Viemed seeks to supplement core vent business

LAFAYETTE, La. - “Pivot” was the name of the game for Viemed Healthcare in the second quarter of 2020, as the company sought to keep business coming in when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. hard.

“We continue to adapt to the ongoing changes in the health care system and are developing new ways to collaborate with referral sources to ensure that all eligible patients can obtain our quality care and service,” said CEO Casey Hoyt during a conference call to discuss the company's latest financial results.

The company has quickly shifted its employee training to a virtual program; sourced enough PPE to protect employees and offer some to referral partners; launched viemeddelivered.com to facilitate the sales of PPE, thermometers and sanitizers; and inked a one-year contract for COVID tracing that it anticipates will provide seven-figure monthly revenues.

As one of the country's largest providers of ventilators, Viemed also rolled out a vent rental program to rural hospitals, says Hoyt.

“With many hospitals around the country faced with stocking up on vents strictly for the pandemic, this program allows them to have an affordable and lean solution for their immediate inventory needs,” he said. “These pivots inside of our core business allowed us to be in position to further solve problems outside of our normal course of business during the pandemic.”

Still, the majority of Viemed's COVID-related revenue came from the sale of respiratory equipment to hospitals and states, Hoyt said, so the company also worked to tighten up its processes to cut costs and preserve inventory.

“We retrieved non-compliant vents more aggressively, as we were seeing the need for equipment at such a high level,” he said.