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Marching toward the future

March 1, 2024Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

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,...

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Believe the women on this

February 2, 2024Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

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,”...

home medical equipment, Leadership, women


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The year in diabetes? We’re good with that

December 28, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

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...

Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), Diabetes


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Because it only affects women

November 21, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

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...

Custom Breast Prostheses, Essentially Women


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Where’s the Advantage?

November 13, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

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...

Medicare Advantage


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Do you have a few minutes to really chat? 

September 22, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

YARMOUTH, Maine – Technology has been on the minds of a lot of people these days. You can’t open the New York Times without seeing yet another article on ChatGPT or AI in general.  The former I find particularly concerning as a writer, not just because I don’t want my words cribbed by some work-shy, wannabe wordsmith, but because I think we’re already becoming less able to think critically and individually, even before we try outsourcing the need to, you know, think.   More...

Artificial Intelligence (AI), ChatGPT


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Hunger Games? Used car market, Medicare Advantage both tough markets

June 19, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

I am currently in the market for a new used car, my first in 10 years. While I knew it was coming, the news came as an unwelcome shock because I, too, have heard about the vehicle shortages, high costs and high interest rates that have turned what was already an unpleasant experience, at best, into a Hunger Games-style free-for-all. Over at my work desk, the big news is the Humana contracts, an exciting opportunity for AdaptHealth and Rotech and a source of dread and anxiety for everyone else...

Home Medical Equipment (HME), Medicare Advantage


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From Sports Illustrated to the gridiron, changing the game

May 17, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

This month, editor Liz and I had a lot of fun with our cartoon, which plays off the news that Medline has partnered with Martha Stewart on a new line of home safety and mobility items. Martha’s instantly recognizable and lauded for, among other things, her good taste, two attributes that I am sure Medline is banking on.  We changed it up a bit, though, by swapping out Martha’s famous, “That’s a good thing,” with one from her pal, Snoop Dogg, “If the ride...

HME News, Home Medical Equipment (HME)


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A Jonas, a CGM and a look to the future

April 19, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

One of the members of an online diabetes forum I’m in generated much excitement last week when she posted a pic comparing the size of her old FreeStyle Libre sensor with the latest generation, which is about a third of the original’s size.  “Wow!” “Amazing!” That was the general consensus.  Smaller in size means less noticeable (less face it, CGMs, while a thing of beauty in terms of technology and their impact on users’ lives, are not, well,...

Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), Diabetes, FreeStyle Libre


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Our latest Newspoll tanks, but HME resilience springs eternal

January 18, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor

YARMOUTH, Maine – As far as HME Newspolls go, this one was a dud.  There. We said it.  Since we were working on our January issue at the time, we thought it would be interesting to have providers share what they believed to be their biggest business opportunity and biggest challenge, as they headed into 2023.  It’s hard to say whether providers are too busy to think about 2023 just yet (a mistake) or are simply tired of answering surveys and polls (understandable).  However,...

HME NewsPoll, Home Medical Equipment (HME)


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