What is Durable Medical Equipment(DME)?
Durable Medical Equipment(DME) typically refers to nondisposable equipment that is used as part of treatment or during recovery from an injury or illness. DME may ordered by health care providers for everyday or extended use in the home to provide a better quality of life for chronically ill patients.
What are the Features of Durable Medical Equipment (DME)?
DME may have the following characteristic features:
- It is durable, which means it can withstand repeated use.
- It can be easily handled by patient or caregivers.
- It can be easily used in home or any location other than a hospital.
- It is usually useful to someone who is sick or injured and needing supportive care.
- It improves the patient’s quality of life.
What are the Types of Durable Medical Equipments?
The various types of DME include:
- Mobility Aids: These include walkers, wheelchairs, crutches and mobility accessories etc. They are advised for patients who need support while walking or moving around.
- Bath Safety Aids: These include medical equipment that helps the disabled, chronically ill or elderly patient complete their daily hygiene routines such as support bars and stools to get in and out of a bath or shower and provide additional security to avoid falling, raised toilet seats for those who cannot bend, and products that help patients dress themselves.
- Hospital Beds: These beds can be adjusted to aid patient posture. They are required for long term bedridden patients to avoid bed sores and maintain blood circulation. They also include accessories such as side rails, overbed tables, and trapeze bars.
- Wheel Chairs: These are one of the most common type of durable medical equipment. They come in different shapes and sizes; and can be adapted and customized to accommodate a person’s height, weight, and other needs.
- Patient Handling Aids: These include transfer boards, stand assists, slings, bath lifts, and other patient safety devices.
- Therapy Aids: These include exercise balls, mats, resistance bands, ice packs, TENs units, and products or tools that aid in activities of daily living.
- Patient Safety Alarms: They provide a critical safeguard against the risk of patient injury. These include pressure-sensing alarms that will sound an alarm to alert caregivers that a patient has fallen and needs assistance; pull cords for patients who are unable to reach an alarm switch, and wireless alarms that can be placed anywhere in the room that are voice recordable and can be customized with the patient’s message or logo.
