Extra help is often required for older adults or patients with a chronic or terminal illness. Durable medical equipment is immensely helpful in making routine life more manageable and easy for them. DME is a class of medical supplies that includes several items such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, hospital beds, and others. These are intended to facilitate the user to stay active and healthy.
Types of Durable Medical Equipment
DME is a broad term that includes safety appliances, personal medical devices, and recovery and therapeutic appliances. Below are the different types of medical equipment that serve a specific purpose.
- Mobility Devices
Limited mobility is usually an issue faced by elderly people as they grow old. To ensure their easy and safe mobility, several devices are available. It includes cranes, walkers, and crutches.
Stairlifts, elevators, scooters, and leg and back braces are also considered durable medical equipment.
- Safety Aids
Commode chairs, shower chairs, lift bars, bumpers, and guard rails are a few safety devices that elderly people might need in their homes. Medical call buttons and lifeline alert systems are considered safety devices for critically ill patients.
Wearable devices that prevent injury majorly may also fall into the category of safety devices.
- Therapeutic DME
To improve a health condition and recovery from an injury, therapeutic DME is commonly used. Prosthetic devices, orthotics, dentures, and eyeglasses help the user enhance their lifestyle. At the same time, adjustable beds aid patients experiencing certain medical conditions such as sleep apnea or congestive heart failure.
Nasal tubing, masks, regulators, and tanks that are used to provide supplemental oxygen to patients are also included in therapeutic DME.
Benefits of Durable Medical Equipment
Keeping medical devices at home allows you to manage the emergency if medical help is unavailable immediately. Moreover, it also aids home health caregivers in providing appropriate care to needy patients.
- Promotes Healthier Lifestyle
Patients with chronic illness often use medical devices to check their health condition. It facilitates them to take care of their health in a better way.
Using these devices reminds the patients to take instant action to maintain their health. It leads to the adoption of a healthier lifestyle on a long-term basis.
- Facilitates in Monitoring Chronic Diseases
Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and asthma require continual management and care. Durable medical equipment at home offers a great benefit to such patients as well as their caregivers. They can perform the required test at home without going to the hospital or nursing home each time.
The equipment provides accurate results, making it easier for caregivers to provide reports when they visit the doctor.
- Helpful in Medical Emergencies
Dealing with a patient with a serious health condition is much easier with DME.
The caregivers can take instant action when noticing the patient's declining state. Moreover, some emergency medical equipment has notified the emergency contacts. This prompt action can save the life of a patient.
- Cost-effective in Long Term
Frequent visits to the hospitals for tests can be a burden on the pocket. It can make it tough for caregivers to afford the treatment. Durable medical equipment at home can solve this problem by saving the extra money that spends on the third party.
Blood, urine, glucose analyzers, ECG units, nebulizers, medical beds, and wheelchairs are great for bedridden patients. Investing in medical devices is especially helpful for chronic or terminal illness patients.
Maintenance of Medical Devices and Accessories
Modifying and maintaining the medical equipment are also essential to ensure patient safety. Some devices can be adjusted according to the special needs of the patients so that the rehabilitation period can be easier.
Adequate maintenance of DME is also imperative, especially for oxygen equipment. Cleaning and sterilization of the accessories, such as nasal tubes and nebulizers, should be done to ensure the health and safety of the patient.
DME Suppliers
DME can be purchased from different places such as hospitals, nursing homes, or medical supply stores. Usually, hospitals have a large supply of medical equipment. Inpatients use these and can be taken by discharged ones with ongoing therapy. Prosthetics, crutches, and orthopedic devices are available for the patient's convenience.
On the other hand, nursing homes offer residents free medical equipment. Sometimes, the cost of these devices is included in the nursing care fee. Though these are still the nursing home's property, residents can use them whenever needed.
You can also buy medical devices privately using personal funds from medical supply stores. But for some DME, you must have a prescription such as hospital beds, oxygen, dentures, eyeglasses, and others.