BOSTON (March 29, 2022)—Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that home health agency Compassionate Homecare, Inc. has agreed to pay $6.53 million to MassHealth to resolve allegations that it billed MassHealth for services that were not authorized by a physician. In addition, up to $375,000 will be set aside for payment of unpaid wages for former Compassionate employees.

AUSTIN, Texas, (March 29, 2022)—CareFlash and Snowline Hospice announced that the organizations have entered into a collaborative partnership that leverages togetherness, empathy and nostalgia to enhance healing and aging journeys, chronic and cognitive illness, even in celebrating a loved one's memory. This agreement provides patients, families and communities access to CareFlash's signature platform, "The Careopolis, A Metropolis of Love and Empathy."

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. and LAFAYETTE, La. (March 29, 2022)—UnitedHealth Group has announced plans to acquire LHC Group, a national patient-focused provider of high-quality in-home health care services for about $5.4 billion cash value. The acquisition plan calls for LHC Group to combine with Optum Health, an information and technology-enabled health services business. The agreement calls for the acquisition of LHC Group’s outstanding common stock for $170 per share. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 25, 2022)—The bipartisan Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act is new legislation introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives that would extend the acute care hospital at home waiver program. Initially introduced in November 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the program provides an alternative setting of care for certain conditions, such as asthma, pneumonia and COPD.

SKILLMAN, N.J. (March 24, 2022)—Curasev, a provider of electronic medical record (EMR) solutions for durable medical equipment (DME), home medical equipment (HME) and home health providers, will be launching its academy-style training videos and integration with CardConnect at the Medtrade West 2022 show.

With the planned launch of the academy-style training videos, Curasev seeks to make it easier for HME and DME suppliers to transition from legacy systems.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 24, 2022)—In a letter urging Congressional leaders to stave off a financial calamity that could harm older adults, Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services, called for the continuation of the Medicare “sequestration holiday”—as well as continued and expanded Provider Relief Funds (PRF) to support aging services providers hard hit by continued COVID-19-related expenses. 

WALTHAM & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 22, 2022)—Fresenius Medical Care, a provider of products and services for individuals with kidney diseases, InterWell Health, a physician organization driving innovation in the kidney care industry, and Cricket Health, a provider of value-based kidney care with an industry-leading patient engagement and data platform, announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to create an independent new company.

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. (March 22, 2022)—Family Resource Home Care announced that it has received nine Best of Home Care Awards from the annual Home Care Pulse report that honors agencies that achieve best-in-class client and caregiver satisfaction scores in the Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice category from Home Care Pulse. These awards are granted only to the top-ranking homecare providers, based on caregiver satisfaction scores gathered by Home Care Pulse. 

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (March 18, 2022)—Perceptive Solutions, Inc., maker of WoundZoom Digital Wound Management, has announced the expanded functionality and benefits of their WoundZoom Mobile application with auto-border wound detection technology among the primary solution developments. These expanded capabilities create further workflow efficiencies for healthcare providers that measure, document and treat wounds.

BURKBENNET, Texas (March 18, 2022)—HomeWell Care Services, a nonmedical in-home care provider, has hired Erika Ehlers, a 25-year learning and training veteran, as senior director of training. Ehlers is the latest in a series of strategic hires by HomeWell to support new and future owners of the rapidly growing franchise brand, which recently posted record results for 2021.  
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 11, 2022)—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is pleased to formally announce that Kristen Wheeler has assumed the role of Executive Director of Private Duty Home Care at NAHC, effective Monday, March 7, 2022. Wheeler comes aboard following the departure of Emilie Bartolucci, who departed in November of 2021.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (March 10, 2022)—Empath Health’s CEO Rafael J. Sciullo was honored with the Galen Miller Leadership Award during the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) 2022 Leadership and Advocacy Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. Sciullo's legacy of leadership and innovation in the field of hospice and palliative care won him this maximum recognition.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (March 10, 2022)—Home Care Assistance, a provider of in-home care, today introduced a corporate rebrand that unifies the company around a common mission, values and new name. As TheKey, the company will build on a legacy of providing personalized solutions for clients and their families at every aging milestone, creating an unmatched homecare experience.

PHILADELPHIA (March 8, 2022)—Quil, the digital health joint venture between Comcast and Independence Health Group (Independence), announced the limited commercial availability of Quil Assure, the company's new connected home platform that helps seniors enjoy greater independence while exercising their preference for aging in place and strengthening support from family and friends serving as caregivers. 

LAS CRUCES, N.M (March 8, 2022)—Electronic Caregiver, a national digital health technology and services company, will debut Addison, the Virtual Caregiver, at the 2022 HIMSS Global Health Conference in Orlando, Florida, March 14-18. Addison is the next generation of remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology and offers a solution to the global caregiver crisis and the ongoing COVID-19 challenges by providing health care management outside the doctor’s four walls.

DENVER (March 4, 2022)—The Justice Department has concluded that the state of Colorado unnecessarily segregates people with physical disabilities in nursing facilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. The department’s findings, detailed in a letter to Colorado Governor Jared Polis, follow a thorough and multi-year investigation into the state’s system of care for people with physical disabilities.