If someone walks into an HME, nine times out of 10 they'll need
a bathroom safety product if they don't already have one in their
home, says Kevin Jones, senior product and brand manger for Home
Care by Moen. Regardless of what else the customer needs — a
walker, wheelchair or oxygen concentrator — the bath safety
products typically come into play at an earlier stage, he says.
With odds like these, providers can barely afford not to take
advantage of this expanding market, manufacturers say. And cash
sales from bath safety products will become increasingly important
for providers looking beyond the traditional reimbursement business
model, especially in the face of competitive bidding and Medicare
payment cuts.
“We think the bath safety market is certainly one of the
bright spots for HME amid everything else going on with regard to
reimbursement and extensive concerns in the marketplace,”
says Jones. “It's hard to argue against bath safety and what
it has to offer.”
There's no argument that this market is growing by leaps and
bounds. Falls are the No. 1 cause of injury for older adults, and
as baby boomers continue to age, the need for products to assist
and prevent dangerous slips in the bathroom will only increase, he
points out.
By 2010, 100 million Americans will be age 50 and older, Jones
says. Furthermore, there are 54 million caregivers in the country,
buying for parents, grandparents and injured family members. He
estimates that Moen's bath safety line will continue to grow 8 to
10 percent annually.
“If you put those figures together, from a demand
perspective, bath safety is a great place to be,” he
says.
But with growth comes greater competition from traditional
retailers, pharmacies and online companies, who all want a piece of
this lucrative market.
“There are broader channels for distribution and more and
more sales through these channels,” says Raj Sandhu, product
manager for personal care and bathing at Invacare. “We're
seeing more e-commerce sites that are out there today than ever
before. They are tapping into this home care market and offering a
wide variety of products, including bath safety, and marketing
direct to consumers.”
Providers that want to play need to brush up on their retail
strategies and offer a wide-variety of products to address the
different wants and needs of consumers, whether it's more style,
comfort, stability, function, portability or ease of use, according
to manufacturers.
“Those who don't will be under constant assault from
retailers who are also offering these products,” Jones warns.
“The future is bright for anyone who follows the trends and
adapts accordingly.”
It's All in the Details
While cost is one of the main considerations when manufacturers
are developing reimbursable HME products, bath safety products are
in a unique position. Because most of the products are not covered
by Medicare, manufacturers say they have the freedom to develop and
offer more attractive and feature-rich products that many consumers
are willing to pay for out-of-pocket.
“As a whole, [the bath safety market] is focusing more on
innovation and function than the lowest price,” says Scott
Marcus, co-owner and vice president of sales for Health Circle.
“I think that will continue to evolve because baby boomers
have more disposable income and they're educated.”
Among the new developments in bath safety products is replacing
rails on the sides of shower chairs and commodes with armrests or
support handles.
According to Jones, Moen conducted a study on how people sit and
stand and found that handles on the side give them better support
and are easier to use. “If there's a bar on the side of the
commode, how do you clean yourself?” he asks.
In response to these findings, Moen is rolling out new products
— including a commode, transfer bench and shower chair
— in April that include support handles with rubber grips at
the top.
Grab bars that swing for varying levels of support are another
innovation, according Jason Saint-Amant, sales marketing manager of
HealthCraft Products. The company's grab bar with a pivoting design
won the 2007 Innovation Award at Medtrade.
“One request we get working with therapists all the time
is to create something beyond static movement and create something
with a motion to it that allows people to be supported at all
times,” he says.
If people have limited upper body strength they often will reach
across the bathtub to try to hold the grab bar, which puts them at
risk of falling forward and injuring themselves, Saint-Amant
explains.
Manufacturers also are paying more attention to ergonomics and
increasing comfort. For example, the seat of Moen's
soon-to-be-released shower chair is made out of mesh material that
gives, so it is as comfortable as an office chair, Jones says.
Light and Simple
As the aging are living more active lifestyles and traveling
more than previous generations, the demand for products that are
lightweight and portable is growing, says Health Circle's Marcus,
whose company sells suction cup grab bars.
“It seems to be more about convenience,” he says.
“They want to live, they don't want to just be stuck in their
homes.”
Many consumers also are looking for products that are portable
and compactable for storage within the home, notes Invacare's
Sandhu. In response to this trend, the company recently released a
folding commode that can be put away when it is not being used.
A number of consumers, especially the elderly, also are looking
for simple solutions, such as products that can be assembled with
fewer screws and bolts and more snap-together items, says Brent
Yamamoto, assistant marketing manager for Eagle Health Supplies.
Many of them also are looking for products that don't require
installation or drilling into bathroom tiles, such as grab bars
with ceiling-to-floor holds.
Another trend that is becoming increasingly popular and
simplifies life for patients and caregivers is all-in-one
solutions, such as a shower chair that also functions as a commode,
he says.
“Instead of having to transfer a patient from the commode
to a wheelchair to another chair in the shower, [the caregiver] is
able to just keep them on that for the whole time,” he
explains.
They've Got the Look
As consumers become more discriminating, they are more willing
to shell out bigger bucks for more attractive, better-quality
products, bath safety product makers say.
“We never thought high-end bath safety was going to have
any potential, but Moen has proved us wrong on that,” Marcus
says. “It's going to be quite a viable segment of the
business for a long time.”
Previously, customers who wanted a grab bar were limited to an
“exposed-screw, gas station-looking” grab bar, or a
white grab bar, says Jones.
“If you have all [oil-rubbed bronze] accessories in your
bathroom, and all you see is a white grab bar at the HME, you're
not going to be happy about putting that in,” he says.
“The trend of aging in place does not have to be ugly, and it
doesn't have to be uncomfortable. It can be stable, but still
comfortable and attractive.”
And people with nice bathrooms are looking for something less
institutional-looking, and something that looks like it belongs in
the bathroom says Jones. The company, which expanded into the bath
safety market several years ago, began to offer more stylish
options for consumers, such as grab bars in a number of popular
finishes such as oil-rubbed bronze and Old World bronze to match
other bathroom accessories.
“We're trying to expand the market to get people to adopt
these products earlier in life,” Jones says. “If you
make them attractive, people are more likely to do that.”
While some consumers will always want the cheapest products,
Marcus notes “some of the higher-end products that are
selling are built better, look better, are more functional, and
it's noticeable.”
But education is key to make sure customers understand the
differences in quality and function between products such as grab
bars, which can range from $20 to $50 at retail, Saint-Amant
says.
“For a consumer, once they understand what a product will
do for them, it's justified in the price,” he says.
People also are willing to pay for products as they become more
educated on the importance of preventing falls that can cause
serious injuries, rather than after there's an incident,
Saint-Amant adds.
“What people are looking for is a solution to the problem,
and that's preventing falls or allowing mom or dad to shower on
their own again and not having mom have to take care of dad in the
shower and put them both at risk of falling,” he
continues.
“Paying $100 to $200 to have that independence again is
not something that most people have a problem doing.”
One Size Doesn't Fit All
The days of providers offering only one option for customers,
such as a single shower chair or grab bar, just won't cut it
anymore, Jones says. Instead, providers who want to thrive in the
bath safety arena will need to offer a wide selection of products
that address the varied concerns of their customers.
“Every consumer is not the same. You can't have one
product to meet the needs for every consumer and caregiver,”
he says. “[The provider] has to ask, ‘Are you looking
for more style? Are you looking for more comfort? Or are you
looking for more durability and stability?’ They may be
different products.”
And keep in mind that different age groups may not have the same
expectations when it comes to bath safety. Moen's market research
found that the elderly tend to be satisfied with traditional,
institutional-looking items, Jones says.
“They see a chair or grab bar and think it's supposed to
be ugly because [it's] a bad thing that they're aging,” he
says. “That's because they've never seen anything that was
different.”
However, when Moen talked to the typically younger caregivers,
Jones says they were more likely to prefer a product that offered
more comfort and style.
“As baby boomers are demanding more premium products,
there's a segmentation in the market,” he says. “People
want the option of good, better or best.”
Think Like a Retailer
Manufacturers note that taking products out of the box and
displaying them in a bathroom environment in the store is key to
increasing sales.
“Products don't sell out of brochures,” Saint-Amant
says. “Demonstrate the products and physically have them on
hand in the showroom where clients can touch the product and
understand how they work.”
The average customer who hasn't seen anything innovative might
not know what a product like a transfer chair is, Yamamoto points
out. “But if they have it over a bathtub, it might spark a
conversation or it will help the customer figure out what it is or
how it works,” he adds.
Jones recommends visiting local retailers for ideas on
merchandising, how to best position products, how to use signage,
how to create displays and how to use literature to compel the
consumer to want to make that purchase.
Besides offering a wide selection of products, it's also
important for providers to keep up with the trends in the market
and offer some of the latest and greatest products to put on
display. “Dealers are going to want [products] that stand out
in their store,” Marcus says.
In addition to marketing and advertising, providers can increase
their presence in the community by meeting with occupational
therapists, who understand what their patients need, Saint-Amant
suggests.
“Therapists are always open to hearing about new products
that solve problems,” he says. “And it's a great way of
generating referrals and solving problems in the
community.”
Compete with Customer Service
Experts Interviewed:
Compete with Customer Service
In recent years, e-commerce sites selling retail home care
products have taken off, and also have taken potential HME
customers with them. To compete with these Web sites, retailers,
drug stores and other outlets, HME providers will have to train and
maintain a top-notch sales staff, manufacturers say.
“As the population moves more toward tech-savvy
[consumers], a lot of people are looking more toward the Internet
for their needs,” says Eagle Health Supplies' Brent Yamamoto.
“Providers will need to provide a lot more customer service
to get their customers back.”
Even though customers may be able to get a lower price for bath
safety products over the Internet, they get what they pay for, he
says. “It's not the same thing. You're paying a cheap price,
but you have no follow-up, and the customer is not getting any
help,” Yamamoto explains. “If you buy from a supplier,
you'll have someone to teach you how to work [the
product].”
Providers will have to leverage their advantage that they are
the experts, says Home Care by Moen's Kevin Jones. “The HME
is a specialized store, so [providers] should leverage that versus
a mass retailer,” he says. “But you can't just expect
consumers to walk in and ask for it. HMEs have to focus on
developing [the expertise], advertising it and driving it so
consumers will come to them instead of the local pharmacy or
somewhere else.”
To do this, a sales staff that is well-educated about the
products is key, says Scott Marcus of Health Circle. “If the
store looks cluttered, or if the salesperson is rushing and doesn't
know or care to know about the products, you've wasted all that
effort and money,” he says.
But on the flip side, for good salespeople who know the products
and take the time to get to know the customer, “the customer
will probably buy something and sometimes come back later and bring
a friend,” Marcus says.
One thing HME sales employees can do to increase sales and
customer service is ask, “How can I provide a fuller solution
for my customer?” Jones suggests. For example, if a customer
comes in and needs a seat cushion for a wheelchair, he says staff
should always ask, “Do you have grab bars? Do you have a
hand-held shower?” If they do, then ask further, “Does
yours do this and this and this? Look at this product we just got
in.”
“They have to make that shift from selling based on
customer requests to becoming a solutions provider,” he
says.
Experts Interviewed:
Kevin Jones, senior product and brand manger, Home Care by Moen,
North Olmsted, Ohio; Scott Marcus, co-owner and vice president of
sales for Health Circle, Boca Raton, Fla.; Jason Saint-Amant, sales
marketing manager, HealthCraft Products, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada;
Raj Sandhu, product manager for personal care and bathing, Invacare
Corp., Elyria, Ohio; Brent Yamamoto, assistant marketing manager,
Eagle Health Supplies, Orange, Calif.
