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The Marketplace
HME
HME is the abbreviated form for Home Medical Equipment.
Typically, HME products are items that are necessary to facilitate
independence and improve an individual's ability to function outside
the hospital environment. HME providers like MEDIchair supply the
medical equipment, services, education, and caregiver training necessary
for the successful use of equipment that may be prescribed by a
physician or other professional healthcare worker for use in the
home.
HME Products
As a MEDIchair Franchisee, you will work primarily
within five major product categories.
Bathroom Safety:
Products in this area include such
items as bathtub grab bars, bath seats and shower chairs,
transfer
benches, bath lifts, raised toilet seats, toilet safety rails and
commodes.
Mobility Products: This may include such items as
canes, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs, power wheelchairs
and electric
scooters.
Elevating Devices: These products provide a barrier-free
environment that helps people to be more mobile both
inside and
outside of their homes. Elevating devices may include some of the
following: ramps,
stairlifts, scooter lifts, incline platform lifts,
porch lifts, residential elevators and van lifts.
Aids to Daily Living (ADL): These are products that
help make daily activities such as eating, bathing, dressing and
bathroom functions easier. Common product aids include lift chairs,
magnifiers, specialty
utensils, specialized clothing, dressing aids
and long-handled reaching sticks.
Soft/Disposable Goods: These personal care items support
a number of medical conditions. Typically, these involve
incontinence,
urology and ostomy. Also in this category are orthopedic supports,
compression
therapy and wound care.
Rehabilitation vs. Retail products
As HME providers, we carry both Rehabilitation and
Retail products. Rehab products are primarily those products sold
or rented to customers because of a prescription or referral by
a healthcare professional. Retail products are often purchased directly
by the end-user. They may, however, be assisted by a key influencer.
As an example, a son or daughter may influence a parent to buy/use
a cane or walker or to purchase a bathtub clamp and install a raised
toilet. The key influencer may also be a healthcare professional.
Third Party Funding In most provinces and territories in Canada,
some form of government or private insurance covers the majority
of HME products. Increasingly, governments are capping or implementing
"means testing" into their coverage of HME products. Insurance companies,
on the other hand, are rising to the challenge, producing more innovative
policies to cover the HME area of health care.
HME Product and Service Awareness
In many cases, people hear about MEDIchair and its
capabilities through word-of-mouth, advertising, news media articles
and brand awareness in the community. Other clients will be referred
to MEDIchair by a physician, nurse, occupational therapist or physiotherapist
for a
specific need.
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