Best Bath fall prevention products

Best Bath Systems

Greg Wells, Director of Marketing & Communications www.bestbath.com

Please briefly describe your company’s product line. WELLS: Bestbath manufactures bathing products. We offer products that are designed to be useful, beautiful and easily modified as individuals’ needs and abilities change. The walls of our showers are wood backed, providing extra strength and durability allowing grab bars and seats to be installed wherever the user needs them, regardless of their height or ability. This helps ensure their safety and security.

How are you seeing the fall prevention market change? WELLS: As the need for bathroom safety and fall prevention grows due to the aging of America, the demand is changing. Users do not want sterile, cold, institutional solutions. People want beautiful and stylish solutions that fit their decor. At Bestbath, we are developing and offering products, staying ahead of fashion trends, providing bathing products that are beautiful, functional and durable so customers do not have to settle to be safe.

Motivo Tour

Motivo

Jeremy Knopow, Co-Founder www.motivolife.com

What do you offer to users in the fall prevention market? KNOPOW: The Motivo Tour enables people to walk upright. Walking upright, inside the Tour, versus behind it and hunched over, vastly improves a user’s center of gravity. Besides the ergonomic innovations, adding conveniently located storage and a flip out tray allows users to easily carry items while maintaining a secure grip with both hands on the Tour at all times.

How is the fall prevention industry changing? KNOPOW: The 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day want better and nicer solutions. No longer is just designing a functional solution to a medical problem adequate. Consumers today demand a much more holistic approach and user-centered design. Motivo is seeking to provide those solutions by leveraging our inherent product design DNA and continually going back to the user as our original inspiration point and asking what can be improved.

AccuRelief Ultimate Foot Circulator

Carex Health Brands

Laura Casto, Vice President, Communications www.carex.org

What products does your company provide to the fall prevention market? CASTO: Our wide range of fall prevention products consist of bed rails, grab bars for the shower, bath and toilet, bath mats, shower seats, elevated toilet seats, lift chairs, canes, walkers and even cushions to facilitate entering and exiting vehicles.

What developments have you noticed in the fall prevention industry? CASTO: We are seeing the release of electronic fall prevention products that make even the simplest tasks easier. For instance, our Uplift Premium Power Seat facilitates standing at the push of a button by gently lifting the user up without pushing them forward.

Tell us one way you are planning to stay competitive in the coming year. CASTO: We have recently released our AccuRelief Ultimate Foot Circulator, which uses TENS Therapy to relax stiff muscles, reduce swelling in feet and increase blood circulation in healthy muscles—all of which are common contributors to in-home falls. This product, paired with a healthy exercise routine, can help increase mobility and in turn, reduce falls.

How do your fall prevention products help HME and other providers serve their clients? CASTO: This category is predominantly shopped by caregivers purchasing for their loved ones. By using descriptive packaging that clearly demonstrates the product in use with at-shelf educational resources, Carex can ensure customers are choosing the right product the first time.

Bath safety bar

MHI

Rich Lowenstein, VP of Sales www.safe-er-grip.com

What does your company provide for fall prevention consumers? LOWENSTEIN: Our Safe-er Grip Suction Cup balance assist bars feature suction cup technology that allows the consumer to place the bar in any position in the bath area. The addition of our Safe-er Grip accessories allows the freedom of bath aids to be placed in any area of the bathing environment, thereby making simple bath activities easier to achieve. We have also recently introduced a permanent mount grab bar.

What’s one way your company expects to stay competitive in 2017? LOWENSTEIN: Our new Bath Safety Bar is engineered to meet and surpass ADA Standards. It has shown through testing that it matches all performance criteria of a standard 18-inch bar including a weight-bearing load of 500 pounds. The new contour shape of our Bath Safety Bar as opposed to straight traditional bars offers stylization not seen in current products. The new texture and color enhances bathroom decor, eliminating the clinical/hospital look of current traditional bars.

Nitro Elite CF rollator

Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare

Derek Lampert, VP of Homecare Sales www.drivemedical.com

Tell us about what your company’s fall prevention offerings. LAMPERT: It’s common to incorrectly pigeonhole fall prevention exclusively into bathroom safety aids. True fall prevention is about education and covers many aspects of patient equipment safety, all the way down to the smallest accessory such as a cup holder for a walker. Drive DeVilbiss looks at fall prevention as our duty in bath safety, bed and wheelchair transfer aids, ambulatory devices and other categories where there is an opportunity to educate consumers about proactive safety and fall prevention.

How does your company help HME and other providers face their challenges? LAMPERT: Drive DeVilbiss has recognized that we must help our provider network do more education in the home before they will be able to properly cater to the equipment needs and wants of the consumers they are delivering to. The backbone to this is our Tech to Teach program, where we help our providers bring retail into the home through consumer-focused education using their delivery technicians. As we all know, prevention is the best medicine. The challenge is consumers are not aware of what options are available to them prior to having an incident. For example, having a bath lift or a properly fit transfer bench will allow a consumer to bathe safely and independently, and greatly reduce the risk of a fall in the bathroom.

Bestbath

Greg Wells, Director of Marketing and Communications www.bestbath.com

Bestbath copper tile shower

Tell us about your company and the needs it fills in the fall prevention segment of our industry.

WELLS: Bestbath manufactures tub-to-shower conversion products designed to eliminate entrance barriers for commercial (ADA) and residential applications. As needs change, our products are easily adaptable to meet the user’s needs.

What is one way your company plans to stay competitive and successful in the fall prevention market this year?

WELLS: Innovation is at the heart of what we do. We continuously evaluate ways to improve how our products are installed and used. We recently redesigned our 90-degree subway tile showers with the new SpringClip system, which allows for a faster installation time and a more elegant look.

What challenges are affecting HMEs and other care providers?

WELLS: It is in HME providers’ best interests to expand their service offerings into more cash-based business. Our products are not reimbursable, so consumers need to fund these projects. Using successful sales tools and carrying some level of consumer finance to assist customers can help providers increase their shares of this market.

What is the most important thing that HME and other care providers can do to increase revenue?

WELLS: HME and health care providers must examine their businesses and determine where their focus really lies. If they see too much reliance on one single area, it’s time to consider diversifying.

EZ-Step Mobility, Inc.

John Stocker, President www.ez-step.com

EZ-Step

Describe your company’s products related to the fall prevention market.

STOCKER: The portable, lightweight EZ-Step Stair Climbing Cane is designed to safely assist individuals who have ambulatory challenges with ascending and descending stairs, sidewalks, swimming pools, curbs, automobiles and anywhere else where there may be a need to reduce the range of motion in both the hips and knees.

What trends do you see on the horizon for the fall prevention industry?

STOCKER: Even the fear of falling may cause someone to reduce his or her daily activities. The portable EZ-Step is perfect for those individuals to remain independent and in their homes as long as possible. It allows them to safely navigate their home stairs as well as increase their social activities such as visiting neighbors or going to the grocery store.

What challenges are impacting HME and other health care providers in the industry overall, and how are your fall prevention products helping them meet those challenges?

STOCKER: It is estimated that there will be more than 1 million total knee replacements performed annually by the year 2020. As our population continues to live longer, society must find a way to care for these individuals with dignity and compassion. The portable EZ-Step provides safety, stability and security to those individuals.

Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare

Nathan Brumbaugh, Strategic Growth Specialist www.drivemedical.com/devilbiss

PrimeGuard Cordless Fall Monitor

What does your company offer for fall prevention, and how do you stand out in the industry?

BRUMBAUGH: Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare offers a full line of fall prevention products that can help ensure comfort and safety in both home and institutional environments. Drive DeVilbiss offers products that can prevent falls in all environments such as the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and also when walking through doorways/across thresholds. Drive DeVilbiss products stand out not only because of the quality of the products we offer, but also because of the comprehensive programs and education we offer to HME providers.

Do you see any upcoming trends in the fall prevention industry?

BRUMBAUGH: A growing trend within the industry today is home modifications. Providers are looking to diversify their businesses and become less dependent on traditional pay sources and insurances. Providers servicing hospice contracts have really focused on providing products with fall prevention in mind, such as low hospital beds, fall mats, bed alarms and mattresses with raised side rails.

How do you plan to stay competitive and successful in the market in 2016?

BRUMBAUGH: Drive DeVilbiss developed a turnkey fall prevention program, which can be tailored and customized to each market, demographic and business. We have also upgraded our patient monitoring systems and introduced an easy-to-install universal raised rails cover that can fit over most standard-size hospital bed mattresses.

In your opinion, what is the single most important thing that HME and other health care providers can do to increase revenue and remain competitive in the market?

BRUMBAUGH: Education in the home to both the patient and caregiver is key. Providers need to start offering educational aspects on their fliers, websites and retail store interactions. People need to be taught, and sales will come as a result.

Roscoe Medical

Laura Casto, VP Communications www.roscoemedical.com

Free2Go Rollator

What trends do you see on the horizon in the fall prevention industry this year, and beyond?

Casto: Consumers holding onto their independence are embarrassed about their need for fall prevention products, while others are put off by the overall appearance of the items. Manufacturers are continuing to develop traditional fall prevention products such as canes, walkers and grab bars, but these products are evolving from a less institutional look to a more contemporary design.

What is one strategy your company is using to stay competitive and successful?

Casto: Roscoe Medical partnered with an inventor, Lesli Jenkins Wang, and recently introduced the Free2Go Rollator, which combines the benefits of the rolling walker (rollator) with a toilet safety product, allowing one to safely, confidently and discreetly use a toilet in any public restroom. The Free2Go Rollator addresses a common problem that many seniors face when using a public restroom where the toilet is too low or does not offer the support needed when sitting or lifting. Editor’s note: Lesli Jenkins Wang, inventor of the Free2Go Rollator, recently won the HomeCare Story of the Year contest, and Roscoe Medical/Compass Healthcare was awarded second place in the Innovative HME Retail Product Awards competition, sponsored by HomeCare, for the Free2Go Rollator at Medtrade Spring 2016. Find more coverage of the HME Retail Product Awards here and of Medtrade Spring 2016 here.

About 30 percent of adults over 65 fall each year. Hospital emergency rooms see 2.4 million nonfatal injuries in the elderly, and more than 689,000 of these patients are hospitalized. These trends are clear indicators of the growth in business home medical equipment providers can achieve in the fall prevention sector. Educating consumers about what’s available is key to success.

Ian Crawford

HealthCraft Products www.healthcraftproducts.com

The Super Pole with Super Bar provides bi-directional support.

HC: What trends do you see on the horizon in the fall prevention industry market this year?

IC: Aging-in-place is a market trend that is affecting many industries. DME retailers and installers deal with an aging population each day, but major trade associations are also training their members to work with an aging population. For example, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) offers a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) program.

HC: What challenges do you anticipate this year?

IC: A challenge in the DME industry is that some retailers only view themselves as a supply house. They don’t fully maximize their product knowledge and expertise because they compete only on price. Offering just the basic commodity and price-driven items that a consumer asks for really limits sales potential.

HC: What is the most important thing that HME providers can do to stay competitive in this market?

IC: We have to understand that a lower price does come at a cost, but by having a full product selection and a suggestive sales process, we can allow customers to make a better cost vs. value decision. By offering items beyond the standard, we further separate ourselves from the pack as the experts.

Laura Casto

Carex Health Brands www.carex.com

The Uplift Premium Power Seat lifts without pushing user forward.

HC: What trends do you see on the horizon in the fall prevention industry market this year?

LC: We are continuing to see the development of traditional fall prevention products like canes, walkers and grab bars, but we are noticing that each advancement features newer accommodations that match the lifestyle, aesthetic desires and general needs of today’s senior citizens, empowering them to be independent and feel safe in every room of their homes.

HC: What challenges do you anticipate this year?

LC: Our biggest challenge as a manufacturer first lies in the ability to determine where and how these falls are still occurring then working to develop innovative solutions that further minimizes a consumer’s risk of falling. From a provider’s perspective, we believe lower reimbursements will lead to dealers offering less reimbursable items and increasing their product assortment of retail/cash sale items.

HC: What is the most important thing that HME providers can do to stay competitive in this market?

LC: Having a fall prevention area in a showroom can help educate seniors and their family members on the available product options and how they are installed, and helps to easily translate the benefits. It also allows seniors to try product out and determine what suits them best.

Derek Lampert

Drive Medical Design & Mfg. www.drivemedical.com

No-drill grab bars provide high-end style and non-invasive installation.

HC: What trends do you see on the horizon in the fall prevention industry market this year?

DL: Like all market trends, consumers want products with more current form and function. They want to feel like they just had a high-end retail shopping experience. You will continue to see improvements in packaging and marketing will be targeted to the caregiver vs. the consumer. Fall prevention products are moving towards a less institutional look and the baby boomers are creating more demand for “best” versions in the good, better, best lineup.

HC: What challenges do you anticipate this year?

DL: Fall prevention starts with education and assessment. The items themselves are the perfect complement to reimbursement reductions as the majority fall into the cash retail classification. The irony is that the provider reaction to reimbursement reductions has been to spend less time in patient homes and this is the primary environment where fall prevention can be facilitated.

HC: What is the most important thing that HME providers can do to stay competitive in this market?

DL: Teaching is the new selling. HME providers need to brand themselves as something far greater than a delivery service. They need to bring education into the home, and that requires them to slow down during delivery and start conducting fall prevention assessments. Only then can a provider properly advise on what items would be appropriate for a consumer’s plan of care. If providers start to brand themselves as trusted advisors, consumers will look to them for all of their lifetime of medical equipment needs.