Blogs

When Change Healthcare acknowledged that it had been hacked by a “threat actor” named “BlackCat” and subsequently had to disconnect its systems, we were fairly certain it would be the subject of the cartoon and HME Newspoll for the April issue.  There were other ideas, of course – Theresa and I are nothing but a font of content, are we not? – including a poll on the impact on the HME industry of Dexcom’s plans to offer a continuous glucose monitoring...

During the final stages of getting the March issue out the door, Managing Editor Theresa Flaherty and I also had on our to-do list coming up with a guest for the February episode of the HME News in 10 podcast.  Given the recent decision by Philips to exit the home oxygen concentrator and ventilator markets in the United States, we thought it would be important to invite someone who could speak to the continued tumultuousness of the larger respiratory product category in the past few years.  This...

My co-worker Cath, a perennially positive person, recently pointed out that we’ve hit a small but meaningful yearly marker here in Maine: It was still light out at 5 p.m. Only for a hot minute, to be sure, but it’s a hopeful reminder that brighter days are around the corner.  While working the phones, digging through press releases and shaking down manufacturers for product submissions, I, too, noticed that there does seem to be some light shining through.  For starters,...

I didn’t watch the Emmy Awards broadcast, but I did read the coverage the following day and was pleased (and honestly surprised) to see the legendary Carol Burnett on hand to present the award for Leading Actress in a comedy (to Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary if you are keeping track).  I’m pleased to report she’s as quick and funny as ever, befitting a woman many consider a trailblazer in the male-dominated comedy field.  “Progress has been made,”...

It’s that time of year to look at the year that was – in HME News stories.  As we were putting together the finishing touches on this January issue, I pulled the 10 most read stories for 2023.  I was pleased as punch to see a story we published about Miller’s opening its fifth location in Ohio was the No. 1 most read story of the year by a long shot. In a year when the CPAP recall, supply chain challenges and increased costs weighed heavily on the industry, I’m...

If I could say anything about the year in diabetes & DME, it’s that 2023 was the year the industry rolled up its sleeves and got to work.  To be precise, the ground was prepped in 2022, with the launch of the AAHomecare Diabetes Council, whose members understood that if the industry wanted to succeed in this space, it needed to get out there and show itself.  Driving most of the changes: The ongoing boom in continuous glucose monitors, which have had the dual benefit of giving...

YARMOUTH, Maine – One of the most interesting takeaways from the HME News Business Summit in Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 22-24, was just how much commercial insurers care about patient satisfaction.   Brad Heath, an executive vice president with AdaptHealth, was part of a panel at the Summit on disruptive partnerships with payers. AdaptHealth, along with Rotech Healthcare, as we all know, has a contract with Humana to provide certain home medical equipment services to its Medicare Advantage...

An Amy Schumer standup special I watched recently on Netflix had me thinking about the latest iteration of legislation that seeks to require Medicare to pay for custom breast forms.  Schumer was talking about a common women’s health condition she was seeking treatment for.   “Oh, we haven’t studied that yet,” she deadpans, “because it only affects women.”   Cue Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who introduced the Breast Cancer Patient...

On a semi-regular basis, Editor Liz Beaulieu asks me: “Are HME providers for or against prior auths?”  I then try to remember where things stand on that particular issue before helpfully responding: “Both, I think?”  So, we went directly to the source. Our October HME Newspoll (See story page 3) asked: “How do you feel about prior auths?”   Results were mixed, with 58% of respondents saying, “No thanks!” due to the heavy...

AAHomecare and VGM will host another virtual lobbying day next week, on Nov. 13, to help push reimbursement relief bills in the House of Representatives and Senate across the finish line before Congress wraps up its work for the year.  The event will build on AAHomecare’s annual Washington Legislative Conference, which took place less than two months prior, on Sept. 20.  Managing Editor Theresa Flaherty and I can’t swear by it, but we haven’t seen...