Tag: Oxygen Concentrators

BOULDER, Colo. – As the demand for electric vehicles has grown, the price of lithium, which, when combined with zeolite, allows oxygen concentrators to generate oxygen at purity levels of 90% or higher, is experiencing significant increases, according to a bulletin from Quality Biomedical.  Lithium is a key component of the batteries used in EVs and certain sieve beds of oxygen concentrators.  “As the demand for EVs has increased, the price of lithium is experiencing significant...

YARMOUTH, Maine – In a year in which supply chain challenges and a major recall have brought challenge after challenge for HME providers, the news that Invacare is pulling out of the respiratory market has left some worried about a new hurdle in obtaining equipment.  “It’s been a rough year,” said Todd Flesch, co-founder of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Portable Oxygen Solutions. “I don’t know that there’s one company out there currently that can...

BALL GROUND, Ga. – CAIRE expects to make its Companion 5 and NewLife Intensity 10 stationary oxygen concentrators available in Latin America in July, following anticipated approval by the Brazilian Health Regularity Agency (Anvisa). “During the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic oxygen shortages throughout South America have underscored the need to expand CAIRE’s portfolio of equipment available to providers to serve patients prescribed oxygen as they are discharged from the...

GOLETA, Cailf. – Inogen saw a nice boost in revenue in the second quarter, thanks to increasing consumer confidence and ambulation, but the company expects supply chain constraints to inhibit its ability to meet demand in the second half of 2021.  The company expects total revenue for the second half to be lower than the first half of the year, and it expects net losses for the third and fourth quarters, as well as for the full year.  “We continue to see strong consumer...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen reported total revenues of $86.9 million for the first quarter of 2021, a 1.8% decrease from the same period last year, primarily due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company says.  It reported a net loss of $732,000 vs. a net loss of $1.59 million.  “While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on our business in the first quarter of 2021, we saw sequential growth in all four channels, and sequential growth of 17.5%...

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – Repair Authority in February expanded its headquarters and repair facility in Strongsville, Ohio, as part of its response to the current surge in demand for oxygen concentrators. The company added an additional 10,000 square feet to the facility, bringing it to a total of 35,000 square feet, and installed several new production lines. It’s also hiring additional repair techs. Repair Authority uses the facility to repair oxygen concentrators – portable and stationary...

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen reported revenue of $74 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, a 6.3% decrease compared to the same period in 2019, but domestic business-to-business sales were $24.2 million, a 17.9% increase.  Rental revenue was $9.4 million, a 71.7% increase, and direct-to-consumer sales were $26.8 million, a 25.2% decrease.  “While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have a significant effect on our business in the fourth quarter of 2020, primarily...

In the past few months:  A global pandemic has severely stressed the supply of oxygen concentrators, revealing cracks in an HME industry that has been slowly chipped away at by Medicare’s competitive bidding program for 10 years.  CMS has decided not to move forward with the majority of Round 2021 of that program, because the agency didn’t “achieve expected savings,” and therefore – wait for it – the current reduced rates continue to apply.  The...

YARMOUTH, Maine – Eighty-six percent of respondents to a recent HME Newspoll say they’re running low on oxygen concentrators, and 88% say they're having difficulty obtaining more.  “Hospitals are full and discharging (COVID-19) patients to complete their recovery with home oxygen therapy,” wrote one respondent. “We are struggling to keep up with the supply and demand due to long delays in shipping of ordered products.”  The...

GOLETA, Calif. - Inogen saw sequential improvements in its financial results from the second to third quarters, but company officials aren't confident that will continue into the fourth quarter due to rising numbers of COVID-19 across the United States and Europe. Inogen reported that total revenues in the third quarter were $74.3 million, a 19% decrease year over year but a 3.7% increase sequentially. Its domestic business-to-business sales were $23.1 million, a 23.5% decrease year...