As DreamIt Ventures kicks off a call for applications for its second class of DreamIt Health in Philly, more and more applicants have smartphone diagnostic tools. This trend in mhealth devices is prompting a shift in how DreamIt characterizes the accelerator to...
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Industry
HME News: VGM gathers bidding comments
The VGM Group has received 280 replies so far for its online competitive bidding survey, and it doesn’t want to stop there. The group created the survey to make it easier for providers to respond to CMS’s recent request for public comment on a proposal to expand the...
Companies Test Plans to Cut Their Health Costs
At Walgreen, the giant drugstore chain, employees now have a much broader choice of insurers and plans. Once limited to two options, either from a local Blue Cross plan or UnitedHealthcare, workers can now choose among as many as 25 plans from five insurers, depending...
Telehealth Initiative Launched in Northern California
Patients in rural northern California communities will now have faster, more convenient access to specialty care in their area thanks to a new telehealth initiative announced by the Blue Shield of California and the Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health. Many...
Michigan mobile health initiative aims to cut hospital costs, readmissions
Community EMS, a Southfield, Mich., ambulance and consulting company, has begun pilot testing a mobile health initiative to use paramedics and telemedicine to assess the health of chronic disease patients who develop non-emergency health problems. The pilot is viewed...
Highmark Independence merger failed in ‘09
Highmark Blue Cross tried to merge with Independence Blue Cross of Philadelphia in 2009, but concerns raised by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department caused the companies to withdraw the plan. According to news releases issued at the time from Highmark and the...
Medtrade Spring Attracting New Blood
Ron Resnick has seen the challenges mount for HME providers across the country. As president of Blue Chip Medical Products Inc, Resnick believes part of the problem is that too many dealers are simply not aware of how much help is available. “A lot of dealers do not...
HME News: Philips Respironics recalls 600 vents
Philips Respironics initiated a worldwide recall of 600 Trilogy Ventilators, models 100, 200 and 202, according to a Feb. 19 release. The voluntary recall is to address a potential defect in part of the power management board, which could cause the ventilator to fail...
HME News: ResMed founder named to CONNECT Hall of Fame
ResMed Founder Peter Farrell has been inducted into the CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame for his work in sleep and respiratory medicine, the company announced Feb. 19. In 1989, Farrell established San Diego-based ResMed to treat sleep-disordered breathing. The eighth...
NORC at the University of Chicago Selected by CMS to Carry Out Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
NORC at the University of Chicago has been selected to lead the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), the leading source of information and analysis of the Medicare program's direct impact on beneficiaries. The survey will also play an essential role in...
Florida Blue CEO says single-payer is wrong for future of health care
Is the Affordable Care Act the first-step toward a single-payer health care system? “Some people think so,” Pat Geraghty, CEO of Florida Blue, told Watchdog.org. Geraghty’s guarded response came on the heels of a presentation he gave Tuesday at the Economic Club of...
DeVilbiss Healthcare Introduces Innova Full Face CPAP Mask
DeVilbiss Healthcare introduced the Innova Full Face Mask, the latest addition to its line of Sleep interfaces. The Innova mask, now offered in both Nasal and Full Face options, features the patented AIRgel cushion for maximum comfort and minimum weight. The AIRgel...