Latest news with #IPPS
Business Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Blue Yonder, Through Its Subsidiary Doddle, Acquires 100% Ownership of Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, announced today that – through its subsidiary Doddle Inc. – it has acquired Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions (IPPS), a joint venture between Doddle, a part of Blue Yonder, and Inmar, Inc. Blue Yonder, through its subsidiary Doddle, has now purchased the remaining 51% of IPPS, adding to the 49% that Doddle previously owned as of March 2022. Renamed Blue Yonder Reverse Retail Operations LLC, the entity will continue to support FedEx Easy Returns, which offers FedEx customers access to a low-cost, package- and label-free returns solution. FedEx Easy Returns is currently available at approximately 3,000 drop-off locations in the trusted returns network of FedEx Office and Kohl's stores across the U.S., with plans for swift growth. The service offered by Blue Yonder Reverse Retail Operations LLC is powered by the Blue Yonder Returns Management solution, which allows consumers to return their items without needing to print labels or have packaging, enhancing the overall convenience of the returns experience. The solution also helps streamline the returns process for retailers. Returns will be routed through a reverse logistics facility for optimal recovery, helping retailers ensure the accuracy and speed of the return, as well as potentially reducing waste. 'According to our Consumer Retail Returns Survey, consumers are more likely to use third-party returns services if they have convenient drop-off locations (60%) and offer faster refund processing (47%), so efficient returns are absolutely critical for improving consumer experiences while optimizing costs for retailers,' said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. 'The volume of consumer returns is growing exponentially, but the disparate elements of the reverse logistics process make it hard to keep up. Through the acquisition, we will continue making returns convenient and hassle-free for retailers and consumers.' The Blue Yonder Returns Management solution provides retailers, consumers and logistics service providers with the following benefits: Superior visibility: Retailers can track their returns across the end-to-end reverse supply chain, enabling them to make smarter inventory decisions. Reduced costs: Rather than shipping individually returned items from each consumer, returns are merged together and returned in bulk, minimizing logistics costs. Improved consumer experience: Thanks to a returns network with thousands of drop-off locations, consumers have more convenience, and with a more connected returns process, they also gain visibility into the return and speed for their refund. Enhanced sustainability: Since returned items are consolidated and shipped together, this minimizes packaging and reduces empty truck miles, helping to improve waste and carbon emissions, respectively. Improved cycle time: By improving the speed at which a return moves from drop-off, through sorting, back to sellable stock, retailers improve item availability and speed up inventory turns. 'The physical movement of returned items is a major supply chain challenge, yet drop-off locations, transport services, downstream processing tasks, and SKU ownership remain siloed,' said Tim Robinson, corporate vice president, Returns, Blue Yonder. 'With Blue Yonder Returns Management, retailers can optimize their returns process, enhancing speed, sustainability and cost effectiveness while simplifying the returns process for consumers.' About Blue Yonder Blue Yonder is the world leader in end-to-end digital supply chain transformation. With a unified, AI-driven platform and multi-tier network, Blue Yonder empowers businesses to operate sustainably, scale profitably, and delight their customers — all at machine speed. A pioneer in applying AI solutions to the most complicated supply chain challenges, Blue Yonder's modern innovations and unmatched industry expertise help more than 3,000 retailers, manufacturers, and logistics service providers confidently navigate supply chain complexity and disruption. 'Blue Yonder' is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name 'Blue Yonder' is a trademark and/or property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of the companies with which they are associated.
The Star
10-06-2025
- Health
- The Star
‘DRG grouper that can be used by all hospitals needed'
PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry should develop a national grouper on diagnosis-related groups (DRG) that will work for all hospitals. DRG groupers are used to categorise patients into DRGs, which are groups of cases with similar diagnoses, procedures and other characteristics. Prof Dr Maznah Dahlui, a health economist at Universiti Malaya and chairperson of the technical advisory committee for the DRG under the Health Ministry, said currently, there are different groupers based on hospital type. 'The ministry needs to come up with a DRG grouper that can be used by all types of hospitals. Currently, public hospitals use the grouper that they developed and teaching hospitals use the grouper developed by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, while some private hospitals adopt (the model) from Australia,' she said when contacted. The main purpose of the DRG grouper is to assign DRGs, which are then used to determine payment for the hospital stay under the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS). Prof Maznah said DRGs work as a costing model to improve hospital efficiency and as a payment model, but may not necessarily be applied for health insurance reimbursement. 'At the end of June, representatives from hospitals will have a workshop to discuss the development of the national grouper. 'Most likely, we will adopt the available grouper in public hospitals but modify it to consider patient characteristics (diagnosis and procedure) in private hospitals. So it's still under discussion,' she said. 'There is another group under the Health Ministry that looks at developing the health benefits package and the healthcare payment model for Malaysia, in preparation towards National Health Insurance (NHI). So, DRG is only part of and not necessarily only for NHI,' she said. The DRG, she added, is the bundling of treatment costs, which is equivalent to treating a certain DRG. 'We want to standardise how we group the patients for diagnosis plus procedure. It gives transparency of treatment cost,' she said. Dr Khor Swee Kheng, health systems specialist and CEO of Angsana Health, said implementation of DRG could take up to a decade if done in phases. 'Any DRG implementation should take five to 10 years, and it happens in phases. This has been the experience in other countries that have launched their DRGs, which started in 1983 in the United States,' he said. Dr Ginsky Chan, co-founder and access director at Angsana Health, said the phased introduction of DRGs, starting with minor illnesses, is a positive move towards value-based healthcare. 'Implementing it by the end of 2025 is ambitious but feasible with strong coordination. 'While it does not require a national insurance system immediately, it does highlight the need for integrated financing across the public and private sectors. A phased, collaborative approach will be key to its success,' he said. The DRG-based model has been implemented in a number of countries, including Indonesia and South Korea. However, there appears to be some resistance in the private sector towards its implementation. IHH Healthcare Bhd said last month that the payment model is not suitable to be implemented in local private hospitals, and feels that further studies are needed before considering its adoption. Its group chief executive officer, Dr Prem Kumar Nair, said DRGs are very difficult to implement in private hospitals, adding that it was originally designed to fund public healthcare through a single-payer model. Under the framework, inpatient cases are grouped into categories based on clinical similarity and expected resource use, allowing payers to reimburse hospitals with a fixed rate per case rather than through itemised billing.
Zawya
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Uganda: Clean up payroll of police officers, Members of Parliament (MPs) tell minister
Lawmakers have tasked the Ministry of Public Service to clean up the payroll of police officers in a bid to put an end to complaints of unpaid salaries of officers. The Members of Parliament made the demands while responding to a statement of the Minister of Defence and Internal Affairs, Gen. Kahinda Otafiire that was presented by Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (Industry), Hon. David Bahati during plenary sitting on Thursday, 17 April 2025. The minister said that some officers have not been paid due to a mismatch in names and dates of birth. 'In 2023, the Auditor General conducted a validation exercise for all government employees. Some officers failed to meet validation requirements due to missing national identification cards, discrepancies in names and dates of birth. These officers were categorised as partially validated,' Bahati said. He added that data migration from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS) to Human Capital Management System (HCM) has also played a role in delaying salary payment of some officers. 'Salaries on HCM are paid first then the process of payment on IPPS starts; this is to avoid double payments. The two systems however, do not cause missing salaries but delays for those still on IPPS. The process is underway to ensure all are migrated to the HCM system,' he said. The matter had been earlier raised by the Tororo District Woman MP, Hon. Sarah Opendi who tasked the minister to provide a list of the affected officers and timeline of completion of migration of the systems. 'If you look at the audit report, we shall find un-utilised salaries of police officers. The police officers cannot come for fear of victimisation. Let the Minister of Public Service explain why the integration of this system is taking long,' she said. The Minister of State for Public Service, Hon. Grace Mugasa said that the migration is ongoing adding that it is aimed at ridding the system of ghost workers. 'We noticed many ghost workers were on the payroll and government is losing an estimated Shs5 billion per annum,' she said. The Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi however, said that the matter should be resolved within a week, given its gravity. 'Police officers are brutalising people because they are angry. These people earn very meagre salaries that they can barely get through with their lives. We task government to deal with this matter,' Ssenyonyi said. Hon. Godfrey Onzima (NRM, Aringa North County) wondered why government keeps changing payment systems saying that such changes are to blame for missing salaries. 'You [Public Service Ministry] introduce a system that works for only three years and change. Why don't they use systems that work for at least 10 years,' Onzima asked. Hon. Rosemary Nyakikongoro (NRM, Sheema District) said that it is unfair for officers to miss their salaries as a result of government's inadequacies. 'It is mandatory for one to have a national identification card before they are recruited. How is it then possible that when it is time to pay, you say they don't have identification cards?' she asked. Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa directed the Minister of Public Service to provide a comprehensive statement within two. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
Associated Press
14-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Press release: CMS Proposes Approval of Additional Payment for Sequana Medical's alfapump® system in Hospital Inpatient Cases
CMS Proposes Approval of Additional Payment for Sequana Medical's alfapump® system in Hospital Inpatient Cases Ghent, Belgium – 14 April 2025 – Sequana Medical NV (Euronext Brussels: SEQUA, the 'Company' or 'Sequana Medical'), a pioneer in the treatment of drug-resistant fluid overload in liver disease, heart failure and cancer, announced today that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Fiscal Year 2026 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Proposed Rule, which recommends that alfapump system cases be eligible for incremental payment via a New Technology Add-On Payment (NTAP) from CMS when performed in the hospital inpatient setting. The annual proposed rule is now open for public comment and is expected to be finalized by August 2025 and in effect by October 1, 2025. NTAP is a program designed to provide payment for qualifying new technologies in order to facilitate patient access to the new technology while CMS collects cost data. The NTAP program is intended to cover the majority of excess costs related to the new technology, though payment varies on a case-by-case basis. In its proposed ruling, CMS noted that the alfapump system is an FDA-designated Breakthrough Device that meets the NTAP requirements and proposed the maximum allowable amount for an NTAP payment, which cannot exceed 65 percent of incremental device costs, or $19,500, in addition to the hospital's Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) payment. The alfapump system is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis. PMA approval was received in December 2024, building upon the FDA breakthrough designation received in 2019. It is the first active implantable medical device in the US that automatically and continuously removes ascites from the abdomen into the bladder, where it is naturally eliminated through urination. To date, over 1,000 alfapump systems have been implanted. Martijn Blom, Chief Commercial Officer of Sequana Medical NV, commented: 'We applaud CMS for proposing an NTAP for thealfapump system and for their commitment to improving Medicare beneficiary access to breakthrough technologies. This is another step forward in our US comercial launch and making this breakthrough therapy available to the large and growing US universe of patients that for too long have had to put with large volume paracentesis, a treatment that is virtually unchanged for thousands of years and has such a devastating impact on the clinical outcomes and quality of life for these patients. The team is highly motivated by the very positive feedback we are receiving from physicians who are looking for a 21stcentury treatment option for their patients and look forward to the launch in Q3' For more information, please contact: Sequana Medical Investor relations E: [email protected] T: +32 (0)9 496 17 27 About alfapump in recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis & the POSEIDON study Recurrent or refractory ascites is a severe condition characterized by the accumulation of fluid in the abdomen. The current standard treatment involves therapeutic paracentesis, an invasive and burdensome procedure that drains ascites from the abdomen using a large needle over an extended period. The alfapump is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis. It is the first active implantable medical device in the US that automatically and continuously removes ascites from the abdomen into the bladder, where it is naturally eliminated through urination. To date, over 1,000 alfapump systems have been implanted. The US market of recurrent and refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis is forecast to grow by an average of 9% per year, from approximately 70,000 patients in 2025 to 130,000 patients by 2032, primarily driven by the increasing prevalence of NASH / MASH1. The total market opportunity for alfapump is estimated at over $2 billion in 2025, and is forecast to reach over $5 billion by 2035. The FDA's approval of the PMA is based on the successful execution of Sequana Medical's pivotal POSEIDON study, a landmark study across 18 centers in the US and Canada with a total of 69 patients implanted with the alfapump. The primary effectiveness endpoints at six months post-implantation in the Pivotal Cohort2 exceeded the predefined thresholds with statistical significance, and primary safety endpoint data was in line with expectations3. Data at 12 months post-implantation continued to show a strong and durable clinical profile, virtually eliminating the need for therapeutic paracentesis and delivering an improvement in quality of life (as defined by subjective physical health (assessed by SF-36 PCS) and ascites symptoms (assessed by Ascites Q))4. At AASLD's The Liver Meeting in November 2024, key POSEIDON investigators reported that the alfapump virtually eliminated the need for large volume paracentesis at 24 months, with overall survival of 62%5. The POSEIDON manuscript published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in January 2025 concluded 'the results from the literature indicate that the overall survival of patients with the alfapump was not worse as compared to TIPS and was higher than reported for standard of care (LVP)6'. Data from the patient preference study and a matched cohort analysis of the NACSELD-III registry with the POSEIDON Pivotal Cohort indicated that US patients have a strong preference for the alfapump vs standard paracentesis procedures and that the safety profile of the alfapump is comparable to standard of care7. About Sequana Medical Sequana Medical NV is a pioneer in treating fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. This causes major medical issues including increased mortality, repeated hospitalizations, severe pain, difficulty breathing and restricted mobility. Although diuretics are standard of care, they become ineffective, intolerable or exacerbate the problem in many patients. There are limited effective treatment options, resulting in poor clinical outcomes, high costs and a major impact on their quality of life. Sequana Medical is seeking to provide innovative treatment options for this large and growing 'diuretic resistant' patient population. alfapump® and DSR® are Sequana Medical's proprietary platforms that work with the body to treat diuretic-resistant fluid overload, and are intended to deliver major clinical and quality of life benefits for patients, while reducing costs for healthcare systems. The Company received US FDA approval for the alfapump System for the treatment of recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis in December 2024, following the grant of FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in 2019. Sequana Medical intends to start US commercialisation early in the second half of 2025 through a small specialty salesforce that it will establish to target the 90 US liver transplant centers that perform 95% of liver transplants. Results of the Company's RED DESERT and SAHARA proof-of-concept studies in heart failure published in European Journal of Heart Failure in April 2024 support DSR's mechanism of action as breaking the vicious cycle of cardiorenal syndrome. All three patients from the non-randomized cohort of MOJAVE, a US randomized controlled multi-center Phase 1/2a clinical study, have been successfully treated with DSR, resulting in a dramatic improvement in diuretic response and virtual elimination of loop diuretic requirements8. Sequana Medical is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels (Ticker: and headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. For further information, please visit Important Safety Information: For important safety information regarding the alfapump® system, see The alfapump® System is currently not approved in Canada. DSR® therapy is still in development and is currently not approved in any country. The safety and effectiveness of DSR® therapy has not been established. Note: alfapump® and DSR® are registered trademarks. Forward-looking statements This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements represent the current judgment of Sequana Medical on what the future holds, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Sequana Medical expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of Sequana Medical only as of the date of this press release. 1 Based on US and Canada market assessment conducted by highly experienced international consulting group 2 The Pivotal Cohort is used for the primary effectiveness endpoints and consists of 40 patients implanted with the alfapump 3 Data reported in press release of 25 October 2022 4 Data reported in press release of 19 October 2023 5 Based upon the pivotal cohort of the POSEIDON study, data reported in press release of 18 November 2024 6 The Effects of alfapump on Ascites Control and Quality of Life in Patients with Cirrhosis and Recurrent or Refractory Ascites' A merican Journal of Gastroenterology 7 Data reported in press release of 19 October 2023; Patient Preference study conducted by RTI Health Solutions, and matched cohort analysis presented by Dr. Bajaj at EASL Congress 2024. 8 Data reported in press release of March 25, 2024; mean increase of 326% in six-hour urinary sodium excretion at 3 months follow up vs baseline, and 95% reduction of loop diuretics over same period Attachments
