Going, Going Here to Stay

The market for respiratory products is seeing renewed interest from home medical equipment providers. New high-tech, streamlined products designed to improve patients' health and providers' bottom lines are changing the way the industry views respiratory care.

Experts say the fastest-growing segment in the category is the sleep market. John Frank, vice president of marketing for Respironics' homecare division, says the market for products designed to treat obstructive sleep apnea is growing from 18 to 20 percent a year, exceeding growth in the oxygen market by more than 10 percent.

“Over 15 million people in the United States have some form of a sleep disorder, and when you look at the number of people treated, which is only 10 to 15 percent, there is a very large opportunity ahead of us,” Frank says.

One of the factors driving accelerated growth is consumer awareness. “Major mainstream journals are writing articles about sleep, and informational programs on TV are discussing sleep and the problems associated with sleep,” Frank points out.

“This is driving awareness in the consumer market, which is certainly helping our purpose with obstructed sleep apnea, coupled with improvement in the diagnostic channels.”

He makes it clear, however, that the clinically proven benefits of treating sleep disorders are the real impetus behind the market's upswing.

“This growth does not come from savvy marketing,” he says. “There is very good clinical evidence that suggests that if you work on treating sleep apnea, you may potentially reduce hypertension, chances of stroke or heart failure.”

Rich Kocinski, senior vice president and general manager of Sunrise Medical's DeVilbiss Respiratory Group, affirms the positive outlook for the sleep market.

“The increasing awareness of the disorder is causing many of the previously undiagnosed people to seek treatment,” he says.

“The dynamics of the market are currently that there are more patients than can be processed through the sleep labs, and backlogs continue to exist. This capacity limit is realistically capping the growth at 20 percent,” Kocinski continues.

Customer-Driven Changes

The remainder of the respiratory market is also strong. “Clearly, obstructive sleep apnea is outpacing the rest of the market in terms of growth,” Kocinski confirms, “but note that the rest of the market is also growing at high single digits to low double digits. The market in its entirety is very solid.”