Supporting Support

At Rice Home Medical in Willmar, Minn., employees don’t just deliver equipment. They deliver support.

The company, which will mark its 20th anniversary next June, regularly hosts support groups for those with diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s and arthritis to sleep apnea and diabetes. While that has been a boon to those grappling with chronic disease, it has also paid off by boosting the company’s bottom line, says Carol Laumer, executive director.

“[Support groups] look at us as a resource, and it’s the best advertising we could get,” Laumer says.

And in an era when being in the HME industry can be considered risky business because of declining margins and growing legislative and regulatory restraints, anything that generates positive publicity is a plus.

Supporting the Groups

How did Rice Home Medical get involved in support groups? Laumer says the company, which is owned by Rice Memorial Hospital, first came up with the idea in the early 1990s when support groups started proliferating all over the country.

The groups were often looking for free or inexpensive space to use for their gatherings and Rice, which now has five branches — including the newly acquired Douglas County Hospital HME arm in Alexandria, Minn. — recognized that it had space they could use. What better way to introduce potential customers to the products and services the HME has to offer than by flinging open the doors to folks who could use at least some of the equipment?

The company began by inviting support groups to its facilities that could accommodate groups of people. “It wasn’t that we started our own groups; we piggy-backed on others,” Laumer says. The plan was for Rice personnel to greet the groups, then take them on a tour of the facility. The meetings would follow.

As word spread that Rice had rolled out the welcome mat for support groups, the groups began contacting the company to see if they could use the facility. Now, there’s at least one group meeting every other month in the different facilities (fewer in Minnesota’s hard winter months), Laumer says.

As the usage has grown, so has the scope of Rice’s plan. In fact, Laumer says, hosting the support groups has turned into an educational medium. While each group has its own leader, someone from Rice does a presentation at the meetings. “We usually do a legislative piece so they know what is going on,” Laumer says.

Some go beyond a simple presentation.

For example, twice a year Rice hosts AWAKE!, a national organization that offers support to those with sleep disorders. Anyone — not just Rice Home Medical patients — can bring in their CPAP devices and get them checked. Those attending also have a chance to see new sleep equipment and talk to the manufacturers about it. Guest speakers are featured, too, and the company alerts folks to the upcoming event via advertisements in the newspaper, radio and by mail.

“We do an education component so it’s not just a marketing piece,” says Laumer, adding that for the most recent AWAKE! meeting, the guest speaker was a physician who uses a CPAP. “It’s very successful for us.” Laumer notes. “This past spring, we had over 200 people from Willmar show up.”

That was a huge turnout, not only for the small, rural Minnesota area, but also in national terms. Laumer reports that vendors who displayed their products at the event said they had been part of AWAKE! activities in major cities and had not seen that level of turnout.

There was another reward beyond the great turnout, Laumer says. “Of the 200 people, about half ordered products.”

Building Relationships, Building Business

For Rice Home Medical, hosting the support groups has underscored the importance of getting people in the door. Legislative and regulatory mandates such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act have made it more difficult for HME providers to market their companies, Laumer says.

“With HIPAA and questionable marketing by some other companies, many doors have been closed to us,” she notes.

But hosting the support groups has opened new doors, Laumer says. It has certainly raised the company’s visibility. Physicians especially have responded by referring more patients to Rice, Laumer says.

“The majority of people say they come to Rice from their physician,” she says.

Supporting the support groups has also suggested other marketing venues. Rice has worked with Reach to Recovery, the American Cancer Society’s breast cancer support group, to hold a mastectomy open house. Two have been held this year, the most recent in September.

“We serve punch and cookies and coffee. We have the room decorated very nice and it’s a special day for them,” Laumer says, referring to the women who attend. “I see those women talking and sharing.”

It’s gratifying to know that Rice is providing a forum for women to support one another, but Laumer has been pleased as well by fallout from the event: From the September open house, for example, the company scheduled 15 appointments for fittings.

Four years ago, the company also started holding a customer appreciation week. “The first day is a kick-off [event]. One of the manufacturers — Pride or Invacare — does an education component,” Laumer explains. Depending on the focus, physical or respiratory therapists can pay a nominal fee to attend and gain continuing education units.

During the rest of the week, luncheons are held at each of the company’s locations, and those attending are treated to a free lunch. This year’s event drew more than 300 people who, in addition to enjoying a free meal, also got a look at new products. And, yes, Rice also made some bonus sales, Laumer says.

“It’s a good way of seeing customers and new folks, as well,” she adds.

The provider also seeks to host whatever synergistic activity it can.

“VGM has a wound care and bariatric academy that they do. We want to expand our wound-care business. We’re looking to get good at it,” Laumer says. So Rice hosted the Waterloo, Iowa-based buying group’s learning session. “I did it primarily for our staff to learn, but we invited home nurses in, and they are hungry for education,” Laumer explains.

The academy didn’t net sales, but will likely net future referrals. It definitely established new relationships with possible referral sources.

And that’s exactly the point, according to Laumer.

“The positive [public relations] you can create in the community, the level of trust, the service — it does matter,” she says. “You don’t see big newspaper ads from the big national firms. It is a relational base. And relationships grow with the people who come.”

5 Tips for Tapping Into Support Groups

Think that supporting support groups might help your business? Here are some tips to help the strategy pay off, according to Carol Laumer, executive director of Rice Home Medical.

1. Reach out to support groups. Over the years, Rice Home Medical has hosted groups that focus on: Alzheimer’s, arthritis and fibromyalgia, cancer, cardiac disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s, ostomy, multiple sclerosis and sleep apnea. Let the support groups you would like to establish relationships with know how many people you can accommodate and the days and times the facility would be available, as well as any cost.
2. Plan a brief presentation for each meeting, but avoid making it a sales pitch.
3. Include an education component — a legislative update or product, pricing and payment information, etc. Add an education component to your Web site, too, by providing information on chronic diseases. Rice also has extensive information for caregivers on its site.
4. Advertise. Use newspapers, radio, direct mail — either one or all. And don’t forget to use your own Web site (you might even provide links to other sites such as the American Cancer Society, the National MS Society, etc.).
5. Be prepared to spend some money and some time on hosting support groups. Laumer says her company is always weighing the cost of the ads and seeking the most efficient, cost-effective way of getting the word out. Whatever works best for you, be aware that it can pay off in terms of increased purchases and referrals, as well as good will.