Over the past few years, the healthcare industry across Europe has undergone some significant changes. The pressure on healthcare economies has been well documented. As well as outright reductions in pricing demanded during the tender process, homecare providers have also had to contend with a general decline in reimbursements as many governments attempt to limit healthcare costs as a way to cut public debt.
This has, and will, continue to affect the market for oxygen therapy devices because the purchasing power of a buyer often depends on the return on investment.
In recent years, there has also been a move towards the ‘non-delivery’ model of oxygen therapy supply because of the need to reduce homecare providers’ associated costs, driven primarily by reduced reimbursement of oxygen therapy delivery. This has led to a demand for larger cylinders – to allow fewer deliveries, and increasingly for non-delivery devices such as portable concentrators. With a growing focus on cost-cutting in healthcare and also on sustainability, the move towards more efficient non-delivery products looks set to continue.
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