Industry News BD acquires Tepha, Inc., to drive new innovations in soft tissue repair and regeneration BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (Franklin Lakes, NJ) has acquired Tepha, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of a proprietary resorbable polymer technology. Tepha’s proprietary resorbable polymer (Poly 4-hydroxybutyric acid, P4HB) technology platform provides additional innovation potential that can accelerate the growth of BD’s surgical mesh portfolio and drives the company into potential new areas within soft tissue repair, reconstruction and regeneration, BD says. The acquisition of Tepha also provides strategic vertical integration of an important supply chain component for BD’s existing Phasix Mesh products. Tepha’s GalaFLEX portfolio, also based on the novel P4HB polymer, is included in the acquisition. Tepha’s GalaFLEX products are a bioresorbable scaffold for soft tissue support and to repair, elevate and reinforce deficiencies where weakness or voids exist that require the addition of material to obtain the desired surgical outcome. The BD Interventional segment intends to expand the applicability of Tepha’s technology to other medical applications and to drive the transformation of soft tissue repair and
regeneration as part of its strategy to innovate solutions for clinicians and patients in the future. Tepha is the sixth tuck-in acquisition that BD has completed in fiscal 2021. The transaction is expected to be immaterial to BD’s fiscal 2021 financial results. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
CMS proposes 2022 OPPS rates, higher hospital price transparency penalty CMS is seeking greater hospital price transparency enforcement through the newly proposed Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule for calendar year 2022. The proposed rule would make changes to dozens of health policies, among those changes would be an increase in the monetary penalty CMS can impose on hospitals that fail to comply with the price transparency requirements that took effect January 1, 2021. Those requirements include publishing payer-specific negotiated rates and other pricing information on the hospital’s public website and providing a consumer-friendly list of prices for shoppable services. If the rule is finalized as is, the penalties would increase to a minimum civil monetary penalty of $300 per day for smaller hospitals with a bed count of 30 or fewer and $10 per bed per day for hospitals with a
bed count greater than 30, up to a daily dollar amount of $5,500. For a full calendar year of noncompliance, hospitals could be penalized a minimum of $109,500 per hospital and a maximum of $2,007,500. The CY 2022 OPPS proposed rule would also boost hospital Medicare reimbursement next year by 2.3%. The increase is based on the projected hospital market basket increase of 2.5% reduced by 0.2 percentage points for the productivity adjustment. Additionally, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) will see a 2.3% increase in Medicare reimbursement next year as long as the facilities meet relevant quality reporting requirements. CMS proposed to maintain the payment rate of average sales price (ASP) minus 22.5% for certain separately payable drugs or biologicals acquired through the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The payment rate was implemented under the Trump administration in 2018 and significantly cut hospital reimbursement for facilities participating in the federal program.
Prices for cardboard boxes, wood pallets increase amid tight supply The prices for shipping supplies, such as corrugated boxes and wood pallets, have been climbing recently amid tight supply, according to the www.repertoiremag.com
•
September 2021
51
