Tag: Vertess

FORT WORTH, Texas – Vertess has promoted three managing directors to partner: Rachel Boynton, Anna Elliott and Robert Villalobos. Boynton joined VERTESS in 2018 as a managing director providing M&A advisory and consulting services to the intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD), behavioral health and related health care markets. Elliott, who joined the firm earlier this year, has experience in high-growth, health care technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine...

Coming off a “crazy” year of dealmaking in 2021, the first quarter of 2022 was bound to be slower, driven in part by larger world issues like inflation and the war in Ukraine, says Brad Smith, managing director and partner at Vertess.  But deals are still getting done, as interest remains high in HME from both strategic players and institutional buyers, he said.  “There are fewer headwinds than previous years,” he said. “There’s more certainty and...

FORTH WORTH, Texas – Vertess closed three transactions in the first quarter of 2022, including the sale of California-based Brannons Medical to AdaptHealth.  “Brannons was a staple in the San Jose community for 20-plus years,” said Robert Villalobos, managing director and deal lead for Vertess. “With the continued appetite for respiratory providers, it comes as no surprise the family run business was a desirable acquisition.”  Vertess also represented...

FORT WORTH, Texas - Now is the time for HME providers to start looking at artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve quality of care without increasing costs, says Anna Elliot, a new managing director and partner at Vertess.  Here’s what Elliot, who specializes in high-growth, health care technologies, had to say about how medtech can be used and why you need it.  HME News: How much is machine learning and AI driving the growth in health care right now?  Anna...

WASHINGTON – CMS on Feb. 10 published a change request notifying the DME Medicare Administrative Contractors of the agency’s new national coverage determination for home oxygen therapy.  CMS notes the following changes are effective for claims with dates of service starting Sept. 27, 2021:  expansion of oxygen coverage for acute and chronic conditions;  expansion of coverage for short and long-term need (when hypoxemia exhibited);  the ability of the...

FORT WORTH, Texas – Kim Harrison has joined VERTESS as financial analyst. Harrison, who got her start as an auditor at Ernst & Young, was previously a CFO in the behavioral health industry, controller for a toxicology lab and staff accountant in a professional organization for dentists. “I started my career as an auditor for Ernst & Young, working primarily with venture capital firms, and I have also held roles in the vending, hospitality and advertising industries,” she said. “I...

FORT WORTH, Texas – VERTESS has a new managing director and partner: Anna Elliott, who specializes in high-growth health care technologies like deep tech, artificial intelligence, machine learning and ambient solutions. Previously, she co-founded the boutique merger and acquisition advisory firm M&A Finders based in Pittsburgh. “Although I experienced enormous success with M&A Finders, I realized I could help my clients even further with a deep bench of support,” she said. “It...

FORT WORTH, Texas – VERTESS has announced that J. Blake Peart, a former hospital and ambulatory surgery center CEO, has joined the firm as a managing director. Peart will provide M&A and consulting services primarily to ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices and independent hospitals. “As someone who has walked in their shoes, I have chosen this path to support health care business owners who select the M&A direction,” he said. “I know that every transaction is unique...

YARMOUTH, Maine – The theme for buyers and sellers in 2021 is “respiratory, respiratory, respiratory,” said Don Davis, president of Duckridge Advisors.  Helping to drive that trend: AdaptHealth, which capped off a busy 2020 by announcing in December that it would acquire AeroCare, which specializes in CPAP, nebulizers, oxygen and ventilators, for nearly $2 billion in cash and shares.  “It’s perfect iteming – the demographics are there,...

FORT WORTH, Texas - Despite the challenges of 2020 and the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to bear on the economy, Brad Smith is bullish on the M&A market for HME. Vertess closed on four deals in the second and third quarters, and is teed up for an even busier Q4 and beyond. “The strategic buyers are extremely active,” said Smith, managing director/partner at the firm. “There are also buyers outside the industry that aren't strategic coming in, buying into health care and...