WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 5, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that strengthens the agency's ability to stop fraud before it happens by keeping unscrupulous providers out of federal health insurance programs. The rule has been under consideration for more than three years, according to the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC).

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 5, 2019)—The American Association for Homecare’s (AAHomecare) newest council convened for the first time in Arlington, Virginia, last week and got off to a flying start. The initial meeting for the Payer Relations Council focused on establishing strategic objectives for 2020 and beginning to build the road map for the HME industry to succeed outside of the Medicare space.

BOSTON (September 5, 2019)—MobileHelp, a provider of mobile personal emergency response systems (mPERS) and health care technology, announced it is changing the name of its health care division to Clear Arch Health.

ATLANTA (September 4, 2019)—Diandra Bankhead, the owner and operator of Elite Homecare (Elite), an Atlanta-based home health care provider, has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid by submitting thousands of fraudulent claims for services that were never provided to medically fragile children under the Georgia Pediatric Program (GAPP).

WINTER PARK, Fla. (September 4, 2019)—HomeCare Connect, which manages home health services in the workers’ compensation industry, has hired Michelle “Nickcola” Wallace, CAPS as Complex Care Transition Manager. Wallace ensures that seriously injured workers receive appropriate home modifications and durable medical equipment in a timely and cost-effective manner.

ATLANTA, Ga. and DALLAS, Texas (September 3, 2019)—Axxess, a home health care technology company, and Trella Health, a source for post-acute performance analytics and outcomes data, have partnered to provide Axxess customers improved benchmark quality performance metrics while strengthening referral relationships to accelerate their growth.

PHOENIX, Ariz. (September 3, 2019)—Vantage Mobility International (VMI), a manufacturer of wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs), is pleased to announce an exclusive agreement with Mobility Networks, a manufacturer of vehicle accessibility solutions based in the United Kingdom. This exclusive distributor agreement will make VMI the sole provider of Mobility Networks’ global products for WAVs now sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico.