HomeCare News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 12, 2019)—A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week would allow some nurses and other health care practitioners who aren't physicians to approve patients for home health care services.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (April 12, 2019)—Numotion, a provider of complex rehab technology, has announced it will soon offer an innovative new system, Independence Drive, that enables powered wheelchair users to control their chair using only their eyes. Independence Drive is an alternative drive control system for wheelchairs that empowers more people to remain independently mobile.

SHOREVIEW, Minn. (April 11, 2019)—Maxwell Healthcare Associates (MHA), a home health and hospice consulting firm, announced tremendous company growth led by tripling its year-over-year top-line performance. In the last year MHA doubled its customer base, more than tripled its consultant count, added new partners and broadened its service lines.

WATERLOO, Iowa (April 10, 2019)—VGM has announced the schedule for its annual Heartland Conference, which takes place June 10–12, 2019.

VGM’s Heartland Conference, now in its 18th year, is a two-day, members-only conference and networking event. This event offers education related to the home medical equipment (HME) industry in areas such as retail, rehab, marketing, accessibility, compliance and leadership, among others.

(April 9, 2019)—The owners of dozens of durable medical equipment (DME) companies, along with executives at five telemedicine companies and three licensed medical professionals, have been charged in what is being called one of the largest health care fraud schemes in United States history, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 9, 2019) —The former CEO of a pain management company was found guilty by a federal jury for his role in an illegal kickback scheme involving more than $4 million in tainted durable medical equipment (DME) claims to Medicare.

PHOENIX and SAN FRANCISCO (April 9, 2019)—Cypress HomeCare Solutions, a homecare agency in Arizona, announced that it is joining the Honor Care Network. The Honor Care Network is comprised of local homecare agencies dedicated to improving the quality standards of homecare.

DALLAS (April 9, 2019)—Axxess, a health care technology company, has hired industry veteran Deborah Hoyt to oversee the company’s engagement in public policy initiatives.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 8, 2019)—Cahaba Media Group is pleased to announce that Hannah Wolfson has joined the company as editor of HomeCare Magazine.

Wolfson previously served as director of communications at Birmingham-Southern College (BSC), where she oversaw the writing, editing and production of the university’s external communications and served as editor of the school’s alumni magazine, “’Southern.”

Via NAHC, WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 3, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted long-awaited information about the next steps for its Review Choice Demonstration, which will begin in Illinois on June 1, 2019.

WATERLOO, Iowa (April 5, 2019)—End users of home medical equipment (HME) and family caregivers will have an opportunity to share their experience obtaining HME, supplies and services impacted by the Competitive Bidding Program in the gap period across former competitive bid areas (CBAs), rural areas and non-bid non-rural areas through an online survey by

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 5, 2019)—Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report titled, “Medicare And Medicaid CMS Should Assess Documentation Necessary to Identify Improper Payments.” For the report, the GAO examined the portion of the improper payment rates for Medicare and Medicaid programs that are attributed to insufficient documentation.

ATLANTA (April 5, 2019)—Brightree introduced Advanced Analytics, an analytics platform for HMEs that highlights workflow insights, KPI tracking and peer benchmarking, without requiring users to aggregate data themselves.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 3, 2019)—Encompass Health Corp., the fourth-largest provider of Medicare-certified skilled home health services, will buy the assets of the privately owned Alacare Home Health & Hospice.

The companies announced the deal on April 1; the terms were not disclosed. Birmingham, Alabama-based Alacare operates 23 home health locations and 23 hospice locations in Alabama and generated about $117 million in revenues last year.

AMSTERDAM (April 2, 2019)—Royal Philips, a provder of health technology, announced the launch of DreamWisp, an over-the-nose nasal mask that allows patients with sleep apnea to sleep in any position they want. With its robust nasal cushion and top-of-the-head tube design, DreamWisp delivers a new level of comfort and freedom of movement, providing patients with the therapy option that best suits their needs.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 2, 2019)—AAHomecare has partnered with other leading home medical equipment (HME) stakeholders to develop comprehensive online educational resources to help suppliers understand the rules and requirements for competitive bidding (CB) Round 2021, which can be found at dmecbpeducation.com.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (April 1, 2019)—LifeMatters, a homecare and care management company dedicated to improving the quality of at-home care and reducing the overall cost of health care, announced the appointment of Daniel M. Gold as its chief operating officer. Gold is a health care industry expert with strong operational, business and leadership abilities.

CHICAGO (April 1, 2019)—BrightStar Care, an in-home care franchise, is igniting its growth strategy of targeting independent in-home care agencies that make viable candidates to convert to the BrightStar Care system.

Via NAHC (March 28, 2019)—A New York Court of Appeals ruling will allow homecare providers in that state to continue to pay “sleep in” aides for 13 hours of a 24-hour shift, as long as the employees are given three hours for meal breaks and eight hours of sleep, at least five of which must be uninterrupted.