HME Business magazine and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC have released the latest Sleep and Wound Care survey. A full PDF is downloadable here. Some key findings:
- HME Sleep Growth Shows Gradual Slowing. On average, the 194 providers responding to the survey expect their sleep revenue to grow by 10 percent (vs. 11 percent in our prior survey) in the next 12 months after growing at 9 percent in the past 12 months (vs. 10 percent in our prior survey). This is slightly below our estimate of low-teens growth in the U.S. sleep market. HME expectations for sleep growth have declined in each of our past four surveys.
- HMEs Have Begun To Take Steps To Lower CPAP Costs In Face Of Competitive Bidding. While competitive bidding is set to begin in just 10 cities on July 1, 56 percent of HMEs have already begun to implement changes to lower CPAP costs. HMEs indicate that they are most likely to attempt to negotiate lower prices with their existing CPAP suppliers and to move Medicare patients to lower cost CPAPs from existing suppliers. Additionally, 89 percent of respondents expect private insurance to lower CPAP reimbursement based on Medicare’s cuts under bidding.
- Only A Minority Of HMEs Offer Or Plan To Offer Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT). Only 12 percent of respondents currently offer NPWT products though another 15 percent expect to enter the market in the next 6 months. Nearly all respondents offering or planning to offer NPWT target the home market (84 percent) while 51 percent target the extended care market and 27 percent target the acute care market. HMEs charge an average of $73 a day ($59 a day for the pump and $14 a day for dressings) or 19 percent less than the estimated average $90 a day KCI charges.
