12/03/2021
If you have recently been prescribed a CPAP device you probably know already the difficulty in finding a provider who actually has one in stock. Blue Dot Medical included. This is not how we or companies like ours normally operate. This is a crisis. A crisis not seen in our industry since its inception, and this is how we got here: First, this industry is ruled by two large manufacturers, ResMed and Phillips/Respironics. In June of this year, Respironics issued a recall of all CPAP and related devices going back numerous years. At that time they also announced that all future production would go toward replacing devices affected by the recall. This would take approximately a year of production, and they had roughly 50% of the global market. As you would imagine, everyone rushed to the other manufacturer, ResMed, to shore up inventories. ResMed, being completely overwhelmed, immediately implemented a ‘monthly fractional allotment’ ordering system going forward. This severely limits the amount of devices companies can order each month, creating a backlog at the provider level. Then, as we reached the fall months of this year, add chip shortages and supply chain bottlenecks to the list of obstacles.
As of today, what we normally would do in a matter of hours, now takes two months or more (and growing every day). For a company like ours that prides itself on efficiency, we are beyond frustrated, and to make it worse, we know you are too. Just know that this is not normal, this is not how we or our industry operates, and there isn’t anything we can do right now but be patient. For those people waiting on a device, believe me, it’s hard for us to say those words.