On the Editor's Desk

There’s been a lot of talk about the increased appreciation for home care due to the COVID-19  pandemic. And now we’re seeing lawmakers walk the talk. The omnibus bill they passed in December included not one but a handful of provisions that impact the HME industry: An extension of the 75/25 blended Medicare reimbursement rate in non-competitive bidding/non-rural areas through the end of the public health emergency or Dec. 31, 2023, whichever is later. A delay of the...

When I spoke with Geoffrey Purtill in September, he hinted that some dramatic changes were coming Invacare’s way, but he couldn’t say at that time what they were. The need for changes didn’t come as a surprise. Following a consent decree with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Invacare has continued to struggle to find its footing and then the pandemic hit, with all of its baggage. A company that once had a market cap of more than $1 billion now stands at $19.72 million. But...

The recent HME News Business Summit, Sept. 18-20 at the Westin in downtown Nashville, Tenn., was the best yet. Here are some snippets from the event that I think are worth highlighting: On hospital-at-home: Medically Home’s Doug Clarke, formerly of CMS, says the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting transition of more care to the home has helped to eliminate a number of barriers to adoption. Previously, hospital-at-home didn’t take off at the agency because physicians were concerned...

We recently loaded the HME Databank (www.hmedatabank.com) with 2021 data, something I’ve been keen to look at to see the impact of current dynamics in the industry, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a major CPAP recall. Let’s start with the pandemic. While we were putting together this issue, Invacare released its second quarter financial results and company officials said they expected to see reduced COVID-related demand for respiratory products in the next several quarters,...

One of the main themes of the education at this year’s HME News Business Summit, Sept. 18-20 in Nashville, Tenn., will be the increasing interest in the home – the products and services provided there – by larger players in health care and investors.  Scan the stories in the July issue and you’ll see why.  Take this story, “AmerisourceBergen “de-risks” home infusion (see page 12).” Here we have AmerisourceBergen, a global health...

Am I the only one getting CPAP shortage vibes from the baby formula shortage?  I’m not going to lie. The formula shortage wasn’t fully on my radar until recently. With a seven-year-old, my days of buying formula are long over. But seven years ago, it would have been a different story, as my daughter was 100% formula fed. (My breastfeeding story, by the way, is not uncommon. Difficulty with latching. Supply issues with pumping. There is no shame here.)  I can’t imagine...

The most read stories of the first quarter of 2022 point to a lot of changes in the HME industry right now.  Our No. 1 most read story, “Owens & Minor buys Apria, reaches deeper into home care,” points to an accelerating trend in the larger health care industry where vertical silos are disintegrating. Here, we see a global distributor and logistics company buy an HME provider (this follows its previous acquisition of Byram Healthcare). These kinds of deals have happened before,...

When we included a Q&A with Josh Britten in our HME Newswire in February, I wasn’t surprised it resonated with readers. Britten, CEO of BritKare Home Medical, shared his battle to get back nearly $650,000 in denied Medicare claims – a battle that took him six years and more than $100,000 in legal and consultant fees. One provider responded to the story on Twitter by writing: “When you incentivize claims denial as a means of revenue generation you will find reasons to deny...

When I think about hot topics in health care these days, the escalating adoption of Medicare Advantage is at the top of the list. Enrollment in MA plans has more than doubled in the last 10 years to about 24 million in 2020, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. About 42% of Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in MA plans in 2021, KFF says.   Seema Verma, the former CMS Administrator, told HME News in October that, “We should see greater adoption in Medicare Advantage plans,...

Well, 2022 is certainly starting off with a bang. The first rumblings that big things are going to happen this year was an announcement on Jan. 6 by Stryker that it plans to acquire Vocera Communications. This does not have a direct impact on the HME industry, per se, but it does speak to large players in mostly the acute care space getting more serious about extending their reach beyond hospitals. Stryker said Vocera brings a portfolio of products to address “the increasing need for...