Providers hold off on ordering—for now

NEW YORK - The majority of HME providers are reducing or delaying orders for oxygen and CPAP equipment, but that is likely to be temporary, according to a new survey for the fourth quarter of 2018 from Needham & Company.

Sixty three percent of respondents said they would reduce or delay orders for oxygen equipment in response to an any willing provider provision set to go into effect Jan. 1 for Medicare, according to the survey of 150 providers.

Respondents said they would also reduce or delay orders for CPAP devices (55%); mobility equipment (43%); non-invasive ventilators (36%); and other equipment (19%).

Analysts expect, however, any disruption to be temporary and only last one or two quarters.

“Since we expect patient volumes to remain steady, we believe that HMEs will ultimately have to reorder more equipment to catch up with demand in future periods,” according to Needham.

Other findings from the survey related to POCs:

·     Providers expect to see double-digit growth for POCs over the next twelve months, increasing from 22.3% of the ambulatory oxygen market to 30.4% during that time frame.

·     Applied Home Healthcare's OxyGo was the highest-rated POC at 5.8 out of 7, followed by Applied Home Healthcare's OxyGo Fit and Inogen's G3, both at 5.4.

·     The two main factors limiting the use of POCs are the initial upfront investment and reliability.

·     Poll respondents believe that an average of 44% of their ambulatory oxygen patients are candidates for POCs, but Needham expects this increase as providers gain experience with POCs.