Home medical equipment is a category of devices used for patients whose care is being managed from a home or other private facility managed by a non-professional caregiver or family member. It is often referred to as "durable" medical equipment (DME) as it is intended to withstand repeated use by non-professionals or the patient, and is appropriate for use in the home.

Medical supplies of an expendable nature, such as bandages, rubber gloves and irrigating kits are not considered by Medicare to be DME.

Acronyms
Within the U.S. medical and insurance industries, the following acronyms are used to describe home medical equipment:

• DME: Durable Medical Equipment
• HME: Home Medical Equipment
• DMEPOS: Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies

Types of Home Medical Equipment

• Air purifier
• Artificial limb
• Breast prostheses
• Canes
• Commodes
• CPAP Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
• Crutch
• Diabetic shoes
• Diabetic testing supplies
• Enteral nutrition
• Elevating toilet seat
• Hospital bed
• Nebulizer
• Nutritional supplements
• Ostomy supplies
• Oxygen concentrator
• Patient lift
• Power scooters
• Seat lift chairs
• Urological supplies
• Walkers
• Wheelchair
• Woundcare

Obtaining and Using Home Medical Equipment

For most home medical equipment, a patient must have a doctor's prescription for the equipment needed. This is not always true for minor HME such as walkers or canes.

The physician may then recommend a supplier for the home medical equipment, or the patient will have to research this on their own. HME / DMEPOS suppliers are located throughout the country; for suppliers of oxygen and other critical medical equipment, Medicare rules require the supplier to only serve patients within a fixed distance, to ensure their ability to deliver supplies and maintain equipment in a timely fashion. For most areas of the U.S., this results in a great number of local HME / DMEPOS suppliers available to the patient in his or her immediate area.