In brief: Resmed teams up with ŌURA, SpinLife buys Triton Medical, Ashvin AI builds out
By HME News Staff
Updated 8:28 AM CDT, Mon May 18, 2026
SAN DIEGO – Resmed and smart ring maker ŌURA are partnering to expand access to sleep health education and pathways to care, helping more people sleep better and improve their overall health, the companies say.
By connecting consumer-generated wellness insights with Resmed’s sleep health resources, the two companies say they are helping ŌURA members take a more informed next step to better understand their sleep health.
"We're at an inflection point in how people engage with their sleep health, driven by rising awareness and more accessible technology," said Dr. Carlos Nunez, chief medical officer at Resmed. "By partnering with ŌURA, we are turning insight into action by guiding people across their sleep health journey and making it easier for them to seek clinical evaluation and care if they have concerns about their sleep.”
ŌURA members who experience a higher number of nighttime breathing disturbances can now easily connect to resources from Resmed, including:
- Educational resources and a sleep assessment to understand more about sleep health.
- The option to connect with an independent health care provider, virtually or in-person, to address their sleep concerns.
- An informative guide to support discussions with their health care provider.
“High-quality sleep is one of the strongest foundations for long-term health, yet many people live for years with unrecognized sleep and breathing issues," said Dr. Ricky Bloomfield, chief medical officer at ŌURA. “By pairing ŌURA’s continuous insights into sleep and nighttime breathing with Resmed’s sleep expertise, we’re giving people clearer tools and education to spot when something might be off and to more easily access care so they can better understand and act on changes in their sleep health.”
The experience is available to users of ŌURA Ring Gen3 and Oura Ring 4 who have an active ŌURA membership in the United States.
SpinLife buys Triton Medical, expanding access to mobility solutions in Central Florida
LADY LAKE, Fla. – SpinLife, part of Numotion, has acquired Triton Medical and opened a new retail location in Lady Lake, Fla., strengthening its presence in Central Florida and enhancing services to the growing Lady Lake and The Villages communities.
The location, which now operates as SpinLife – Lady Lake, will continue to be managed by Matt Chesshire, founder of Triton Medical.
“Matt built Triton Medical on a foundation of trust, service and deep local relationships,” said Amber Dube, senior vice president and general manager at SpinLife. “We’re excited to build on that legacy while bringing SpinLife’s expanded selection, expertise and support to an active community that values independence and quality of life.”
The location offers a comprehensive assortment of products, including mobility scooters, power wheelchairs, lift recliners, beds, vehicle lifts, ramps and home accessibility equipment, as well as safety, wellness and compression offerings.
In addition to an extensive showroom, it also offers free consultations and in-home evaluations, as well as product delivery, setup and ongoing service support.
“I’m incredibly proud of what Triton Medical has meant to this community,” said Chesshire, now general manager of SpinLife – Lady Lake. “Joining SpinLife allows us to continue serving customers with the same care and local commitment, while expanding what we can offer through a larger platform.”
SpinLife opened its first brick-and-mortar location in 2022, a project that began with its acquisition of True Mobility in 2021.
Numotion bought SpinLife in 2021.
HealthSplash founder convicted in $1B brace scheme
WASHINGTON – A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida has convicted the founder and owner of HealthSplash for his role in operating a platform that generated false doctor orders and prescriptions to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs out of more than $1 billion. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial:
- Brett Blackman, 42, of Johnson County, Kansas, and his co-conspirators aggressively targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to get them to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces and other items. They then arranged for purported telemedicine doctors to sign bogus prescription orders for these items, so that their co-conspirators could bill Medicare for them.
- Blackman and his co-conspirators connected pharmacies, DME suppliers and marketers with telemedicine companies that would accept illegal kickbacks and bribes in exchange for signed doctor orders created using the DMERx platform. Blackman and his co-conspirators took a cut for themselves in exchange for the referrals. Blackman owned, controlled and was the CEO of HealthSplash, which acquired Power Mobility Doctor Rx, LLC (DMERx) in September 2017.
- The fraudulent doctor orders and prescriptions generated by DMERx falsely represented that a doctor had actually examined and treated the Medicare beneficiaries when, in fact, the doctors were simply paid to sign orders and prescriptions without any meaningful interaction with the beneficiary, and in some cases, no interaction at all. Doctors signed these orders and prescriptions without regard to whether the equipment was medically necessary.
- The DME suppliers and pharmacies that were paying illegal kickbacks for these orders billed Medicare and other insurers for more than $1 billion. Medicare and the other insurers paid more than $450 million based on these claims.
The jury convicted Blackman of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements in connection with health care matters. Blackman’s co-defendant, Gary Cox of DMERx, was convicted in a prior trial and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Blackman faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud conviction, five years for the conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks conviction, and five years for the conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements in connection with health care matters conviction. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 26, 2026.
Ashvin AI builds out executive team
BOSTON and SAN FRANCISCO – Ashvin AI has named four executives to its team this year to elevate its go-to-market strategy, customer partnerships, enterprise-grade infrastructure and operational expertise. The company named:
- Sean Lally as head of sales in January
- Ethan Geil as chief architect in February
- Pat Puentes as head of customer success in March
- Deanna Rollyson as advisor in May
“Every one of these hires and additions reflects where the company is headed and what our customers are telling us they need,” said Mathew Mammen, CEO. “Ashvin is building a company that takes responsibility for outcomes, not just software. That requires a strong go-to-market team (Sean), deep customer partnership (Pat), enterprise-grade infrastructure (Ethan), and real operational expertise from inside the industry (Deanna).”
Lally brings more than 20 years of sales leadership experience across B2B technology companies, including VP of sales at RevContent, director of commercial sales at BitSight, and leadership roles at Notarize, Brainshark and LogMeIn. At BitSight, he helped build the commercial sales function during a period of rapid growth.
Geil joins Ashvin from Google, where he was a staff software engineer working on core search infrastructure. He's a graduate of Cornell University and Caltech and holds multiple patents. At Ashvin, Ethan owns the technical architecture, ensuring its systems remain reliable, fast and able to handle increasing volume as its customer base expands.
Puentes comes to Ashvin from BitSight, where he served as director of global customer success, overseeing post-sale relationships and driving retention and expansion across the company's customer base.
Rollyson was previously VP of operations at AeroCare and AdaptHealth, where she helped oversee operations for one of the largest respiratory and home medical equipment platforms in the country. She'll be working closely with Puentes and the customer success team to help providers get the most out of Ashvin’s platform.
Apnimed backs OSA pill with two new peer-reviewed articles
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Apnimed has published two peer-reviewed articles on AD109 (aroxybutynin 2.5 mg/atomoxetine 75 mg), an investigational, once-daily oral pill taken at bedtime designed to improve oxygenation and target the neuromuscular root cause of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The Phase 3 SynAIRgy trial results are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM), alongside a companion mechanistic review article in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology (AJRCMB), that highlights AD109's neuromuscular mechanism of action and the biological rationale that directly informed the design and success of the Phase 3 program, the company says. "The publication of the SynAIRgy Phase 3 results, together with a companion review article on the underlying biology, provides important insights into OSA as a treatable, multifactorial disease," said Patrick J. Strollo, Jr., M.D., study chair of the SynAIRgy clinical trial and vice chair of medicine for Veterans Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "These data support neuromuscular dysfunction as a key driver of disease and demonstrate that targeting this pathway can lead to meaningful improvements in objective physiologic measures, including airway obstruction and oxygenation." Results from the SynAIRgy trial as published in AJRCCM (on treatment estimand):
- 55.6% reduction in apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) (≥ 4% desaturation criterion for hypopneas) from baseline to week 26 (p≤0.0001 vs. placebo)
- 60.5% reduction in geometric mean in hypoxic burden (p<0.0001 vs. placebo) from baseline to week 26
- Mean reduction of 6.5 events/hr in oxygen desaturation index (p<0.0001 vs. placebo) from baseline to week 26
- 39.6% of participants had AHI reductions ≥ 50% (p<0.0001 vs. placebo)
- 22.3% of participants achieved disease control (AHI <5 events/hour)
- Observed across participants with mild, moderate, and severe OSA
- Consistent in participants with and without obesity
- Improvements observed as early as week four and maintained through week 26
AD109 has received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of OSA. Apnimed has submitted its NDA for AD109 to the FDA, and based on FDA's prior feedback, Apnimed expects a potential Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date in the first quarter of 2027, subject to FDA acceptance of the NDA for review.
Medline installs automated system in 24th distribution center
NORTHFIELD, Ill. – Medline has unveiled a new AutoStore installation at its distribution center in Aurora, Colo., as part of an ongoing effort to drive efficiency, optimize fulfillment and increase order capacity amid growing customer demand in the region. This is Medline's 24th AutoStore installation nationwide. "Medline's continued investment in AutoStore technology is a good example of our relentless effort to drive operational excellence within our supply chain as demand grows," said Sean Halligan, Medline's executive vice president of operations. "Bringing a new AutoStore installation to Aurora is another step in modernizing our network, helping us get critical supplies to customers with the speed and accuracy they count on, while supporting a more streamlined fulfillment environment for our team members." AutoStore is an automated storage and retrieval system that uses robots and high-density storage technology to streamline fulfillment, increase throughput and drive distribution efficiency. Medline's AutoStore installation in Aurora will include eight induction workstations, 10 picking workstations, 38,000 bins and 96 robots, which will assist Medline employees with item sorting, retrieval and transport. These join Medline's fleet of more than 2,100 robots across its global distribution footprint.
Medtronic’s MiniMed board sees shake up
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Brett Wall, a class II director of MiniMed Group’s board of directors, has resigned following his departure as executive vice president and president of the neurosciences portfolio of Medtronic, the parent company of MiniMed, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. Wall, who was also a member of the board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, was nominated to the MiniMed board by Medtronic. Scott Cundy will fill his vacancy on the MiniMed board effective July 3. Cundy serves as senior vice president and chief quality, development and innovation officer at Medtronic, leading the company’s global quality, product development and innovation functions. He is also a member of Medtronic’s Executive Committee. In March, MiniMed began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “MMED” in connection with its initial public offering (IPO).
NCPA, NGA join new coalition to support small businesses
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the National Grocers Association (NGA) joined the newly-formed Main Street Competition Coalition at a kick-off event in Washington, D.C., to rally small business organizations across the spectrum against big corporations that they say use their market dominance to squeeze out smaller competitors. The Main Street Competition Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition of independent businesses fighting to restore competitive markets across the economy. “Main Street Businesses are done being pushed around,” said Chris Jones, executive director of the new organization. “Small business is the backbone of the economy and the heart of the American dream. Unfortunately, the worst actors often have the loudest voice in Washington, D.C., and the resources to steamroll small businesses in court. That changes today.” NCPA and NGA are founding investors in the project. Both groups represent thousands of Main Street businesses that they say are often forced to defend themselves against what they call the unfair practices of vertically-integrated corporate giants. NGA represents independent grocers and affiliated businesses in an industry that it says is also dominated by corporate heavyweights. “NCPA spends most of its time fighting monopolistic corporations in the health care sector,” said B. Douglas Hoey, NCPA CEO. “I would like you to know why broadening that fight across the economy is important to our members and small businesses everywhere, and why we are proud to partner with the National Grocers Association to launch the Main Street Competition Coalition. What we’re all up against is a familiar pattern: consolidation that concentrates decision-making far away from the communities affected; vertical integration that turns gatekeepers into competitors; and dominant firms that can dictate terms across a supply chain. When a handful of powerful players can pick winners and losers, the market stops being a market and it most certainly isn’t free.”
NCPA supports re-introduction of Monopolies Act
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) supports the re-introduction of the Patients Before Monopolies Act, which would force companies that own health insurers or pharmacy benefit managers to divest their pharmacy businesses within three years. The act, first introduced in December 2024, has been reintroduced in both the House and Senate. “PBMs have a choice – operate as a PBM or operate as a pharmacy, but you can’t have it both ways,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA. “Having both functions under one roof is a huge conflict of interest and drives up prescription drug prices. The Patients Before Monopolies Act is critical in supporting patients and independent pharmacies and restoring a free market.” In the House, the act is led by Reps. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, Buddy Carter, R-Ga., Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Troy Nehls, R-Texas; in the Senate, it’s led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Roger Marshall, R-Kan, and John Fetterman, D-Pa. The Patients Before Monopolies Act would, according to NCPA:
- Prohibiting a parent company from owning both a PBM/health insurer and a pharmacy;
- Require divestiture of pharmacy assets within one year;
- Establish strong enforcement;
- Enable private right of action; and
- Prevent re-consolidation that would recreate the same anticompetitive structure.
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