Selling Support

For home medical equipment providers interested in starting or expanding a beds and support surfaces business, there’s good news. The market is strong and growing, and well worth the investment, according to industry experts.

At the same time, providers should not enter the beds and support surfaces market lightly. Experts caution providers to be prepared to do their homework — on the products, on strategic marketing and on the customers.

Fiscal Growth…

According to a 2001 report from market research firm Frost & Sullivan, the market for specialty beds and support surfaces for wound care will increase almost threefold by 2008, from $935.5 million in 2001 to $2.09 billion in 2008. Beds and support surfaces manufacturers are well aware of these numbers.

Experts point to several factors contributing to market — and industry — growth, including an aging population, increased life expectancy, and baby boomers with money to spend.

“The [U.S.] society is clearly an aging society. Additionally, people are living longer than in years past. For example, the projected growth of the over-80 [year-old] population is estimated to double from 7 million to 14 million by 2030; the over-100 population will grow from 30,000 to 700,000 — they’re staggering numbers. The entire HME industry will see growth as a result,” says Abbey Daniels, chief executive officer for SenTech Medical Systems, which manufactures a range of alternating pressure, low air loss, lateral rotation and bariatric support surfaces.

“The market is growing. The baby boomers are contributing to this,” says Sandy Thomas, national sales director for Flex-a-Bed, which manufactures high-end, adjustable beds. “Eighty percent of our beds are sold to people age 50 and over — not that 50 is old. Many of those customers don’t even need the bed medically, but they have more leisure time — and they have the money to buy this type of bed.”

…And Physical Growth

“Sixty percent of the U.S. population is overweight, and morbid obesity consumes about 12 percent of the health care budget,” says Duwayne Kramer, president of Leisure-Lift, a company that has manufactured a bariatric bed since the early 1980s. Leisure-Lift makes three bariatric beds, two of which — a 600-pound weight capacity and an 800-pound capacity — are for the home care market.

“Bariatrics is a growing market, but one that many dealers are not aware of. There are a lot of bariatrics patients out there and dealers need to think of them as a market,” Kramer adds.

Other manufacturers, like Susan Wilson, director of research, design and development for Supracor, agree.

“We introduced a bariatric cushion at Medtrade, and it’s been doing very well because there’s so much demand for it,” Wilson says. Supracor manufactures wheelchair cushions and a mattress overlay designed to cover an existing hospital mattress.

“[Bariatrics patients] really do live in the bed. We have to help the caregiver and help that person survive on a daily basis,” Kramer explains.

Seeking Standards

A growing market necessarily offers a wide range of products, which presents some challenges in the case of beds and support surfaces, especially in terms of reimbursement and product quality.

“There are no standards of performance for support surfaces. The only standards are things like the height of the mattress. Since a wide range of products meet the same billing code, there is a wide range of effectiveness of product and a wide range of prices — yet all of the products have the same reimbursement,” Daniels says. “It is challenging for dealers to decide what holds the greatest therapeutic value. In other segments of HME, features often are what differentiate the products. With support surfaces, clinical outcomes are what differentiate the products, and making that product decision is difficult. The more experienced you are, certainly the greater your knowledge base is.”

Help is on the way, in terms of standards, experts say. At least three industry organizations are in the process of developing standards for support and seating surfaces.

“In the cushion market, there is only one [Medicare reimbursement] code for pressure-relieving and positioning cushions With the mattresses, there are Group 1 and Group 2,” Wilson says. “Both markets are developing new standards for their respective products. The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel is working on support surfaces primarily, while the ISO [International Organization for Standardization] and RESNA [Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America] are working on wheelchair cushions. There are so many products out there, and [these groups are] trying to develop some standards that will assist clinicians in choosing products for their patients.

“Everybody is obviously concerned with the reimbursement environment and what’s going to happen,” Wilson continues. “The most unfortunate thing that could happen would be if reimbursement were set at a certain amount or if products were described to meet certain criteria. If those things happened, then you’d have manufacturers producing products to meet codes, rather than innovating.”

Until some standards guidelines are developed — a feat that manufacturers expect will happen soon — providers of beds and support surfaces will have to do their own research and establish their own standards for quality.

“Unfortunately, the average individual can’t tell the difference between a high-quality surface and a low-quality surface [by looking at it.] [Once they have used the product, though] a lot of people are able to recognize the difference,” says Brad Frickey, president of Sunflower Medical, which manufactures air-therapy mattresses for home care, nursing home, hospice and acute care patients.

According to Daniels, “the best practice is to really understand the product, in terms of both quality and therapy. In the support surfaces market, this is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Dealers should talk to multiple manufacturers and have them explain how their products provide therapy.”

Sales Outlook

HME providers who dig in their heels and educate themselves about the products can expect smooth sailing when selling beds and support surfaces.

“It all goes back to the education. For any manufacturer, one of the best ways to sell is to make sure that you have a good understanding of the product and know that one product will not work for everyone,” Wilson says.

According to the experts, most providers already have the tools to sell beds and support surfaces. The challenge is bringing in the customers.

“If providers are currently billing Medicare, they already know how to bill. It’s just a matter of finding the people who need the support surfaces and selling the products,” Frickey says.

“Dealers should cultivate relationships with institutions that work with bariatric patients. Get referrals. Make it known that [bariatrics] devices are available and reimbursed by Medicare or by private insurance. It also helps to sell a heavy-duty scooter [or other bariatric product] — this is a niche market all the way across the board,” Kramer says.

And, all agree that dealers must get the message — and the products — in front of the people who will be buying the products. According to Thomas, advertising in a newspaper is a good sales strategy, especially if the ad is strategically placed in a local section.

“This sounds horrible, but the obituary page is the best page [on which to advertise],” Thomas says. “Folks that are older — and even younger adults — peruse [the obituary] page for familiar names. Run a small ad once a week. This brings in serious customers who are coming in for particular item.”

However, once the customer visits the showroom, displaying the products for the customers to try out is a crucial component of closing the sale.

“Customers want to try the bed, to test the firmness and to see the length. Even if don’t buy the bed then, when they go home and fall asleep on the couch, they’ll remember how the bed felt. The beds sell themselves,” Thomas adds.

Experts Interviewed:

Abbey Daniels, chief executive officer, SenTech Medical Systems, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Brad Frickey, president, Sunflower Medical, Ellis, Kan.; Duwayne Kramer, president, Leisure-Lift, Kansas City, Kan.; Sandy Thomas, national sales director, Flex-a-Bed, Long Beach, Calif.; Susan Wilson, director of research, design and development for San Jose, Calif.-based Supracor.