Tag: Oxygen Concentrators

BALL GROUND, Ga. – CAIRE expects to make its Companion 5 and NewLife Intensity 10 stationary oxygen concentrators available in Latin America in July, following anticipated approval by the Brazilian Health Regularity Agency (Anvisa). “During the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic oxygen shortages throughout South America have underscored the need to expand CAIRE’s portfolio of equipment available to providers to serve patients prescribed oxygen as they are discharged from the...

WASHINGTON – Patient access to in-home respiratory care may be negatively impacted if a shortage in semiconductor chips is not addressed, warns the Council for Council for Quality Respiratory Care.  In a March 15 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, CQRC and nine other respiratory care stakeholders urge the administration to use its authority to help address the shortage of semiconductor chips used in home...

I got a reminder recently that I’ve been meaning to log into the HME Databank to see the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on utilization for respiratory equipment, particularly ventilators and oxygen concentrators.  The Databank, if you’re not familiar, is a database of Medicare data on some of the most popular DMEPOS codes. It includes total Medicare spend by code for all the codes included in the competitive bidding program and more. The most recent year for which it has data:...

GOLETA, Cailf. – Inogen saw a nice boost in revenue in the second quarter, thanks to increasing consumer confidence and ambulation, but the company expects supply chain constraints to inhibit its ability to meet demand in the second half of 2021.  The company expects total revenue for the second half to be lower than the first half of the year, and it expects net losses for the third and fourth quarters, as well as for the full year.  “We continue to see strong consumer...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen reported total revenues of $86.9 million for the first quarter of 2021, a 1.8% decrease from the same period last year, primarily due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company says.  It reported a net loss of $732,000 vs. a net loss of $1.59 million.  “While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on our business in the first quarter of 2021, we saw sequential growth in all four channels, and sequential growth of 17.5%...

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – Repair Authority in February expanded its headquarters and repair facility in Strongsville, Ohio, as part of its response to the current surge in demand for oxygen concentrators. The company added an additional 10,000 square feet to the facility, bringing it to a total of 35,000 square feet, and installed several new production lines. It’s also hiring additional repair techs. Repair Authority uses the facility to repair oxygen concentrators – portable and stationary...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen reported revenue of $74 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, a 6.3% decrease compared to the same period in 2019, but domestic business-to-business sales were $24.2 million, a 17.9% increase.  Rental revenue was $9.4 million, a 71.7% increase, and direct-to-consumer sales were $26.8 million, a 25.2% decrease.  “While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have a significant effect on our business in the fourth quarter of 2020, primarily...

In the past few months:  A global pandemic has severely stressed the supply of oxygen concentrators, revealing cracks in an HME industry that has been slowly chipped away at by Medicare’s competitive bidding program for 10 years.  CMS has decided not to move forward with the majority of Round 2021 of that program, because the agency didn’t “achieve expected savings,” and therefore – wait for it – the current reduced rates continue to apply.  The...

YARMOUTH, Maine – Eighty-six percent of respondents to a recent HME Newspoll say they’re running low on oxygen concentrators, and 88% say they're having difficulty obtaining more.  “Hospitals are full and discharging (COVID-19) patients to complete their recovery with home oxygen therapy,” wrote one respondent. “We are struggling to keep up with the supply and demand due to long delays in shipping of ordered products.”  The...

GOLETA, Calif. - Inogen saw sequential improvements in its financial results from the second to third quarters, but company officials aren't confident that will continue into the fourth quarter due to rising numbers of COVID-19 across the United States and Europe. Inogen reported that total revenues in the third quarter were $74.3 million, a 19% decrease year over year but a 3.7% increase sequentially. Its domestic business-to-business sales were $23.1 million, a 23.5% decrease year over year but...