Mark Ray

Faced with declining reimbursement rates, many home medical equipment (HME) providers are looking for ways to increase revenue, sometimes by adding new product categories. Others are conducting patient population analyses to find ways to better serve their existing patients. Going deeper rather than broader lets them increase revenue while making patients' lives easier.

Granular media, smoke residue and Australian bush tomatoes. Studying those disparate subjects has earned three Bucknell juniors a singular national honor: the 2022 Goldwater Scholarship. Receiving recognition were Michael Bolish '23 of Latrobe, Pa., April Hurlock '23 of Gilbertsville, Pa., and Claire Marino '23, of Victor, N.Y.

When audiologist Erika Shakespeare and her husband, Brian, moved into an old farmhouse several years ago, their relationship suffered. "My husband and I have normal hearing, but when we moved into that house, we were starting to argue all the time, because we weren't hearing each other as well as we used to in our old environment," she says.

The decade-long growth of value-based care is affecting every area of healthcare — including the home medical equipment (HME) sector. To learn how the transition to value-based care models affects HME providers and about existing barriers to value-based care, we spoke with three experts.

In many respects, John and Denise Gillard are luckier than most grandparents. Since they moved from Kansas to Washington state, in September 2020, they live only 70 miles from their 4-year-old granddaughter, Cora Nelson. According to AARP, most grandparents have at least one grandchild who lives more than 200 miles away.

Having your car professionally detailed can set you back several hundred dollars, especially if you pay someone to come to your home or office. However, you can get great results yourself for a fraction of the cost. If you’re like Costco member Mike Schultz, you may even enjoy the experience.

From apples that are slightly dated to items returned by members, Costco takes steps to keep perfectly usable products out of local landfills. Through partnerships with various groups, these goods end up in needy communities where they’re put to good use.

Whether it's April in Paris or autumn in New York, someone right now is probably listening to a selection from The Great American Songbook. Maybe they're taking the A train to Harlem with Ella Fitzgerald or getting their kicks on Route 66 with Nat King Cole. Perhaps they're playing among the stars with Frank Sinatra or directing their feet to the sunny side of the street with Louis Armstrong.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, home infusion reimbursement rates weren't top of mind for Varner R. Richards, Pharm.D., CEO/owner of Columbia, S.C.-based Intramed Plus. Instead, he focused on how his infusion pharmacy could help local hospitals move patients home for post-acute infusion therapy.

With apologies to poet Robert Burns, the best-laid estate plans of women and men sometimes go awry.

Consider the friend of estate attorney Roz Carothers' client. The woman, a single parent, left behind a detailed estate plan, but also left behind a problem: after she died, the guardian she'd named for her teenage daughter declined to serve.

Robeson County, North Carolina, ranks dead last among the Tar Heel State’s 100 counties for health outcomes and health factors like smoking and obesity. Diabetes, cancer, poverty and a lack of local medical specialists make it hard for the rural county’s residents to maintain and improve their health. But the situation is slowly improving, thanks to Marshirl Locklear.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been deadly and disruptive. It's also been a real-world test of the best flu prevention strategies. Thanks to masking, social distancing, limited travel and the closure of schools, businesses and entertainment venues, the 2020-2021 flu season was extremely mild both in the United States and globally.

Hospitals should be places of healing, but far too often, patients develop infections before they can be discharged. In fact, hospital-acquired infections are among the most common hospital-related complications, affecting 1 in 25 patients, according to The New England Journal of Medicine. And they're largely preventable.

Ancillary services have long been a popular way to increase revenue for physician practices. In fact, 82% of practices offer at least one ancillary service. Such services account for 11% of revenue for both internal and family medicine practices, according to Medical Economics ' 92nd Physician Report.

If you hate Zoom meetings, imagine how Heidi Carles, 56, of Bernville, Pa., feels. Carles, an auction lead, cataloger and photographer for an online auction company, has hearing loss, which makes videoconferencing challenging at best. Early in the pandemic, Carles often struggled during calls that included dozens of co-workers. Between the crosstalk and background noise, she found them exhausting and frustrating.