Viemed Healthcare (VMD), through its wholly owned subsidiaries Sleep Management and Home Sleep, is a participating Medicare durable medical equipment supplier that provides post-acute respiratory care services in the United States, explains Ryan Irvine, CEO of KeyStone Financial and contributing editor of Internet Wealth Builder — also a speaker at the MoneyShow Canada Virtual Event on July 8-9.
In layman’s terms, the company places respiratory therapists inside the home to treat patients with very sick lungs. Many of these patients are unfortunately at the end stage of their life, at a time when they are most likely to visit the hospital.
The service prevents these hospital readmissions from occurring. The primary disease treated is COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
With almost 25 million Americans reporting that they have been diagnosed with COPD, it is the country’s third-largest killer behind cancer and congestive heart failure. The company provides a solution for people who suffer from this debilitating disease.
Viemed uses non-invasive ventilators (NIV) which allows caregivers to ventilate the patient with a mask versus forcing them to be in the bed intubated. The quality of life is better, and the healthcare costs decrease.
Viemed is in a unique position as it has been benefiting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the largest independent providers of ventilators in the U.S. and has had the opportunity to take part in fighting the pandemic by providing expertise and education, supplying ventilator machines, and freeing up hospital beds with its home healthcare solution.
The company has made a meaningful contribution to the fight against the pandemic and management believes that this has resulted in the creation of new, long-term relationships that will be an asset to it in the future. We believe the pandemic has highlighted a need for increased home healthcare infrastructure.
The company also noted that U.S. healthcare regulators have removed non-invasive ventilators from the 2021 round of competitive bidding. Management’s understanding is that ventilators will be out of the program for at least three years, which helps to alleviate one of the short-term risks facing the company. We maintain our rating of speculative Buy.
