Financials

Option Care Announces Record Q3 Results: For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2002, Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based Option Care reported a net income of $3.9 million, or 19 cents per diluted share, an increase of 58 percent compared to $2.5 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, for the same quarter the previous year.

Sales for the quarter increased 44 percent, from $56.1 million in 2001 to $80.9 million.

“Both our infusion and specialty pharmacy services businesses continue to grow, clearly demonstrating the cross-selling opportunities and synergies that exist between the two lines of business,” said Raj Rai, Option Care's president and chief executive officer.

Gentiva Reports Third-Quarter Growth: For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2002, Gentiva Health Services, Melville, N.Y., reported a net income of $2.7 million, or 10 cents per share, compared to a loss of $5.1 million, or 22 cents per share, for the same quarter the previous year.

Third-quarter revenue was $188.4 million, compared to $175.5 million for the same quarter the previous year.

“During our first full quarter of operations as a standalone home health services company, we accomplished several of our key objectives,” said Ron Malone, Gentiva's chairman and chief executive officer. “We demonstrated growth in both revenue and earnings. We reduced our corporate overhead from an annualized rate of $53 million to the current run rate of less than $43 million. We improved the efficiency of the business, and we continued to invest in our infrastructure to support ongoing growth.”

Agreements

MEDIQ/PRN and Barton Medical Sign Patient-Transfer Product Agreement: MEDIQ/PRN Life Support Services of Pennsauken, N.J., a moveable critical care and life support medical equipment rental business, has agreed to use Austin, Texas-based Barton Medical as its exclusive distributor of patient transfer products. Barton manufactures a line of convertible mobility chairs designed to transfer a patient from a bed to a chair.

Fraud & Abuse

Chicago Provider Settles with DOJ: As a result of an ongoing investigation into a 1995 fraud scheme — in which Medicare paid $1,074 per month for medically unnecessary incontinence supplies for each of 600 Chicago-area nursing home residents — Scott Sandler Oct. 31 reached a settlement with the federal government.

Sandler, whom the U.S. attorney Raymond Gruender charged with participating in the scheme, agreed to pay $58,325 and to be excluded from the Medicare program for five years.

The government's ongoing efforts to recover more than $1.5 million in improper payments for these incontinence supplies targets seven additional Chicago-area home medical equipment providers.

Noteworthy

VGM Announces Heartland Conference Events: The VGM Group's annual educational event, The Heartland Conference, will take place May 28 through May 31, 2003, in Waterloo, Iowa. This year's theme is “Experience the Magic of Heartland,” and the event will include more than 60 seminars on subjects such as HME/respiratory, rehab, products and technology, and orthotics and prosthetics, the company said. For more information, call (800) 642-6065, or visit the Heartland Department on the Web at www.heartland2003.com.

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