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
| Rank | DME category | 2021 orders | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oxygen devices and accessories | 21,276,657 | Explore |
| 2 | Humidifier equipment | 13,783,169 | Explore |
| 3 | Temporary codes for durable medical equipment regional carriers | 8,036,596 | Explore |
| 4 | Wheelchair accessories | 2,222,728 | Explore |
| 5 | Walking aids and related devices | 2,101,635 | Explore |
| 6 | Hospital beds and related supplies | 1,438,252 | Explore |
| 7 | Wheelchairs and mobility devices | 1,100,456 | Explore |
| 8 | Other lower extremity orthotics | 1,083,185 | Explore |
| 9 | Foot inserts, removable | 1,017,437 | Explore |
| 10 | Knee orthotics | 829,012 | Explore |
| 11 | Ankle-foot orthotics | 808,494 | Explore |
| 12 | Wrist-hand orthotics | 736,942 | Explore |
| 13 | Additions, lower extremity orthotics | 706,672 | Explore |
| 14 | Infusion supplies | 672,055 | Explore |
| 15 | Breast pumps | 603,085 | Explore |
| 16 | Other orthopedic footwear | 568,983 | Explore |
| 17 | Other lower extremity additions | 413,218 | Explore |
| 18 | Pneumatic compressors and related equipment | 409,183 | Explore |
| 19 | Commode and related supplies | 385,440 | Explore |
| 20 | Shoulder orthotics | 376,367 | Explore |
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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Healthcare Insights are developed with healthcare commercial intelligence from the Definitive Healthcare platform. Want even more insights? Start a free trial now and get access to the latest healthcare commercial intelligence on hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers.
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