Over the last couple of years, humanity has experienced some unprecedented challenges, and the pandemic was a difficult time for everyone. Most people experienced life-changing events and had to adapt to new ways of living. COVID-19 caused many industries to adapt, including the medical gas industry, which saw an extreme increase in the demand for medical gases. Medical oxygen was of the utmost importance, and the pandemic highlighted many of the deficiencies in the medical gas industry. From challenges with production to problems with the supply infrastructure, the medical gas industry had to address several issues.
The Demand for Medical Gases Increases
As you likely know, COVID-19 is a respiratory infection, which means that many patients need medical oxygen to survive. During the height of the pandemic, patients used as much as 60 liters of liquid oxygen per minute, and as a result, the demand for liquid oxygen skyrocketed around the world.
While every business experienced some kind of new challenge that put a strain on them during the pandemic, the medical gas industry could not afford to limit its services and products since so many people were reliant on them.
Unfortunately, the medical oxygen supply for COVID-19 was already in a challenging position before the pandemic began, with medical oxygen being used for many other treatments like pneumonia. This led to shortages and difficulties in obtaining needed oxygen, which the pandemic only made worse.
Low- and middle-income families were hit the hardest by the shortages, and as a result, many families have been forced to buy costly cylinders and accrue massive medical bills. In the worst cases, oxygen shortage has even led to patient death. This shortage of supply needed to be urgently addressed to help save lives.
Another challenge affecting the supply of medical oxygen is a fragmented supply chain with complicated logistics. The deficiencies in the distribution network can lead to high prices that lower- and middle-income families have difficulty with affording. These issues can prevent patients from getting this vital resource.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant increase in demand for medical oxygen that exacerbated the already-present issues with the production and supply of medical oxygen. These issues led to large medical bills for families and even patient deaths. The medical gas industry knew it had to change its ways to deal with the increase in demand.
Improving the Medical Gases Industry
As the pandemic magnified the issues in the medical gas industry — including production, supply and expense problems that needed to be overcome — it was forced to take steps to adapt to these unusual situations to help save lives.
To fix production issues, the medical gas industry is now required to confirm its inventory constantly. This way, if another pandemic happens in the future, the medical gas industry will be better prepared with a greater supply of oxygen ready. Ensuring that there is enough medical oxygen to go around will reduce production issues.
Another major issue facing the medical gas industry was the cost of oxygen. Many medical gas suppliers now provide financial assistance to buyers. These financial assistance plans make medical oxygen more affordable for low- and middle-income families. This helps reduce the medical bills that families receive from purchasing oxygen for patients.
In February 2021, a COVID-19 Oxygen Emergency Taskforce was created to address the problems with the world’s medical supply. The task force held an Access to Medical Oxygen Roundtable. This brought together industry experts, investors and global health organizations to combat oxygen shortages.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused every business to adjust to new challenges including the medical gas industry, which was forced to address several critical issues. As a result, new policies and practices have been enacted to ensure greater access and better affordability for life-saving gases such as oxygen.
CalOx Inc is a medical gas supplier and can help supply your business, facility or individual with medical-grade oxygen. Reach out to CalOx today to find out how they can help you stay supplied with all types of gases.