Viemed Healthcare, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the VIMED first quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Todd Zender, Chief Operating Officer. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you and good morning, everyone. Please note that our remarks in this conference call may include forward-looking statements under the U.S. federal securities laws or forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation, which we collectively refer to as forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the company's current views and intentions with respect to future results or events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. which could cause actual results or events to vary from those indicated in forward-looking statements. Examples of such risks and uncertainties are discussed in our disclosure documents filed with the SEC or the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada. Because of these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this conference call are made as of today, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by law. The first quarter financial results news release, including the related financial statements, are available on the SEC's website. I'll now turn it over to Casey to get things started.

All right. Thank you, Todd, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. I'm excited to share that the first quarter of 2024 has set a solid foundation for Vymed's trajectory this year. Operationally, we are ahead of schedule, despite encountering some cash flow disruptions related to the changed healthcare situation, which we'll cover later on in the call. Our revenue grew by an impressive 28%, a testament to the dedication and tireless efforts of our more than 1,000 team members. At Vymed, we recognize that our employees are our most valuable asset. and investing in their development and well-being is paramount to our success. On to the quarter update, our new sales restructuring is showing tremendous success with sales rep vent production up over 30% from Q4, putting us ahead of schedule of achieving our internal goals for the year. The structure has proven out to help keep our managers and trainers closer to home, which is making them more effective in the field working with new and existing reps. We have also been able to support more of their professional growth and ongoing skill development through offering more mentorship oversight and instruction. Moreover, we are achieving a healthy work-life balance for our people, which is creating an environment for further growth within our existing infrastructure. A lot of good work was completed on our first hospital joint venture project with HomeMed at the East Alabama Medical Center, which was completed on April 1st. This partnership exemplifies our belief in leveraging synergies between BiMed's clinical expertise and business acumen with the immediate patient needs within the hospital networks. This model will account for bringing more service and technology into the home for the patients of East Alabama while cultivating an improved complex respiratory program inside of the medical center. Our team views this opportunity as a new way of growing our business and is laser focused on making this project a success, one that we will replicate around the country. Discussions with other hospital JVs are actively underway. Furthermore, our integration of HMP acquisition is hitting its stride and driving product diversification for our business. This product diversification and talent from our HMP team have been a major driver of our success, particularly with the hospital joint venture strategy. With the help and expertise of the H&P team, we were able to offer a full suite of DME products to help support the patients of East Alabama, extending our offering to go beyond respiratory. By joining forces, we're not only poised to revolutionize care delivery, but also to drive tangible improvements in hospital profitability, while significantly expanding our reach into previously untapped markets. Our merger and acquisition pipeline is gaining traction, and we are starting to see more conversations and activities from prospective targets. With that being said, we remain steadfast in our commitment to organic growth as a primary driver of our business. We still view strategic acquisitions and joint ventures as complementary springboards to our organic growth strategy. This strategy allows us to focus on making prudent transactions as we do not have to rely on M&A to grow the businesses. We also focused a good portion of our efforts in Q1 around innovating our care delivery model. We've implemented innovative technology processes that harness the power of machine learning capabilities, which are evolving our operations, particularly in streamlining time-consuming back office tasks, such as reauthorization submissions. By automating these processes, we've not only enhanced efficiency, but also freed up valuable resources allowing our team to redirect their efforts towards delivering high quality care to our patients. We work closely with two of our vent manufacturers to connect their devices to Engage Care Manager 2.0, our proprietary clinical and operational platform. Effective care delivery in the modern healthcare landscape necessitates the seamless integration of exceptional service with cutting edge technology. Our technology-centric approach enables us to seize data-driven opportunities, capitalize on emerging trends, and strengthen our ability to deliver value-driven solutions for our payers and hospital partners. As legacy manufacturers, such as Philips, are gradually exiting certain product categories, the industry is paving the way for the emergence of new generation of manufacturers equipped with the expertise to develop and deliver more improved technologies and enhance connected capabilities. Furthermore, we're poised to capitalize on incentive programs related to Phillips trade-ins and remediation on the Trilogy 100 ventilators, enabling us to significantly lower the age of our ventilator asset base in an extremely cost-competitive manner. ResMed has also completed a few studies on the effects of GLP-1 drugs for sleep apnea patients. The latest data is showing that there is a 10.5% higher propensity to start PAP over those not using the GLP-1 drug. More patients are going to see the physician about their weight problems, and the data shows that while the drug does help reduce AHI 59% to 63%, the patients are still left with moderate sleep apnea, which means they will suffocate every three minutes of sleep after treatment of the drugs are administered. We also saw an announcement that the Samsung Galaxy Watch is now de novo authorized by the FDA to detect signs of sleep apnea, which should pave the way for the Google Fitbit and Apple Watch to follow suit. The emergence of these technological advancements stands to streamline the diagnosis of sleep therapy into the mainstream population. We expect this development would be significant to grow in our sleep and resupply business. On the regulatory front, ViMed continues to navigate the evolving landscape of healthcare policy and reimbursement. Despite industry efforts, the government has yet to resolve a regulatory relief package for the expiration of the 75-25 blended rate, the last remnant of the COVID-related relief measures stemming from the pandemic. As a reminder, our comprehensive analysis suggests that the long-term impact on our business is expected to be minimal. thanks to a combination of factors, including our diversified product mix and strategic rural concentration. Looking ahead, we remain optimistic about the reimbursement environment and by the stability of rates indexed to inflation. The indexing mechanism serves as a natural hedge for our operations, providing a degree of predictability and financial security. Moreover, our proactive approach to monitoring regulatory development and engaging with policymakers, positions us to adapt swiftly to changes and capitalize on emerging opportunities. With more financial and operational updates on the quarter, I will now hand the call over to our Chief Operating Officer, Todd Zender.