Page 24 - HME Business, August 2017

The Art of Marketing Orthopedics
The number of ailments and susceptible population segments aided by orthopedic soft goods has created ample marketing opportunities for HME providers.
By Joseph Duffy
rthopedic soft goods continue to be popular revenue generators for HME providers. One reason is a
thriving customer base. Seniors are living longer; young adults and baby boomers aren’t slowing down, continuing to engage in sports and other challenging physical activity; and children and teenagers are participating in club and high school sports, as well as so-called action sports, which include skateboarding and snowboarding.
Here are some statistics supporting the growing orthopedic soft goods market:
• According to American Academy of Family 24 HMEBusiness | August 2017 | hme-business.com
Physicians, acute ankle injuries are one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries in athletes and sedentary people, accounting for 2 million injuries per year. Nearly half of all ankle sprains occur during athletic activity. And once you sprain an ankle, you are more susceptible for repeat injuries.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2015 that sprains and strains from overextension in lifting accounted for 31 percent of worker injury claims.
• U.S. construction workers are at high risk for on-the-job injuries to muscles, tendons, joints and nerves, according to a report in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
• The New York Times reported that Baby boomers are staying active and getting the sprains and strains to prove it. Sports-related injuries in this age group went up 33 percent over a seven-year period while boomers come to the realization that the older they get, the longer it takes to heal.
• The CDC says that an estimated 54.4 million U.S. adults (22.7 percent) had been told they have some sort of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus or fibromyalgia. The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome affects 2.7 percent to 5.8 percent of the adult population, according
Management Solutions | Technology | Products