While it’s easy to reduce the home medical equipment (HME) industry to a collection of sterile numbers — HCPCS codes, allowables, and part numbers — a number of products shown at Medtrade in Phoenix last week captured and highlighted the humanity of HME users.
Here are three examples of expo-hall technology that earned top marks on my (entirely subjective) “human factors engineering” scorecard because human abilities, limitations, behaviors, and processes (as described by Michigan Technological University) were clearly at the heart of these products’ designs, goals, and successes.
Abbott Freestyle Libre App + Libre Assist
Yes, the Libre app provides real-time glucose readings via consumers’ smartphones or smartwatches.
But a star of Abbott’s Medtrade booth was Libre Assist, a new function designed to help patients with diabetes make quick, informed food choices wherever they’re dining. With Libre Assist, users can snap a photo of their meal using their smartphone. In the booth, the app identified a sample meal of a burger, fries, and side salad. Libre Assist then described the burger patty, lettuce, and tomato as “green-light foods,” while the fries and burger bun were “yellow-light foods” that could significantly impact glucose levels.
Libre Assist also provided suggestions to reduce the meal’s impact, such as eating the side salad first to reduce the risk of glucose spikes.
This new function could lower patients’ guesswork when evaluating meals and could provide meaningful, reasonable suggestions for improvement. Rather than saying, “Never eat a burger, never eat fries,” Libre Assist suggested eating just half the fries or the burger bun. Those moderate suggestions are more likely to feel like win-win situations for patients — and potentially more likely to be followed.
Rehasense Art Line Rollators
This literally colorful new series from Rehasense is likely to change conventional thinking about the appearance of walking aids.
With unabashedly bold and beautiful designs ranging from Peony to Flower Power (pictured), the Art Line encourages freedom of expression and is sure to shift conversations from, “Oh, you need to use a rollator now?” to “Wow, I never knew rollators could look like that!” or “That rollator is exactly your style!”
Other designs in the series include Zebra, Cheetah, and Cloud.
The lightweight aluminum rollators, which include a shopping bag, have a weight capacity of 330 lbs. (150 kg) and are available in medium and large sizes. The rollators fold down to less than 9 inches wide (22 cm) for more convenient storage and transport.
Dignity Lifts Rising Toilet Seat with Bidet
Being able to toilet independently and hygienically is hugely important for both patients and their caregivers. The Dignity Lift line of toilet lifts, including some with bidet functions, both raises the user upward and lifts the user forward (anteriorly) to support safer, more efficient transfers.
The lineup includes models that are battery operated, have swing-away armrests to further facilitate transfers, and are designed for commercial use. Dignity Lifts rising toilet seats fit over standard-sized toilets.
The anterior tilt function of the Dignity Lifts line shows a deep understanding of how shifting weight forward can make a world of difference when trying to stand and transfer.
