Kalorama sees growth potential in home-use defibrillators
Defibrillators designed for use at home – though considered a new, very small area of the homecare products market – boast the highest forecasted annual growth in the homecare segment, according to Kalorama Information.
Kalorama’s report, “The Market for Homecare Products, 6th Edition,” indicates the home defibrillator market will expand by 17.1 percent annually through 2014, compared to an annual growth rate of 2.2 percent for the entire homecare products market during the same time period.
According to the report, while defibrillators have long been used in care settings and even airplanes to restore normal heart function, they are now also beginning to be used at home. This is an important development, since 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home.
In 2004, Medtronic and Philips Medical launched the home defibrillator market with Medtronic's introduction of the LifePak, a prescription defibrillator for home use sold at Walgreens and Costco, and FDA approval to sell Philips' HeartStart Home Defibrillator without a doctor’s prescription.
“Although sales remain small compared with other home healthcare markets, the home defibrillator market is growing briskly as consumers become increasingly aware of the existence of these devices,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. “Sales will also be helped along by the mounting number of private insurers and Medicare that are including them in their coverage.”
Kalorama estimated manufacturers’ sales of defibrillators for home use at $34.6 million in 2009.
