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Akey market segment that HME providers have served as one of “The surgeon general and CDC are focused on eliminating sedentary
lifestyles of our senior population,” Shugert adds. “Consumer products companies should be focused on meeting this need.”
If a senior is purchasing the product directly, providers can’t be competi- tive if all they offer are those commodity products.
“Say, seniors are coming in because have falls in their bathroom,” suggest Troy Holland, president of Stander Inc. (stander.com). “If you walk them over to a wall-mounted grab bar, they’ll say, ‘Really? Is there really not anything more innovative or different than this?’ And that’s where you have the opportunity to really show them something innovative, like our security pole and curve grab bar that mounts anywhere in the room, in any part of the home, and puts the grab bar right in front of them, right where they need it.”
Also, looks count for a lot. Seniors’ tastes in terms of product design have changed. Products that enhance their life in terms of function also need to reflect that in terms of form.
“I think seniors nowadays are looking for something that’s more sleek, that’s more of a fashion statement, or innovations that they can show their friends so that they tout their new walker, or rollator or whatever it is,” says Troy Holland, president of Stander Inc. (stander.com). “It’s not the old, two- button chrome folding walker with tennis balls that their grandma used, or that their mom or dad used. They’ve got to get away from that and they want to get away from that, right? They’re looking for innovation in every aspect of their mobility and their life.”
This means providers need to think about product innovation when trying to appeal to senior customers. They need to consider how they approach
their cornerstone client demographics for literally decades is seniors. That certainly makes sense given that during the better days of CMS’s DMEPOS program, most providers derived 80
percent of their revenues (or more) from Medicare beneficiaries.
And, as the industry felt the business imperative to increasingly incor-
porate retail sales into their revenue mix — with some providers going completely retail — seniors have been along for the retail ride. But are HME providers properly serving the senior retail market? Have they kept pace with their customers? Do they need to reconsider the types of products that they need to be offering those seniors?
CH-CH-CHANGES
For starters, seniors have seen some neglect from the HME space in the past, because they were being served with basic products for the Medicare reimbursement market. No wonder walkers, grab bars, and rollators of, say, 2010 looked so much like their predecessors from the 1990s (or earlier). There was no imperative to improve, and the seniors were taking what Medicare was giving them.
“The seniors of 20 years ago were from the Depression-era; were frugal and not focused on spending money for themselves to improve their lives,” says Craig Shugert, president and CEO of LifeWalker Mobility Products (www.lifewalker. “The seniors of today are wealthier, want to stay fit by staying active and are willing to spend money on value-added products which can improve their lives and help them to live longer, healthier lives.
Innovation Game
Why HME providers need to ensure that they serve up innovative, ‘must-buy’ products if they want to continue capturing the senior retail market.
By David Kopf
Management Solutions | Technology | Products hme-business.com | September/October 2020 | HMEBusiness 13
Photo © chones/depositphotos.com
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