Medical Equipment Group Aims To Develop Standards For Industry's Supply Chain

The Home Medical Equipment Standards Association (HMESA) is working to bring some additional order into the industry it serves. To that end, the Wilmington, Del.-based association is pushing to develop and adopt industry standards for the home medical equipment supply chain. "The goal of HMESA is to establish consistent industry standards that will increase productivity, reduce costs and reduce confusion in the supply chain, and that will be a welcome advance for manufacturers and providers alike," explains HMESA President Steve Neese. "We have 15,000 providers and 150 manufacturers, all working to give consumers cutting-edge performance and selection. The result is more product categories, more selection within each category, and more options available with individual products. The complexity is bogging us down as an industry." The association's current objectives include creating a consistent method of grouping products and establishing standard file formats for information transfer. Future areas of focus include bar coding, radio frequency identification and electronic bill presentation. HMESA members include Invacare Corp., National Seating & Mobility, ResMed and Respironics Inc.