Medline recently introduced an updated design of its FitRight® disposable protective underwear, developed to better support patients receiving incontinence care at home.

The product replaces traditional glued elastics with a bonded construction, delivering a more comfortable, underwear-like fit and improved coverage — an approach shaped by the increase in patients moving and living outside institutional care settings. As more care shifts beyond hospital walls, patients today are increasingly managing chronic conditions at home, often with the support of home medical equipment (HME) providers, a trend driving rapid growth in categories such as disposable protective underwear.

“The way a product fits, how it performs overnight, how it arrives at the home — those details all impact patient comfort and dignity,” said Ansley Allen, director of marketing for Medline’s personal care division. “For HME providers, product quality and reliability are also essential to retaining patients and operating efficiently.”

Within incontinence care, disposable underwear has become one of the fastest-growing segments as patients are increasingly more mobile and prefer products that feel less clinical.

Product designs, meanwhile, are increasingly influenced by how care is delivered in the home. This latest FitRight® design, for example, reflects a broader evolution of Medline’s incontinence portfolio, with innovation focused on improving both patient comfort and caregiver efficiency. Over time, the company has introduced features such as body-contoured designs, leak guards and advanced absorbent core technologies to its designs to help improve protection while reducing how often a product needs to be changed out.

“These features may sound simple, but together they make a meaningful difference for people managing incontinence at home,” Allen said.

Sizing up

Meeting the growing demand in HME requires significant manufacturing scale. Recognizing that, Medline has expanded its manufacturing capabilities for incontinence products, most notably at its facility in Lithia Springs, Ga., which it opened in 2011 as part of a strategic shift toward in‑house production of incontinence products.

The last 15 years have seen continuous expansion driven by both market demand and product innovation. In 2014-2015, Medline added a second protective underwear production line, a fourth diaper line and an underpad line. A drypad line was added in 2016, followed by a fifth diaper line and a third protective underwear machine in 2018, bringing total production capacity to the 10 lines in operation today.

As production scaled, so did the organization supporting it. Engineering, scheduling and operational support teams expanded, warehouse operators transitioned into robotics‑focused roles, and Medline invested heavily in automation to keep up with manufacturing demand.

“As HME continues to grow, manufacturing has to keep pace, not just in volume, but in sophistication,” said Walter Lewis, senior manager of engineering in the personal care division. “We’ve grown very quickly, which means continuously investing in automation, training and capital to ensure machines perform exactly how our customers need them to.”

Today, the Lithia Springs campus spans nearly 1 million square feet, supports close to 450 employees and produces around 12 million product cases annually. As a result of the increased output, the facility has seen a strong need for additional employees in recent months.

Learn more about Medline’s incontinence solutions at Medline.com.