A recent trend in the healthcare industry that was spoken of Tuesday by a major healthcare company's executives goosed the share prices of medical device makers on Wednesday. Two notable companies in the segment, Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) and Shockwave Medical (NASDAQ: SWAV), both gained, with the former up 2.5% on the day and the latter rising by slightly more than 1%. The S 500 index ended the session essentially flat.

At an industry conference Tuesday, executives of UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) described that trend in detail. CFO John Rex said that the healthcare and insurance giant has seen "strong outpatient care activity" from April until now. The bulk of this activity consists of Medicare recipients getting knee and hip replacements, as well as people undergoing heart procedures.

The driver of this trend is simple. Many patients put off elective surgeries during the earlier phases of the coronavirus pandemic. Some had no choice, as hospitals and medical facilities put elective procedures on pause at various points to preserve their capacity to treat COVID-19 patients and other people with acute conditions. Others postponed out of fear they would put themselves at higher risk of contracting the disease in a medical environment.

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Source Fool.com