Viemed ready to 'add fuel' to growth plans

LAFAYETTE, La. - Oxygen and sleep therapy are high on the list of expansion plans for Viemed Healthcare, company executives said on a Feb. 28 earnings call.

“Oxygen is something we've always had locally, but we didn't really scale it around the country because of the barriers that competitive bidding would represent,” said Todd Zehnder, COO. “Now we are looking at doing that around the country. Same with sleep apnea.”

The company has worked diligently to lay that groundwork. Currently, it serves patients in 24 states and holds licenses in another 12, with a goal of getting licensed in all 48 lower states within the next 18 months, said CEO Casey Hoyt during the call.

“We expect 2019 to be a year in which we try to densify our coverage area, but also expand geographically,” he said. “We will add fuel to the tank bolting on more adjacent products and services to our existing patients.”

Viemed reported revenues of $18.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, an increase of 37% over the same quarter the previous year and its 10^th consecutive quarter of growth.

The company grew its ventilator patient count by 8% during the quarter, driven, says CEO Hoyt, by the results of a KMPG study, published last fall, that shows reductions in mortality rates and hospital readmissions.

“That's proven to be a wakeup call in the community,” he said during the call.

Viemed also managed to crack the Veterans Affairs market in the fourth quarter of 2018 and, while it's very early in the game, company execs see long-term potential there.

“The VA is a little behind the rest of the clinical community,” said Zehnder. “They've got patients being placed on Bipap and being treated incorrectly. It's a revolving door of hospital admissions. We've just got to get out there and educate them.”

Revenues for the full year were $65.3 million, an increase of 39% compared to 2017. Adjusted EBITDA was $4.9 million for the quarter and $17.2 million for the year. Looking ahead, Viemed expects to generate revenues of $20 million to $20.5 million for the first quarter of 2019.