Home Care Gets a Lift

Manufacturers of lifts, ramps and transfer devices spend a lot of time brooding over how their products coordinate with the other equipment used by home-based patients — from living room furniture to minivans. Does the lift chair match nicely with the loveseat? Will a vehicle’s rear end be too light to support a lift?

Product innovation in this market segment is often directed by the answers to these questions. “We pay attention to the furniture industry, looking at what seems to be popular,” says Cy Corrigan, national sales manager for retail mobility at Pride Mobility Products. The company wants to make sure, for example, that its lift chairs “fit into the overall decor of the room — with the sofa and the loveseats — so [the chair] doesn’t look like a medical device.”

Other manufacturers report similar trends. “We’re seeing more and more blending of the equipment to the home decor,” notes Tom Herceg, president of SureHands Lift & Care Systems. “It is a consumer market. These products aren’t going into nursing homes or hospitals — and even in nursing homes people don’t want [a lift] to look clinical,” he explains.

In response, manufacturers are developing products that answer this growing consumer demand. At Vantage Mobility International (VMI), which entered the stowage and platform lift market three years ago, Product Manager Terry Miller says current customers “seek a professional look and design.” Lifts, he says, “used to look like big, bulky farm implements, but we’ve brought the style into the 21st century. Five years ago people would still buy that odd-looking device, but some things are unacceptable today.”

Coordinating Designs

While lift chairs may be designed to blend with a patient’s furnishings, innovation in auto lifts is closely linked both to designs in the automotive industry and to products in the scooter and wheelchair markets.

“We’re kind of a middle product for a scooter or wheelchair,” says David Mortimore, vice president of sales and marketing for Silver Star Mobility. “We’ve constantly got to be looking at new vehicles coming out, and also at what scooter and power wheelchair manufacturers are putting out there.”

Coordinating between new car designs and new products that scooter and wheelchair manufacturers are introducing isn’t always smooth, however. For example, Mortimore says, “Vehicle manufacturers are making lighter and lighter rear ends that can’t support lifts. On the other hand, you’ve got bigger and bigger chairs and scooters for [the bariatric market].”

New car designs can often place demands on how a lift is installed and operated, leading lift manufacturers in the home care market to innovate accordingly. “A lot of minivans are coming out with third-row, fold-to-floor seats, which makes [lift] installation more difficult,” explains VMI’s Miller, who notes the company has developed an installation kit that does not require any drilling. “It’s more accommodating,” he says.

Some manufacturers are also collaborating directly with automakers that, according to Miller, are looking at private labeling of lift components. “OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have started to forge partnerships [with lift companies] to capture this market segment,” he says.

According to Mortimore, Silver Star works directly with the Society for Automotive Engineers to build collaboration between the two industries. “It’s a challenge,” he says, but adds that one notable result of the effort was the introduction of onboard battery packs, eliminating the need for end users to run power for the lift from a car battery.

“This was driven by auto manufacturers who didn’t want a third party running off the car’s system because of new computer chips,” Mortimore explains. “We took that to heart and introduced the battery pack.”

Since the market for vehicle lifts is so closely tied to the scooter and power wheelchair markets, leading manufacturers say they expect to see more lifts sold as part of a package with mobility devices. These sales are “pretty minimal now, but we expect to see more and more … so people can save money,” Mortimore says.

Versatility, Safety, Simplicity

Despite the challenges that come from creating their products to function with those across different industries, manufacturers of lifts, ramps and transfer devices haven’t lost sight of the customer’s needs. End users want “more versatility, more simplicity or ease of use, and more safe and reliable products,” says SureHands’ Herceg. And while for manufacturers the equation is “flip-flopped,” he says — “the order of priority reverses, and safety and reliability are the key” — consumers’ needs are being met.

Chad Williams, president of Harmar Mobility, agrees. “Product innovation has enabled us to handle not only more applications but to do so with safer, simpler, lighter and better-looking designs that are easier to use.

“Vehicle lifts and portable ramps will continue to evolve into more attractive and user-friendly designs,” Williams says. “The new hybrid platform lifts now available from a number of manufacturers illustrate the progression of the lift market moving beyond the standard inside lifts. The new hybrid lifts are simpler, more robust and, altogether, better solutions for dealers and their customers, while maintaining a competitive price point with their predecessors.

“I believe we will continue to see the market leaders unveiling innovative new products that will enhance peoples’ lives by making them more mobile than they ever dreamed possible.”

Mobility is indeed the “new twist” in this market, according to Herceg. “In general, the aging of the disabled population creates a broader need for lifts, but the disability range is the same. A new twist is that you have a healthier disabled population with more recreational possibilities,” he says, pointing out that these days such customers travel more, stay in hotels more and participate in a growing variety of activities.

Manufacturers are serving a population that is already established, but in a new way, says Gary David Nowitz, vice president of sales and marketing for Liko Inc. “By providing products that are lightweight for portability and easy to travel with, we have the ability to hit a note in the market, which is mobility for these patients.”

As the range of recreational possibilities increases for home medical equipment users, innovation in lifts, ramps and transfer products is beginning to mirror the evolution of power wheelchairs, industry leaders say. “There’s a different generation out there that is going to be expecting different things,” says Mortimore of Silver Star. “More and more, they’re going to want something to show off. Look at wheelchairs and how they’ve evolved — lighter weight, new look, colors, sport-specific chairs. We’re going to see the same thing with lifts. We have a huge market coming at us,” he says.

However, manufacturers across the market say they spend too much of their time persuading Medicare of the merits of their products. “This product category is still immature,” says Herceg. “The challenge always seems to be justifying the higher-cost, more comprehensive solutions, proving it’s worth the investment as a long-term solution. There’s still a lot of missionary work involved proving it to Medicare,” he believes, adding that it makes sense to support new and better solutions and look beyond the immediate cost of an item to its longer-term benefits.

“The market is growing,” Herceg continues. “It’s only the lack of funding — or the ignorance quotient — that will slow it down.”

Showroom Savvy Can Boost Sales

Lifts, ramps and transfer devices are a good addition for providers who want to grow their retail business, says Pride Mobility’s Cy Corrigan, national sales manager for retail mobility, who says lift chairs, for example, are “an excellent item to add to [a dealer’s] line to increase revenue.”

The key to selling these products in the home care market, say Corrigan and other experts, is showroom savvy-achievable in three easy steps. The first step involves having product displays that are accessible and varied.

“Working product displays are the ultimate selling tool as, more often than not, economy-minded end users like to see what they are buying,” says Chad Williams, president of Harmar Mobility. “Product displays in showrooms really increase cash sales,” he says.

Showroom displays can create “more interest, awareness and sales for [providers],” according to Amanda Dean, public relations officer for Uplift Technologies, which manufactures lift cushions. “It’s a win-win situation,” she says.

A customer or caregiver needs to be able to touch and operate a device, especially when it comes to the more complex and more expensive products that may not be funded. “[People] need to get a hands-on demonstration to really see a difference,” explains Tom Herceg, president of SureHands.

The second ingredient for showroom savvy is attentiveness to an end user’s individual needs, these experts say. Providers should address what Corrigan calls “the daily living questions: how many hours a day they’ll be in the [lift] chair, the person’s condition, their size-height and weight-and so on,” he says, to make sure customers get the right product.

And finally, having stock on hand is also “a huge sales tool,” points out David Mortimore, vice president of sales and marketing for Silver Star, because, particularly with retail products, consumers don’t want to wait. “Today’s society says, ‘We want it now.’”

Experts Interviewed:

Cy Corrigan, national sales manager for retail mobility, Pride Mobility Products, Exeter, Pa.; Amanda Dean, public relations officer, Uplift Technologies, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Tom Herceg, president, SureHands Life & Care Systems, Pine Island, New York; Terry Miller, product manager, Vantage Mobility Inc., Phoenix, Ariz.; David Mortimore, vice president of sales and marketing, Silver Star Mobility, Medford, Ore.; Gary David Nowitz, vice president of sales and marketing, Liko, Inc., Franklin, Mass.; and Chad Williams, president, Harmar Mobility, Sarasota, Fla.