NCART recommended CMS map the reimbursement rate for the new codes to the E1028 code, recognize and implement the KU modifier for the new codes, and permit the purchase option in alignment with E1028. CMS acknowledged the fee schedules for the new codes will be mapped to the E1028 HCPCS codes by state. In addition, the KU modifier and purchase option will be recognized. 

Honest Medical donates to support fire victims 

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Honest Medical has donated $20,000 in much-needed food and health care supplies to organizations that are helping the victims of the devastating Los Angeles fires. The supplies, which include shelf-stable energy bars, gloves, N95 masks, blankets and other necessities, are being provided to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the Los Angeles Animal Services. The company wants to spread awareness of these donations to encourage other businesses to provide similar help. “The Los Angeles community holds a special place in our hearts for many of us at Honest Medical, and we feel a strong responsibility to support our neighbors as they deal with the unprecedented destruction of these fires,” said Mike Greenan, CEO. Honest Medical encourages anyone interested in helping the victims of the Los Angeles area fires to contribute to organizations such as the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the Los Angeles Animal Services

  • Related: Honest Medical is making strides in social responsibility by partnering with Happen Ventures to donate returned and re-usable medical supplies to nonprofits. 

VGM names VP of vendor contracts 

WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM & Associates has named Randy Piper, a seasoned health care executive with a successful track record of creating, selling and implementing profitable, cost-saving supply chain contracting programs for integrated delivery networks, as vice president of vendor contract management. In his new role, Piper will be responsible for driving new vendor business development, optimizing contracts and ensuring compliance across all vendor agreements. “Randy is a welcome addition to VGM & Associates to lead initiatives to expand VGM’s vendor network, identify category gaps, enhance contract terms, and ensure all agreements align with regulatory and company standards,” said Krista McNurlen, senior vice president, business operations. “We look forward to his expertise in strategic planning and execution." Previously, Piper was the managing director of Biocom Publishing Group, specializing in savings and cost reduction for Life Science organizations across the nation. He also held a key role at Intalere, a national health care GPO, where he was responsible for more than $3.2 billion of annual contract purchases across supplies, services, software, equipment and distribution. Additionally, Piper has worked for McKesson and Owens & Minor, managing supply chain operations and developing key business relationships with suppliers and providers across the United States. “We are pleased to welcome Randy to VGM & Associates to achieve better alignment across all business units and enhance the VGM customer experience,” said Lindy Tentinger, president, VGM & Associates. “The addition of Randy is part of an overarching strategy to encourage customer growth and ensure that VGM continues to deliver meaningful, memorable service to our members and vendor partners.” 

Researchers use CGM-based metrics for evaluating diabetes control 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Data from continuous glucose monitors can predict nerve, eye and kidney damage caused by Type 1 diabetes, researchers at the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology have found. This suggests doctors may be able to use data from CGMs to help save patients from blindness, diabetic neuropathy and other conditions, they say. “The landmark 10-year, 1,440-person Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), published in 1993, established hemoglobin A1c as the gold standard for evaluating the risk for complications from Type 1 diabetes,” said Boris Kovatchev, PhD, director of the UVA Center for Diabetes Technology. “However, the use of continuous glucose monitoring is on the rise and there is no study of the magnitude of the DCCT to affirm CGM-based metrics as standard for evaluating diabetes control.” Using advanced machine learning techniques to process the DCCT data sets, the researchers were able to create virtual CGM traces for all participants and for the duration of their participation in the trial. They found that 14 days of data from the virtual continuous glucose monitors had a similar ability to predict diabetes complications as hemoglobin A1c readings. In addition to the time spent in a safe blood-sugar range of 70 to 180 mg/DL, the researchers found that other CGM readings also accurately predicted diabetes complications. These readings included the time spent in “tight range” (between 70 and 140 mg/DL) as well as the time spent above 140 mg/DL, above 180 mg/DL and above 250 mg/DL. The study results have been published in the journal Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics. The article’s authors are Benjamin Lobo, Chiara Fabris, Mohammadreza Ganji, Anas El Fathi, Marc D. Breton, Lauren Kanapka, Craig Kollman, Tadej Battelino, Roy W. Beck and Kovatchev. Disclosures from the researchers can be found in the paper. 

AMA supports MedPAC on payment update 

WASHINGTON – The American Medical Association supports a recommendation from MedPAC to link next year’s physician payment update to the growth in the cost of providing care. MedPAC recently voted to recommend a 2026 payment update of Medicare Economic Index minus 1%, slightly adjusting the formula it endorsed last year to increase payment by 50% of MEI. “While neither recommendation covers the estimated inflation that physician practices face, both approaches embrace the fact that Medicare payment updates need to be tied to inflation,” said Bruce Scott, M.D., president of the AMA. When MedPAC forwards its recommendations to Congress in March, the AMA hopes that lawmakers agree that Medicare payments to physician practices under current law are inadequate. In December, however, Congress failed to stop a 2.8% cut in Medicare payments to physician practices, the fifth cut in five years, despite practice costs rising 3.5%, according to Medicare’s own estimates. The AMA is working to reverse those cuts. “The Medicare payment system is broken,” Scott said. “MedPAC has come up with a thoughtful response that heads in the right direction. Congress must prioritize Medicare reform this year. The status quo is unsustainable and unhealthy for our country.” 

AIC expands ability to serve patients 

DALLAS – AIC, a division of AIS Healthcare, now offers ALYGLO, manufactured by GC Biopharma, for the treatment of adult patients with primary humoral immunodeficiency (PI). This new immunoglobulin (Ig) therapeutic option will expand the company’s ability to better serve PI patients in their home or an infusion suite setting. “We are excited to add ALGYLO to our expansive list of Ig infusion therapies,” said Jud Hall, president of AIC. “AIC is proud to partner with GC Biopharma to offer this extra-purified IVIg replacement therapy as another treatment option to patients nationwide,” added Stan Singley, vice president of trade & procurement. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2023, ALGYLO is now available at all AIC locations (Valdosta, Ga.; Birmingham, Ala.; Panama City, Fla.; Cockeysville, Md; and Dallas). PI includes, but is not limited to, the humoral immune defect in congenital agammaglobulinemia, common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), X-linked agammaglobulinemia, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, and severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The company says AIC patients receive a high level of care, including 24/7 access to clinical and support staff and a dedicated team of professionals comprised of clinical pharmacists, home infusion nurses, RN clinical review specialists and patient access specialists. AIS Healthcare is dually accredited by URAC and the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). 

Wes Hopper launches Why Success Happens 

YARMOUTH, Maine – Wes Hopper, formerly of McKesson, has launched Why Success Happens, a new consulting firm focused on driving growth and innovation across industries. Hopper has more than three decades of expertise in health care logistics, sales development, technologies, consumer products, retail marketing and e-commerce. “The launch of Why Success Happens represents a culmination of my passion for driving results and mentoring organizations to achieve their fullest potential,” he said in a LinkedIn post. “My approach is rooted in building strategic relationships, delivering superior customer engagements and optimizing processes to deliver measurable successful results.” The firm’s services include strategic consulting, sales optimization, market penetration strategies and leadership development. Hopper will speak at Medtrade on Feb. 19 at 11:15 a.m. on “Expanding Access with Lower Cost to Serve, Securing Value-Based Contracts/Referrals.” 

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