Firstly, we need to gather a brief idea regarding what is home medical equipment.
These are in general a special group of instruments or devices that are being used by patients whose care is mostly taken in the home either by some non-professional caretaker or by any private facility or any of the family members. These devices have been designed to withstand multiple usages by the patient, which is suitable for using at home.
Different types of home medical equipment:
- Catheter
- Oxygen cylinder
- Wheelchair
- Bedpan
- Nebulizers
- Glucose meter
- Walker
- Feeding tube
- Traction splint
- Ventilator
- Infusion pump
- Air purifier
- Hospital bed
Obtaining the Home Medical Equipment or use
• For being able to use and obtain this service at home, you need to produce a doctor’s prescription. Certain equipment like in case of oxygen, it first needs to be prescribed by the consulted physician before it could be purchased.
• Your consulted doctor can also recommend or refer to a particular supplier for this. In other cases, you yourself need to search it in the market.
• Numbers of websites are also available those are providing these services. However, before you place an order, you need to check whether they are having the rights ad permission by health services or not.
• It is important to choose a proper dealer or supplier from whom to buy equipment.
While buying any of the home medical equipment, there are certain things, which the supplier is bound to perform for you:
- They are delivered safely with care so that these specific instrumentsare not damaged. Also, the installation must be done by the supplier so that it is not damaged by the person on the quest to install it.
- They need to ensure whether the environment of the home is suitable or appropriate for the installation that device and is safe to use.
- Their duty also includes to make the patient, caregiver and the family members aware of the right usage of the device, giving them proper training and also let them teach about its maintenance.
- The rights and the responsibilities of the equipment should be informed to the caregiver or the patient.
