HME News in 10

Today’s guest is Ryan Wood, chief information security officer for VGM Group. He joins HME News in 10 to talk about how the cybersecurity and infrastructure landscape is quickly evolving, what will make Change Healthcare-like cyberattacks more common and why ChatGPT and the like are both a blessing and a curse.    Hosts:  Liz Beaulieu  Theresa Flaherty    Guest:  Ryan Wood 

Today’s guest is Roxanne Venard, a registered respiratory therapist and president of Ascent Respiratory Care. She joins HME News in 10 to discuss lessons learned through several years of upheaval in the respiratory market. There’s no need to go it alone, she says. “Just get everyone on your team involved and you’ll make it through the tough times.” Hosts:  Liz Beaulieu  Theresa Flaherty  Guest:  R...

Today’s guest is Justin Mortara, president and CEO of EnsoData. He joins HME News in 10 to talk about how the company’s new strategic partnership with React Health allows its AI technology to cross over from the sleep testing to the sleep therapy space, maximining its ability to “make health care better.” Mortara also discusses the importance of predicting, versus reacting to, a person’s difficult...

Since leaving AdaptHealth, Gary Sheehan has “leaned into” a few different things, including joining Darby as a growth advisor and launching Scorton Creek Capital. His goal: Helping the HME industry, which he was born into, leverage technology to deliver more care in the home. Sheehan joins HME News in 10 to talk about where he sees opportunity for the industry to be more broadly connected to the c...

Dexter Braff, founder & president of The Braff Group, returns to HME News in 10 to talk about current trends in M&A. Hear what Braff has to say about why it’s more expensive to complete an acquisition these days, what buyers and sellers are doing to get deals across the finish line and why M&A remains an important piece of the growth strategy for companies Hosts: Liz Beaulieu Theresa F...

Welcome to a special episode of HME News in 10 sponsored and developed by SleepRes. Today’s guest is Kami Harold, vice president of sales for SleepRes, which makes the V-Com, a small device that softens peak respiratory flow for patients using CPAP therapy. She joins HME News in 10 to talk about how the company’s founder, Dr. William H. Noah, took a deep dive into engineering and physics to develo...

Jason Kelln, an ATP and CRTS who is the sales manager at PrairieHeart Mobility in Saskatchewan, joins HME News in 10 to talk about being named the first president-elect of NRRTS from Canada. He shares why the organization wants a “bigger stage” beyond North America and how, regardless of geography, the common goal should be having certified professionals, quality products and fair reimbursement. H...

Andrea Stark, a Medicare consultant and reimbursement specialist for MiraVista, returns to HME News in 10 to talk about all things Medicare Advantage. We take a deep dive into increasing enrollment; increasing single-source contracts, including Humana’s with AdaptHealth and Rotech; and increasing scrutiny by the government. Stark says the system is not broken, but HME providers – “an extremely val...

Welcome to a special episode of HME News in 10 sponsored and developed by Computers Unlimited. Today’s guest is David Schaer, president of Computers Unlimited. Schaer joins HME News in 10 to talk about how artificial intelligence is redefining what business management solutions can do – whether it’s extracting data from medical documentation or predicting health services based on prior history. “I...

Welcome to a special episode of HME News in 10 sponsored and developed by Tactical Back Office. Today’s guest is Todd Usher, founder of Tactical Back Office. He joins HME News in 10 to talk about how he launched the remote staffing company in 2019, after successfully leveraging employees based in the Philippines to reduce shortages and decrease costs at his own HME company. He also talks about the...

Welcome to a special episode of HME News in 10 sponsored and developed by VGM Insurance Services. Today’s guest is Blair Eichenberger, vice president of marketing for VGM Insurance Services. She joins HME News in 10 to talk about the Cs of workers’ compensation: cost, claims process, coverage network and compliance. She also talks about how a holistic approach to workers’ comp is about more than a...

Today's guest is Allen Hunt, president of Hart Medical Equipment, a health system-owned HME provider in Southfield, Mich. He joins HME News in 10 to talk about why conversations with referral sources shouldn't be about saving on the cost of a walker but about speeding up access to care - the true source of cost savings. He also talks about the HME provider’s role as an extension of the health syst...

Today’s guest is Ryan Colby, who spent seven years at Uber and who is now head of go-to-market for Tomorrow Health. He joins HME News in 10 to talk about how companies with marketplaces like Uber and Tomorrow Health “succeed or fail based on how well they serve the supply side” – a big reason why he’s spending a lot of his time meeting with and getting feedback from HME providers. Colby also talks...

Today’s guests are familiar names in the industry: Tom Ryan and Jay Witter of AAHomecare. They join HME News in 10 to talk about the industry’s recent wins in Congress and AAHomecare’s plan to build on those wins in the year ahead. A big part of that plan? Cultivating relationships on the Hill, from congressional staffers to party leaders. Hosts: Liz Beaulieu Theresa Flaherty Guests: Tom Ryan Jay...

Today’s guest is Alex Hoopes, director of Healthcare Innovation for Cardinal Health at-Home Solutions. Hoopes joins HME News in 10 to talk about the “signals” pointing to hospital-at-home as the next frontier in health care and Cardinal Health’s efforts to build the middle- and last-mile infrastructure needed to make it an increasing reality. He also talks about how the transition will take “an ar...

Welcome to a special episode of HME News in 10 sponsored and developed by McKesson. Our guest is Bonnie Jablonowski, director of product and portfolio management for McKesson. She talks about the benefits of leveraging connected patient engagement technology to free up staff from having to manually call patients for resupplies, key in orders, confirm insurance and more. For more information, go to...

Today’s guest is Annie Erstling, chief strategy officer at Forcura, a health care workflow management company. Erstling joins HME News in 10 to talk about using technology to bridge the communication gap between payers and providers, and not waiting until your story is perfect to start building those relationships. Hosts: Liz Beaulieu Theresa Flaherty Guest: Annie Erstling

Today’s guest is John Gallagher, vice president of government relations for VGM. Gallagher, who’s racked up several million travel miles in his 20 years on the job, joins HME News in 10 to talk about what it’s really like to be an “HME Road Warrior.” Find out why “all politics are local,” the benefits of not traveling light, and why it’s important to have a dog. Hosts: Liz Beaulieu Theresa Flahert...

Today’s guest is Tyler Riddle, CEO of MRS Homecare, a Georgia-based full-line home medical equipment provider. Riddle joins HME News in 10 to talk about why the needle is finally moving in Washington, D.C., on the importance and benefits of HME, and how the 22-year-old staffers working in congressional offices “rule this country.” Come for the lobbying advice; stay for the Dax Shepard and Coen bro...

Today’s guest is Dr. Jennifer Martin, who was recently named president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s board of directors. Dr. Martin joins HME News in 10 to discuss why good sleep is the “secret sauce” to good health and how recent challenges in the CPAP market should have everyone taking a step back to ask, “What’s best for the patient?” Hosts: Liz Beaulieu Theresa Flaherty Guest: Dr...

Today’s guest is Brad Smith, a managing partner at Vertess. Smith joins HME News in 10 to talk about why deal activity was slower than he anticipated in Q1 – his firm closed three deals – but will heat up, particularly in Q2 and Q4. He also talks about the role of the $2 trillion worth of liquidity in the financial market right now and valuations that are “creeping down but still robust.” Hosts: L...

Today’s guest is Boone Lockard, the new director of VGM Respiratory, who has spent 12 years working on both the provider and manufacturer aisles of the industry. Lockard joins HME News in 10 to talk about why there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for the CPAP market, how the new NCD for oxygen will be a “big win” and why there’s promise in resurging value-based care models. Hosts: Liz Beaulieu...

Today’s guest is Laura Williard, vice president of payer relations for AAHomecare. Williard joins HME News in 10 to talk about how the growing Medicare Advantage market creates opportunities for HME providers. With more insurers entering the market – many of them smaller and more willing to think outside the box – providers have a better chance of getting in-network, developing close relationships...

Today’s guest is Dexter Braff, president of The Braff Group, a health care M&A advisory firm. Braff joins HME News in 10 to talk about Owens & Minor’s planned acquisition of Apria and how the deal represents the “end of an era” for M&A in the HME industry. Listen to find out why the deal’s estimated $1.45 billion value is not what it seems and how it’s another sign of the seismic shift toward more...

Today’s guest is Andrea Stark, the founder and head of reimbursement at MiraVista LLC. Andrea joins HME News in 10 to talk about the biggest development in the HME industry in 2021: a new national coverage determination for home oxygen therapy that expands coverage to acute conditions and cluster headaches, and eliminates the CMN requirement. “We haven’t experienced a coverage expansion like this...