Worth the Weight

A persistent obesity problem in America all but guarantees a growing need for bariatric equipment designed to support morbidly obese individuals. The question is, how can home medical equipment providers capitalize on this expanding demographic?

Consultant Jack Evans says the first step is letting customers know the equipment exists. With most showrooms measuring 1,200 to 1,500 square feet, the Malibu, Calif.-based industry veteran admits that finding the necessary room can be difficult. However, HME owners with retail floor space in the 2,000- to 3,000-sq. ft. range should seriously consider showing off at least three products such as a walker, wheelchair and bath chair, he says.

Whether you choose to devote an entire department to bariatric products, or merely a few items, the point is to get the message across that you have the goods, Evans points out. In his work crafting retail showrooms across the country, Evans consistently finds that awareness builds sales.

“The economy has affected home care companies across the board, with some sales down 25 percent to even a third,” says Evans, founder of Global Media Marketing. “A lot of people are out of jobs, have lost their insurance and can't afford to pay out-of-pocket. What we have done to counteract this is to go back to layaway plans for the big-ticket items. To make the products accessible to people who otherwise could not afford them, we start advertising three or four payments to buy a chair or scooter.”

While Evans is a big believer in quality products — medical grade if possible — he also believes there is a place for cash equipment. For non-Medicare patients who have lost insurance, these types of bariatric options could be the only way to go.

“Carry affordable cash lines, which means the cheap cash lines,” says Evans. “That's the way to approach the bariatric market. You have your reimbursable model, and you also have a down-and-dirty cheap cash product; I recommend that to capture the sales.”

If you can only show one product to get the awareness message across, go large — and that usually means a wheelchair — some of which can be 40 inches (or more) wide. Evans stresses that the visual image can awaken a market that even bariatric customers did not know existed.