Healthcare Insights

Top 20 DME categories

Durable medical equipment (DME), such as oxygen systems, canes, wheelchairs, crutches, infusion pumps and glucose monitors, are ordered by physicians for patients’ every day and extended use.

How many DME orders do physicians make each year?

Definitive Healthcare tracks laboratory, DME and medical supply orders in the our PhysicianView product. This data is a subset of medical claims that capture when providers order additional testing from pathology laboratories or DME for their patients. For this Healthcare Insight, we reviewed over 64 million claims for DME procedure codes ordered by providers in 2021 and grouped them by category.

The following are the top DME categories with the highest number of orders in 2021.

DME categories with the most provider orders in 2021

RankDME category2021 ordersExplore dataset
1Oxygen devices and accessories21,276,657Explore
2Humidifier equipment13,783,169Explore
3Temporary codes for durable medical equipment regional carriers8,036,596Explore
4Wheelchair accessories2,222,728Explore
5Walking aids and related devices2,101,635Explore
6Hospital beds and related supplies1,438,252Explore
7Wheelchairs and mobility devices1,100,456Explore
8Other lower extremity orthotics1,083,185Explore
9Foot inserts, removable1,017,437Explore
10Knee orthotics829,012Explore
11Ankle-foot orthotics808,494Explore
12Wrist-hand orthotics736,942Explore
13Additions, lower extremity orthotics706,672Explore
14Infusion supplies672,055Explore
15Breast pumps603,085Explore
16Other orthopedic footwear568,983Explore
17Other lower extremity additions413,218Explore
18Pneumatic compressors and related equipment409,183Explore
19Commode and related supplies385,440Explore
20Shoulder orthotics376,367Explore

Fig. 1 Data from the Definitive Healthcare PhysicianView and ClaimsMx products for calendar year 2021. Claims data is sourced from multiple medical claims clearinghouses in the U.S. and is updated monthly. Data is accurate as of May 2022.

Which DME category had the most orders in 2021?

Oxygen devices and accessories had the most DME orders in 2021 at over 21 million. These include codes such as E1390 - oxygen concentrator and E0431 - portable gaseous 02. Humidifier equipment has the second most DME orders at nearly 14 million orders in 2021. This type of DME includes E0601 - continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices and E0562- humidifier, heated, used with positive airway pressure (PAP) device.

Additional medical supplies and equipment categories with over 1 million orders in 2021 include:

  • Wheelchair accessories
  • Walking aids and related devices
  • Hospital beds and related supplies
  • Wheelchairs and mobility devices
  • Other lower extremity orthotics
  • Removable foot inserts

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