Form and Function

In today's patient aids market, looks can be everything. According to manufacturers of ADLs (aids to daily living), ambulatory aids and bath safety products, a new focus on product and packaging appearance is the result of a market that is crowded with inexpensive imports, driving prices down and slowing innovation.

“The patient aids market is one of the most sensitive to price,” says Michael DiFranco, product manager, personal care, for Invacare. “In the last 18 months, there has been a literal race to the bottom with pricing.”

Manufacturers call the situation a Catch 22. With low prices and a reimbursement system that is unresponsive to quality and service, experts say there's little incentive for investing in product development.

“There's no product development because there's no reimbursement,” states Doug Francis, executive vice president of Drive Medical.

Packaging Appeal

In light of the challenge, industry leaders say efforts have shifted to retail packaging as an important tool in making sales and aiding the patients and therapists who use these products.

“The cash sales opportunity has made the look more important,” according to Heather DeRosier, senior global product manager for Sunrise Medical.

“There is always a level of training and service [expected with a product],” adds Bradley Gale, senior product manager for Cosco Product's Ability Care Essentials line. “We try to answer this with retail packaging so [consumers] can see [how the product is used] in the home. We want it to be familiar emotionally with users, so the features are obvious … and there's not much of a learning curve,” he explains.

The look of patient aids reflects the population being served, experts say. Past the rehab market, where such products can make the difference between a patient returning home or living in a care facility, users now include an aging population concerned with looking and living younger. Baby boomers in particular, fast becoming a big part of the segment's target audience, are leading active lifestyles and want to keep doing so.

“Old people are getting younger every day,” says Gale, creating the need for manufacturers to approach product design and marketing as being “not about the end of life, but being a part of life.”

“[End-users] don't want to concede the issue that they're getting older and sicker,” agrees Francis. In talking to therapists and patients, manufacturers have learned that customers want to see “more attractive” products, he says.