Pretty in Pink

Recently, Respironics launched a new sleep mask called the OptiLife. The company says the pillows-style mask is based on what its customers — all of its customers — want.

End-users want light and comfortable equipment since, in all likelihood, they will be using it for the rest of their lives. They want to be able to sleep on their sides. So, the mask weighs only 2.4 ounces and facilitates side-sleeping without disrupting the seal.

Therapists want to fit their sleep patients without spending hours doing it. So, the mask comes with four pillow sizes to fit a wide range of patients, and its chin band and buckle-less headgear provide a quick fit with minimal adjustments.

Sleep lab techs told the company they want to attach the leads to conduct their polysomnographs more easily. So, the mask has an open forehead area, which also gives the patient a clear line of sight.

And sleep providers want equipment that keeps their own customers happy and protects their revenues. So, the new mask has a simple, modular design with few parts, which should reduce inventory. Combined with its other characteristics, the mask should also reduce patient call-backs, the company says, in turn reducing costs and increasing revenue.

The result, according to Respironics, is an easy-to-fit, easy-to-assemble mask designed to enhance patient compliance, and that’s what it’s all about in the sleep business.

Do sleep patients actually need the improvements? Maybe not. The equipment that has been working for sleep therapy patients thus far still works. But will those patients want these improvements? Of course. If you were a sleep patient, wouldn’t you want a mask that was lighter, let you sleep on your side and made getting a good seal faster? Double of course.

And, of course, Respironics isn’t the only company to recognize customer “wants” versus only their “needs.”

Today, most in HME know that keeping customers happy is the real key to success. For providers, that means giving customers what they want, whether they are the referral sources at one end of your business or patients on the other. It’s just basic American consumerism. All of us want what we want, when we want it, how we want it and at the price we want to pay.

According to HME sales expert Louis Feuer, that could be a tall order to fill, and it often is. (You can read more from Feuer and others on handling customer complaints beginning on page 18.) Because consumers are more informed than ever about their options, keeping them happy could mean exploring new relationships with your vendors to get products faster, or to get that one pink wheelchair your girlie-girl rehab patient wants. Because referral sources are super busy and can pick and choose where they send clients, you may have to beef up the service you offer to keep their business.

Feuer says that’s the kind of effort it may take to come out a winner, because all the customers you deal with have unique needs, unique desires. And they want the products that go with them.

As the pace of change quickens in HME, think about how savvy companies are listening to their customers, then delivering the products and services they want. It could just turn out that the providers who thrive in this industry’s coming era may not only survive competitive bidding — they’ll be the ones who figure out how to keep their customers the happiest.

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