DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MARKET ANALYSIS

Durable Medical Equipment MarketSize and Trends

Durable medical equipment (DME) are non-disposable equipment used in hospitals, clinics, and home care settings. Examples of DME are wheelchairs, walkers or hospital beds. DME used at home care settings are paid under Medicare part A and part B plans. Coverage for DME may include, wheelchairs, oxygen equipment, blood testing strips, crutches, and power mobility devices. This market has a strong reimbursement background which may expected to have some impact on the overall market. The patient’s medical practitioner must prescribe the specific durable medical equipment and it will need to be approved by Medicare before purchasing. Medicare is taking initiative to promote competitive bidding to bring its reimbursement in line with other payers, thus can negatively impacted some DME distributors and manufacturers. For instance, In December 2015, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new rule establishing a prior authorization process for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). In this rule, DMEPOS items that were flagged for unnecessary utilization comprise a master list of 135 items that will potentially be subject to prior authorization and relevant documentation must be submitted for prior authorization before beneficiaries can receive an item and submit a claim.