The Technological Environment

The Technological Environment

Invacare Corporation is the leading manufacturer and distributor of non-acute health care products. The company designs, manufactures and distributes an extensive line of health care products for the non-acute care environment, including the home health care, retail and extended care markets. Invacare continuously revises and expands its product lines to meet changing market demands and currently offers over 25,000 home health care and medical equipment provider locations throughout the world.

Several factors will contribute to the growth in the sales of domestic home medical equipment products. Life expectancy has continued to increase over the years and the growth in the population over 65 will increase in the coming years. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) states that the average life expectancy for men and women who reach the age of 65 is now 81 and 84. The DHHS also reports that people age 65 or older represent the vast majority of home health care patients and will increase from 12% of the population in 2000 to 20% of the population by the year 2050. A large percentage of people using home and community based health care services are 65 years of age or older. To serve and gain business from this growing population Invacare will need to address their present and future product lines.

Medical equipment has become increasingly adaptable for use in the home due to technological advances. Patients are discharged earlier form hospitals than in previous years, which lengthens recovery periods outside of the hospital. In addition continuing medical advances prolong the lives of adults and children, which increases the demand for home medical care equipment. To address this growing market Invacare has come out with several new products.

The HomeFill II Patient Convenience Pack ML4 is an all new portable oxygen supply system that is lightweight and easy to transport for oxygen patients. Patients can fill their cylinders themselves in their own home, which gives them freedom and independence - they no longer have to wait for cylinder deliveries.

A new bariatrics program offers complete solutions approach for the bariatric provider and their clients and features the full line of Invacare bariatric products. Making it easy to find the right product, the bariatric catalog employs color coding to sort products by weight capacity.

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