ResMed targets resupply, rePAP for growth

SAN DIEGO – ResMed is redoubling efforts to increase resupply with plans to make Snap, a software platform that monitors orders, performance and patient eligibility in real-time, available to all HME providers, not just those using Brightree.  

The company reported a “really solid” 10% increase in sales for mask and accessories in the United States, Canada and Latin America for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, on an “extraordinary comp” of 23% for the same period the previous year. 

“We’re going to make it operable with whatever ERP-type management system you’re using for your HME,” said Mick Farrell, chairman and CEO of ResMed during an Oct. 24 conference call to discuss the company’s recent financial results. “We’ve got a really good share with Brightree, but if you’re not using Brightree, we don’t have to convert (you) to Brightree – although we want you to – to put you on Snap. I think the masks per patient per year is going up, but there is still a lot of room.” 

Brightree bought Brentwood, Tenn.-based SnapWorx in 2020. Snap, along with Brightree Connect, ReSupply Live Call and ReSupply Order Processing, make up the company’s resupply program for HME providers. 

Snap also came up during the Q&A portion of the call as a good example of a tuck-in acquisition that ResMed seeks to repeat. 

“(Snap) improved both Brightree's software as a service business, but it also improved our core sleep health and breathing health business by making sure people, when they wanted a new mask, could easily and capably get approval, co-pays made, all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed for the health care system and then get the product needed,” Farrell said. “So, we are absolutely out there on the lookout for acquisitions like Snap.” 

Other examples of tuck-in acquisitions that ResMed seeks to do more of: Somnoware, a sleep management software for physicians and sleep and pulmonary function labs, that allows the company to “engage earlier and earlier on this sort of end-to-end digital sleep health concierge process,” Farrell said; and Ectosense, maker of the NightOwl home sleep test, which the company recently integrated with myAir, its patient-facing app. 

Other highlights from the call: 

‘That rePAP opportunity is huge for us’ 

Farrell said ResMed doesn’t spend enough time helping providers engage patients who are at or who are nearing five years using a device and talking to them about getting a new CPAP device. 

“We've gotten really sophisticated at ongoing ReSupply for masks, tubing, and accessories,” he said. “I think we need to be better at rePAP on a regular basis. And the team is on it with many things going on to make sure that, as we get full AirSense 11 capabilities, everyone who's at that five-year point gets the chance to say, ‘Yes, I want the latest and greatest therapy.’” 

‘It will be a benign pricing environment’ 

Farrell said ResMed is doing a better job managing air and sea freight, but there may be increases in pricing in components and parts where the costs are still high, like tubing and humidifiers. 

“I think things are starting to level out somewhat as you saw in our costs,” he said. “We're moving our way through those high-cost components. We're always wary of what could happen with Red Sea issues and Panama Canal issues and even a seaport threat of a union strike just last month. And so, we're watching it with a productive sense of paranoia. But what I can tell you is, Shane Azzi, our new chief supply chain officer, is all over this, and we've got plans to mitigate.”