BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (January 27, 2022)—The Food and Drug Administration has expanded Philips Respironics’ product recall, adding the Trilogy Evo ventilator and muffler repair kits to the list—and declared it a level 1 recall, the most severe.
DME
WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 27, 2022)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the 2021 Medicare Fee-For-Service Supplemental Improper Payment Data report. This is an annual report published by CMS’s Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program that is intended to measure the improper payments made in the Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 2, 2021)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published fee schedule adjustments for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) for calendar year (CY) 2022. Adjustments differ depending on whether the items serviced are competitive bidding program (CBP) items or in former competitive bidding areas (CBAs). Below is the breakdown:
MOBILE, Ala. (October 19, 2021)—Supreme Medical Fulfillment has joined the American Associatoin for Homecare (AAHomecare)—the national association dedicated to advancing the home medical equipment (HME) community.
ATLANTA (October 14, 2021)—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) is proud to announce the 2021 Van Miller Homecare Champion award, recognizing outstanding home medical equipment (HME) service, will be presented to Steve Ackerman, president and CEO of Spectrum Medical in Silver Spring, Maryland.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 13, 2021)—Ninety-five members of the House of Representatives have joined a Congressional sign-on letter urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to finalize the durable medical equipment (DME) rule and extend the 50/50 blended rates for suppliers serving rural areas.
AUSTIN, Texas, (October 11, 2021)—Movair, a respiratory therapy company formerly known as International Biophysics Corporation, announced the U.S. commercial launch of Luisa, an advanced ventilator intended for use in homes, institutions, hospitals or portable applications for both invasive and noninvasive ventilation. Luisa can be used through the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization in response to the increasing need for safe and effective ventilators.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 7, 2021)—The American Assocation for Homecare (AAHomecare) shared that it had received confirmation from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the agency that manages the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), that durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers are eligible for General Distribution Phase 3 and Phase 4 funding.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 1, 2021)—AAHomecare’s first-ever virtual legislative conference saw 140 durable medical equipment (DME) industry advocates engage more than 220 Congressional offices on DME priorities, including addressing Medicare rates that don’t reflect the market realities and rising costs currently facing suppliers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 1, 2021)—The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made $25.5 billion in funds available starting Sept. 29th. HHS is now accepting applications for General Distribution Phase 4 and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments. HHS is also accepting requests for reconsideration of Phase 3 payment calculations.
A new venture from leaders in the durable medical equipment (DME) industry is looking to increase the use of e-prescribe across the DME space. The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare), VGM & Associates, Ltd., AdaptHealth, LLC., Apria Healthcare Group LLC, Lincare Inc. and Rotech Healthcare Inc., have joined to form an independent e-prescribe company DMEscripts.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 8, 2021)—Leaders of the durable medical equipment (DME) industry announced the formation of DMEscripts LLC, an independent e-prescribe company dedicated to improving the patient, prescriber and provider experience by eliminating inefficiencies and reducing paperwork.
NEWARK, N.J. (August 12, 2021)—A federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey, returned a superseding indictment this week charging a Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies with orchestrating a health care fraud and illegal kickback scheme that involved the submission of over $784 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. This is one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes ever charged by the Justice Department.
PITTSBURGH, Penn. (June 8, 202)—sovaSage Incorporated, a Pittsburgh based company, announced the latest release of its TherapistAssist software (version 7.0). This new release provides an effortless and instantaneous handoff of mask and mask sizing recommendations between sleep labs, home sleep study services and durable medical equipment (DME) providers.
By Jonathan Mattise, Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 22, 2021)—State and federal authorities announced Wednesday that they have reached a $4.1 million settlement in a civil case that made claims of Medicaid and Medicare fraud against a now-shuttered pain clinic company and several of its owners, including a former state senator.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. & WAYNE, Penn. (March 25, 2021)—Mitchell | Genex |Coventry, a provider of cost-containment technology, provider networks, clinical services, pharmacy benefit management and disability management, announced the launch of the organization’s new specialty networks business, Apricus. The business will combine the best of what has been historically known as DMEplus and Priority Care Solutions.
LOS ANGELES (March 25, 2021)—The Wound Pros announced that Michael MacDonald would be joining its team as vice president of sales and marketing for eastern U.S. MacDonald brings a wealth of experience in sales, marketing, and training as well as operations experience in many areas of healthcare with a passion for aligning teams to transform business.