London

The home medical equipment market, which in 1999 tallied sales totaling approximately $4.1 billion, is expected to grow an average of 10 percent annually through 2005, when total sales are estimated to reach $7.3 billion, according to a new report from Clinica Reports.

The report, Home Healthcare Markets, found that the leading segment of the HME market is diabetes monitoring products, recording total sales of about $1.2 billion in 1999. That segment is expected to hold that position at least through 2005, increasing by 9 percent annually.

Durable medical equipment is the second-largest segment, with sales totaling $916 million in 1999. DME is followed by infusion therapy products, which totaled $814 million, according to the report. Because of a relatively high average growth rate of 11.6 percent per year, infusion therapy is expected to overtake DME by 2005 as the second-largest segment, according to the report. Respiratory therapy products are fourth with total sales of $566 million in 1999.

The report also projects that telemedicine products will be one of the most rapidly growing portions of the HME market. Totaling $105 million in 1999, that segment is expected to nearly double to $207 million by 2005, with an average annual growth rate of 12.4 percent. In addition, it likely will spur increased growth in several other market segments because enhanced cost-effectiveness made possible by telemedicine will drive greater use of various modes of home health care, the report said.

"New technological developments are enabling home health care to be delivered more cost-effectively and therefore making it truly the lowest-cost alternative while preserving the quality of care," the report stated. "Such developments include new telehealth and telemedicine technologies as well as advanced devices for performing sophisticated therapy in the home, such as new home respiratory therapy modalities."

The report spotlights several other market drivers that will contribute to growth in the HME market, including an aging population, efforts by payers to steer patients to lower-cost care options and a continued increase in the incidence of several chronic diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis and congestive heart failure. Other factors include a growing preference by patients to be treated at home and to take more control of their health management as well as greater demands for health care services by older people as improved treatments allow for longer survival but lead to ongoing therapy.