Incredible, Shrinking DME!

As a society, we are intrigued by design. We want things to look aesthetically pleasing and stylish. It shows in the vast array of interiors magazines on the newsstand and television networks that focus solely on home improvements. And it doesn't stop with home design. Cars are becoming sleeker, and home electronics continue to push the envelope when it comes to size and capabilities.

In the same vein, users of home oxygen, power chairs and other home medical equipment share a desire for products that complement their homes and fit their active lifestyles. In response, the HME industry is moving forward with new designs that not only look good but also exceed the performance of their predecessors.

“Consumer-centric designs and functionality are at the forefront,” says Ron Richard, vice president of marketing for the Americas for ResMed, Poway, Calif. “At ResMed, we are doing a lot more from the ground up and getting patient input early on, so we develop the right products and get them out on time with the right features.”

Keeping customer needs in mind is essential, says Mark Miller, vice president of marketing for Pride Mobility Products. “What we are passionate about is supplying these products to people so they can do the things that they want,” he says. “That is why the designs need to be innovative, why they need to look great and why the quality needs to be extremely high.”

Using the latest technology and pushing product design to the next level to improve patient care is apparent in all product categories.

“There's a spirit of creativity and a spirit of invention that is apparent when you're driven to find an answer, and when you know the answer is to come up with something that improves the standard of care for patients,” says Geoff Deane, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Inogen's vice president of engineering and chief technology officer.

PRODUCTS WITH STYLE

Scott Wilkinson, group product manager of respiratory for Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare Corp., says results from patient focus groups reveal that the trends in product design for respiratory patients are the same trends that society in general craves.

“When you look at cell phones, laptop computers, radios and digital music players, everything is smaller, lighter, more compact, and easier to use,” he explains. “It's the same thing for the respiratory patients. They want smaller [portable oxygen systems] that don't stand out and don't drag them down when they are out and about.”