ELYRIA, Ohio--While its HomeFill oxygen system has gained 12 percent of the transfilling sector, according to Invacare officials, the company plans to launch an alternative this fall with its first portable oxygen concentrator.

Acknowledging that it is coming late to the market, Nancy Smoot, product manager, said the new Invacare Portable will be attractive to users because "it is small, lightweight and inconspicuous."

Providers may take to the product, she said, because of its clinical performance and reliability. The new Portable has a five-year warranty, and its compressor is designed to last 15,000 hours.

Pricing for the unit will be similar to that of the HomeFill, Smoot said. While the new POC can be sold for cash, Invacare will apply for both portable and stationary coding. "It was devised so providers can use it as they want," Smoot told reporters during a press briefing last week.

At six pounds, the unit has a pulse dose delivery system with an integrated conserver that will keep patients saturated at all settings, Smoot said. The company decided not to incorporate continuous flow delivery in order to keep the unit's size small, an important feature to patients. But "there's more bolus at each setting," Smoot explained, which means the concentrator should keep up with oxygen demand at any setting or activity level. Simple operation, which patients want, and minimal components, which providers want, should also boost the product's appeal, she added.

Invacare plans to conduct a study comparing its new portable to others already on the market, including AirSep's FreeStyle, Inogen's Inogen One and Respironics' EverGo. The company will also conduct a study to determine whether the unit is appropriate for nighttime use.

Because clinical profiles for patients choosing a transfilling system or a POC may be similar, Smoot said, it could come down to a lifestyle decision for the patient or a business decision for the provider. Classified as "oxygen-generating portable equipment," both products would be exempt should either President Bush's proposal for a 13-month rental cap on traditional oxygen technology, or the House proposal for an 18-month cap, make it through Congress.

Once the new portable receives 510(k) clearance, Smoot said, the company will begin taking orders and shipping could start before year's end. Invacare will also apply to the FAA and airlines for clearance of the unit in flight.

Joe Lewarski, Invacare's vice president, respiratory products, said consumerism is playing a definite role in development of all the company's new products. In the case of the Invacare Portable, for example, "we still have a large ... COPD population moving into the Medicare ranks," he said, noting that patients or family members might buy a POC simply "to make life a little easier."

At its annual Media Day Aug. 15, Invacare also unveiled a raft of other new products, including additions to its TDX line of power wheelchairs, along with its new marketing campaign: "Impossible Stops Here."

According to Lou Slangen, senior vice president of worldwide market development, the campaign highlights the company's newest products and programs, which are designed to help providers survive HME's trying times. "You hear a lot of times from providers that 'This is impossible' and 'I can't get through any more under the new reimbursement," he said, but "to survive requires action."