Healthcare professionals enlist the help of various handheld tools, machinery, and other devices to provide comprehensive, individualized care to their patients. Medical teams use both medical supplies and durable medical equipment to ensure their patients have both long-term and short-term solutions to suit their medical needs. Cascade Health Care explores the differences between durable medical equipment and medical supplies to give you a better idea of how both improve patient wellbeing.

What Is Durable Medical Equipment?

Durable medical equipment is built to last. It’s commonly referred to as DME in the medical field and provides long-term support for hospitals and their patients. You’ll find DME strewn throughout health care facilities in the form of mobility aids, hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, and much more.

How It’s Different From Medical Supplies

The main aspect that distinguishes durable medical equipment and medical supplies is that medical professionals apply medical supplies for short-term use, disposing of them after their initial use. Health care workers will toss away incontinence products, protective gloves, bandages, and other disposable medical supplies after one use. This maximizes the health and safety of them and their patients since these materials often contain bodily fluids.

Who Pays for Either?

Some DME and medical supplies are more accessible to patients than others. Patients may determine they need DME such as a cane, or medical supplies such as bandages and incontinence materials, on their own accord. In this case, patients will purchase the resources at full price.

If patients hope for their insurance to cover the cost of DME and medical supplies, they’ll need to get a physician’s prescription. Acquiring DME and medical supplies makes it easier for patients to upkeep with proper care from the comfort of their homes.

Finding Quality DME and Medical Supplies

Look to Cascade Health Care for reliable health care supplies and durable medical equipment online. We have a curated selection of DME and a vast inventory of medical supplies to keep your medical facility adequately stocked. From medical Dopplers to diagnostics, our catalog of equipment and supplies caters to a wide variety of specialized practices. Cascade Health Care also offers zero sales tax on online orders and a knowledgeable customer service team to ensure you get the durable medical equipment and medical supplies your facility needs.