O2 Concepts gets connected

NEWTOWN, Conn. - O2 Concepts launched its “DNA technology” in September, but already about half of the manufacturer's HME provider customers are taking advantage of it.

The technology allows HME providers to log on to any web-enabled device to access data from a Verizon modem in the manufacturer's portable oxygen concentrators. (DNA stands for dynamic network analysis.)

Connected devices are the future of home oxygen therapy, said Rob Kent, CEO of O2 Concepts, which has been working on the technology for the better part of two years.

POCs from O2 Concepts are equipped with the technology out of the box, but it's up to the provider to decide whether to “turn it on” by agreeing to pay a one-time fee for activation and a yearly fee for access.

Kent says the technology easily pays for itself, when you consider how it can mean a provider not having to send equipment back to the manufacturer for repair (software updates can be done remotely) and not having to make certain visits to patients (checking settings, usage hours and purity, all before they set off alarms, can also be done remotely).

“It solves a lot of pain points,” he said.

The technology can also help providers win points with referral sources by allowing them to better monitor usage and ambulation during a patient's first 30 days of oxygen therapy, Kent says.

“It allows them to take that extra step and make sure they don't get readmitted,” he said.

The providers that haven't adopted the technology yet—they're just in “wait-and-see mode,” Kent says. They, too, will become believers, he says.

“We're making the bet that everyone will want this,” he said.