Skip to Content

Business Development


Business Development

Respiratory supply chain stabilizes

March 15, 2024HME News Staff

In the four years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the respiratory market has been “on a rollercoaster” with supply chain challenges. Now, with the virus less of a threat, the situation has stabilized, manufacturers say.  “We are seeing the supply chain environment return to (previous) levels and have maintained a 98% on-time delivery status in 2023,” said Kevin Smith, CEO of Goleta, Calif.-based Inogen. “Our manufacturing facility in Plano, Texas, has undergone...

Home Respiratory Equipment, Inogen, Medline, Portable Oxygen Concentrator (POC), Rhythm Healthcare


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

Active medical supplies market full of evolution

March 1, 2024John Andrews

For sheer volume, the medical supplies category tops the HME industry in terms of breadth and depth of product options. It encompasses several categories, including urology, ostomy, wound care, enteral nutrition, incontinence, breast pumps, CPAP and diabetes management supplies, including continuous glucose monitors.  While this may seem unwieldy, it represents a smorgasbord of business options and opportunities for HME providers, manufacturers in the field say.  “The medical...

Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), Disposable Medical Supplies


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

Power seat elevation ‘the greatest victory’

February 2, 2024John Andrews

In an industry with a history of hardscrabble policy battles, this year’s allowance of power seat elevation systems represents “the greatest victory for power chair users in recent memory.”  John Wright, executive vice president of sales management and business development for Los Angeles-based Shoprider, said the industry has been asking for coverage for power seat elevation systems for many years “as they recognized the need to improve power chair user independence,...

Complex Rehab, Power seat elevation, Pride Mobility Products, Shoprider


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

Are weight-loss drugs a new wrinkle for bariatrics?

December 29, 2023John Andrews

Bariatrics has been a consistently strong market for home medical equipment over the past couple decades, with few external disruptions to impede its progress. So, the seemingly overnight arrival of weight-loss drugs Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro raise questions for the market, from how they will impact bariatric surgery to heavy-duty medical equipment.   Yet, industry analysts and manufacturers don’t think it’s a major issue right now, as it is not realistic for many people...

Bariatric, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Merits Health Products


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

Are HME providers overcoming retail reticence?

November 13, 2023John Andrews

The concept of retail is not new for the HME industry. Its past stretches back decades, though it has had trouble gaining traction among providers. That may finally be changing, however, as attitudes become more receptive and opportunities continue to grow.  Tim VanAntwerp, director of retail services for Waterloo, Iowa-based VGM, says overall numbers may not indicate robust retail growth across the industry, but those individual companies adopting a retail component appear to be on the upswing,...

Contour Products, HME retail, Nova Medical, VGM Group


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

LTA could be game changer for O&P

November 13, 2023John Andrews

The orthotics and prosthetics market received a positive boost from the passage of the Lymphedema Treatment Act (LTA) earlier this year and field specialists are optimistic it will benefit providers and patients.  Set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, the LTA allows for consistent Medicare coverage and reimbursement for compression garments and supplies for patients living with lymphedema. This new law could be a game changer for the industry, said Matthew Gruskin, COO for Owings Mills, Md.-based...

Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC), Lymphedema Treatment Act, Orthotic & Prosthetic Group of America (OPGA), Orthotics, Prosthetics


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

COVID, aging boomers among drivers for home accessibility

November 13, 2023John Andrews

The home accessibility product category remains strong and continues to provide business opportunities for HME providers. It’s also a market that has been accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic and an influx in aging baby boomers, specialists in the field say.  “From summer 2021 to 2022, the industry was growing at 20% above previous periods,” said Jim Greatorex, vice president of Waterloo, Iowa-based VGM Live at Home, a division of VGM Group. “There has been...

EZ Access, home accessibility, VGM Live at Home


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

Patients need tech that ‘grows’ with them

August 25, 2023John Andrews

The pediatric market has several facets to distinguish it from other HME categories, but none more than the need for equipment patients can continue to use as they grow. Having a product that “grows” along with them – especially from an early age – enables pediatric patients to retain familiarity and comfort instead of constantly adjusting to new technology, market specialists say.  “The products that are most desired early in a child’s life are those that...

Pediatrics, Permobil, Quantum Rehab


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Business Development

Take holistic approach to women’s health

August 25, 2023John Andrews

Women’s health comprises many sectors, but the major ones are maternity and postpartum, as well as post-mastectomy and menopause products. And although those sectors have very different characteristics, they actually represent an opportunity for HME providers to care for female patients over the course of their lives, specialists in the field say.  The advantage for astute providers is to establish relationships with clients while they are young by furnishing maternity items and offering...

Embr Labs, Essentially Women, Motif Medical, Women's Health


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon

Boone Lockard

Business Development

Sleep therapy market: Keeping calm and carrying on

June 13, 2023Boone Lockard

Editor’s note: It’s been a busy year in the sleep market, as manufacturers rebound from supply chain issues that have plagued them since 2020 and new technologies have launched to increase patient compliance. Boone Lockard, director of VGM Respiratory, recently weighed in on what he’s currently seeing in this dynamic space.  On the challenges and opportunities in the sleep market  Opportunities:  The sleep market presents several significant opportunities...

Boone Lockard, CPAP, Sleep Apnea, VGM Respiratory


Read Full Articlered right arrow icon