Tag: Oxygen

WASHINGTON – CMS has posted a joint DME MAC publication clarifying that certificates of medical necessity are not required for oxygen claims during the public health emergency.  The publication also clarifies that DME Information Forms are not required for external infusion pumps during the PHE.  “CMS-1744-IFC (an interim final rule issued April 6, 2020) stated that CMS would exercise enforcement discretion for clinical indications of coverage for the oxygen NCDs...

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. – Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare has decided that, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain constraints, it’s all hands on deck for its oxygen products and that means discontinuing its CPAP products.  The company announced in early September that it will discontinue its DV5 and DV6 series of CPAP devices in December – even as a Philips recall has put a premium on those devices – to better manage raw material shortages and better meet increased...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen’s financial results for the first quarter of 2021 were a mixed bag but there are early signs, company officials say, that they will improve in the second quarter.  Inogen reported an 84.2% increase in rental revenues – hitting about 34,700 patients on service – and an 11.6% increase in domestic B2B sales for the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year. But it also reported a...

ATLANTA – Aveanna Healthcare Holdings, a diversified home care platform that provides respiratory therapy products and services, has launched an initial public offering of about 38.2 million shares of its common stock at an anticipated initial public offering price of $16 to $18 per share. The company also intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 5.7 million shares of its common stock. Aveanna has applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq under...

WASHINGTON – CMS has published an adjusted fee schedule for oxygen therapy for April 2021 that doesn’t include a percentage reduction to meet the budget neutrality requirement. The adjustments result in an increase in fee schedule amounts ranging from $6.72 to $8.19 in former competitive bidding areas; $5.17 to $5.43 in other non-rural areas; and $4.14 to $6.82 in non-contiguous and rural areas, according to the VGM Group. The fee schedule amounts are not retroactive –...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen reported a 17.9% increase in sales of portable oxygen concentrators to HME providers in the fourth quarter of 2020, a sign of just how much the pandemic is straining the supply of stationary oxygen concentrators, a more common therapy for COVID-19 patients.  That’s compared to a 25.2% decrease in direct-to-consumer sales for the quarter.  “Traditionally, these patients are treated...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen’s new CEO, Nabil Shabshab, says the company may be “placing its bets a little differently” in 2021.  During a recent conference call to discuss the company’s latest financial results, Shabshab’s first, an analyst asked how he planned to balance Inogen’s various business segments – direct to consumer, business to business and rental.   “Of course, (the...

BALTIMORE – The founders of OxyGEN will use their recent prize money to turn their prototype portable oxygen concentrator into an actual product.  Jessica Dakkak, Jonathan Smith and Wilson Tang were recently named the winners of an Innovation Challenge hosted by Three Lakes Foundation and MATTER for their POC combining high-flow ambient air with pulses of concentrated oxygen to provide more efficient...

NEW YORK – Providers expect high-single digit growth in sleep patient volumes in the next year, according to Needham’s “1Q21 HME Oxygen and Sleep Survey.”  Respondents saw their sleep patient volume increase by only 0.8% in the last 12 months but expect it to grow by 7.6% over the next 12 months, the survey says. These rates are mixed from the prior survey results of 5.5% and 5%, respectively.  Overall, respondents reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has...

CHICAGO – Three Lakes Foundation and MATTER have named OxyGEN as the first-place winner in their Innovation Challenge to accelerate new solutions in diagnosing, treating and managing pulmonary fibrosis.  OxyGEN, a med-tech venture out of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has produced a POC that tracks, monitors and automatically adjusts the oxygen level for each patient, improving mobility and quality of life. OxyGEN, along with three other winners, will receive...