MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (April 6, 2022)—Nonin Medical announced the appointment of five new members to the company’s board of directors. The new directors bring a diverse and unique set of experiences, along with a passion for growth and innovation in the medical device and health care sectors. Together, they will provide Nonin with strategic guidance and support the company’s continued growth.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (April 6, 2022)—Forcura, a health care technology company that enables safer patient care transitions and coordination, announced it has appointed David Kerr as its new chief technology officer (CTO). Kerr, who previously served as Forcura’s vice president of engineering, will be responsible for leading Forcura’s technology vision, enhancing existing offerings and bringing new digital capabilities to life. 
 

HARTFORD, Conn. (April 5, 2022)—CareCentrix, an independent home-centered company that coordinates care to the home for health plans, patients and providers, announced a rebrand of the Turn-Key Health palliative care solution to Serious Illness Care at Home, which provides a population health approach to home-based serious illness care. Turn-Key began providing palliative services nationally in 2016 and was acquired by CareCentrix in 2020.



CHICAGO (March 31 2022)—The Vistria Group announced its investment in Professional Health Care Network (PHCN), a home health care management services company that partners with health plans and providers to increase the access and value of home-based clinical care. The transaction with PHCN represents the fifth investment from Vistria Fund IV, a $2.68 billion fund.

BOSTON (March 29, 2022)—Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that home health agency Compassionate Homecare, Inc. has agreed to pay $6.53 million to MassHealth to resolve allegations that it billed MassHealth for services that were not authorized by a physician. In addition, up to $375,000 will be set aside for payment of unpaid wages for former Compassionate employees.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. and LAFAYETTE, La. (March 29, 2022)—UnitedHealth Group has announced plans to acquire LHC Group, a national patient-focused provider of high-quality in-home health care services for about $5.4 billion cash value. The acquisition plan calls for LHC Group to combine with Optum Health, an information and technology-enabled health services business. The agreement calls for the acquisition of LHC Group’s outstanding common stock for $170 per share. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 25, 2022)—The bipartisan Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act is new legislation introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives that would extend the acute care hospital at home waiver program. Initially introduced in November 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the program provides an alternative setting of care for certain conditions, such as asthma, pneumonia and COPD.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 24, 2022)—In a letter urging Congressional leaders to stave off a financial calamity that could harm older adults, Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services, called for the continuation of the Medicare “sequestration holiday”—as well as continued and expanded Provider Relief Funds (PRF) to support aging services providers hard hit by continued COVID-19-related expenses. 


WALTHAM & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 22, 2022)—Fresenius Medical Care, a provider of products and services for individuals with kidney diseases, InterWell Health, a physician organization driving innovation in the kidney care industry, and Cricket Health, a provider of value-based kidney care with an industry-leading patient engagement and data platform, announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to create an independent new company.

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. (March 22, 2022)—Family Resource Home Care announced that it has received nine Best of Home Care Awards from the annual Home Care Pulse report that honors agencies that achieve best-in-class client and caregiver satisfaction scores in the Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice category from Home Care Pulse. These awards are granted only to the top-ranking homecare providers, based on caregiver satisfaction scores gathered by Home Care Pulse. 

The COVID-19 pandemic kept members of the home infusion industry from meeting in person for two years, but also highlighted the field’s strengths and brought public awareness of home infusion’s potential in the health care continuum, Connie Sullivan, president and CEO of the National Home Infusion Association (NHIA), told members and other attendees recently at the organization’s annual conference.