LAS VEGAS — This year's new product winners at Medtrade Spring, held April 12-14 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, utilize technology and design to promote quality of life and business opportunities.
Top honors in the New Product Pavilion awards, based on attendee votes, went to:
ELYRIA, Ohio — Invacare announced Friday that Doug Newlin, senior vice president of global engineering, will assume leadership of the company's regulatory team in place of Colleen Craven, chief compliance officer, who has resigned for personal reasons. Newlin has experience working with the Food & Drug Administration from his time at Fenwal, a medical device company and former division of Baxter International.
BILLINGS, Mont. — Computers Unlimited has hired Joe Silverthorne to manage and oversee all sales activities for the company. Silverthorne brings seven-plus years' experience in selling enterprise-wide application software and computer systems.
NEW YORK — Krystal Knight, MPH, will join the Medicare Rights Center's Washington, D.C., office to serve in the newly created position of State Program and Policy Coordinator.
Knight will oversee a new project funded by Atlantic Philanthropies to expand the Center's community-based education and policy programs in five states — Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Maine and Wisconsin.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Community Pharmacists Association has appointed Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, as executive vice president and CEO following the resignation of Kathleen Jaeger.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has added Julie Philp as director of federal government affairs, and Joel Kurzman as director of state government affairs.
Both will play a role in maintaining the viability of pharmacy access and services to improve patient health and reduce health care costs, according to the association.
WATERLOO, Iowa — VGM Group has compiled a team of professional audit consultants and developed a new website that offers help with audits at www.vgmaudithelp.com. Features include a blog detailing the latest audit news and "road maps" to guide providers through various audit processes.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — After donating more than $73,000 to industry advocacy efforts last year — $24,356 each, to be specific, to NCART, NRRTS and AAHomecare — MK Battery is working on a "Power for Funding" event that will take place at Medtrade 2011 in Atlanta.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced legislation April 14 that would make summary-level Medicare data publicly available to allow better oversight of the program. Even though the government has stepped up fraud detection and enforcement, Durbin said, catching false or inflated claims is a challenge since Medicare pays 4.5 million claims per work day.
BALTIMORE — The Medicare Learning Network has issued a series of new fact sheets for DMEPOS providers, all available for download:
HINGHAM, Mass. — The Jurisdiction A Outreach & Education Team currently has membership openings for the 2011 POE Advisory Group, which provides input on provider/supplier education topics, materials and workshops. The group meets quarterly, with the next meeting scheduled May 11 in Philadelphia.
SUWANNEE, Ga. — UroMed has been ranked among the Top 100 companies in Metro Atlanta's Top Workplaces, published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The urological supply company, among the country's largest providers of disposable catheters, placed fourth out of 50 entries in the small business category.
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Seating and positioning products manufacturer The Comfort Company has been named vendor of the year by the New England Medical Equipment Dealers association.
TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Infopia America announced earlier this month that its new SmartDiabetes product line has launched in 284 Walgreens drug stores in central and northeast Florida, including locations in Jacksonville, Orlando, Lakeland, Daytona Beach and Melbourne.
The stores will be the first in the national drug store chain to promote integrated and coordinated management of diabetes with the products among the patient, physician and pharmacist.
DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia — Uplift Technologies announced last week that a portion of its May 2011 lift seat sales will be donated to support arthritis research.
Recently, several Uplift products were awarded the "Ease-of-Use Commendation" after passing stringent tests developed by the Arthritis Foundation and conducted at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta.
NORWOOD, Mass.—In an effort to emphasize the
company’s focus on patient compliance and health care cost
containment, Reliable Respiratory has launched a marketing campaign
that incorporates bottles of Tabasco sauce.
Cards being distributed to referral sources by the eight-year-old
company’s account reps read, “We’re HOT on
Compliance & Cost Containment.”
ARLINGTON, Va.—AAHomecare’s Regulatory Council has its hands full this year. With ZPIC, RAC, CERT and medical review audits in play, oversight has never been so intense.
CLEARWATER, Fla.—Lincare reported first-quarter results yesterday showing net revenues of $431.6 million, a 5.2 percent increase over $410 million in the first quarter of 2010. The increase included approximately 9.3 percent internal and acquisition growth offset by a 4.1 percent negative impact from $16.7 million of Medicare payment changes, the company said in a release.
LAS VEGAS—When Chris Kinard asked Medtrade Spring
attendees to describe the HME industry’s current condition in
one word, the responses he got were “catastrophe,”
“chaos,” “uncertainty,”
“change” and “craziness.”
Those answers, said Kinard, market analyst for software vendor QS1,
reminded him of the old “Hee Haw” TV show song:
Gloom, despair, and agony on me,
