Still a Solid Profit Center

A burgeoning population, health conditions and diseases that are merely treated — not cured — and more efficient diagnostic practices make the respiratory market a solid profit center that continues to increase.

Jacquelyn McClure BS, RRT, director of Lubbock, Texas-based The MED Group's National Respiratory Network, says home oxygen and treatment for sleep-disordered breathing are the segments of the respiratory market that are bringing providers the most revenues, but adds that information technology is also making a strong impact. According to McClure, technologies that can replace routine activities to free up labor for complex problem-solving and assessment activities are on the rise.

Baby boomers are moving into an age group or category where they are needing or requiring supplementary oxygen, says Ron Richard, Poway, Calif.-based ResMed's vice president of marketing. “Based on statistics, there are close to 10 million people who suffer from chronic lung disease in this country, and if you look at that, you're probably going to have at least 300,000 diagnosed per year that will require either partial or full-time support with some form of oxygen,” he says. “Regarding sleep disorders, an increasing number of links are being discovered between sleep and other chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.”

TECHNOLOGY TO THE FORE

To meet the ever-increasing needs of home respiratory patients, manufacturers are taking steps to improve existing products as well as developing new technologies that make treatment easier, safer and more comfortable. “Clinical studies have shown that the more active a home oxygen patient is, the healthier he or she will be,” says Earl Yager, president of Chatsworth, Calif.-based Chad Therapeutics. “Thus, the goal for the home oxygen market should be to provide products that reduce costs while at the same time increase the quality of life for patients.”

According to Joe Priest, president and chief operating officer of Buffalo, N.Y.-based AirSep, advances in technology, such as AirSep's LifeStyle, a portable oxygen concentrator, are making a strong impact on the home oxygen market.

“Over the past two decades there have been advances in oxygen concentrators — great advances in reliability, sound reduction, and other positive aspects — but there has not been a real revolution from the market's perspective,” Priest says. “It has been sort of an evolution.”