The Power to Heal

Manufacturers of beds and support surfaces are seeing their market expand, and they think HME providers who sell their equipment will, too — especially if that equipment is going to bariatric patients. The beds and support surfaces market — growing by leaps and bounds, according to industry leaders — is only going to get stronger, and product makers attribute much of this strength to the obesity epidemic in the United States.

“There's been a marked increase in bariatric patients,” says Leigh Smith, director of marketing for Mellen Air. “Where before the bariatric bed frame was a peripheral item, now it is a necessity in the marketplace because of the change in the medical profile of our country.”

In fact, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona made the headlines earlier this year when he said that obesity was more of a risk to Americans than any chemical or biological weapon Saddam Hussein might be hiding. In response, citing statistics that show 61 percent of U.S. adults and 13 percent of children are overweight, U.S. Senators Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., introduced legislation this summer aimed at reducing obesity.

Along with recognition of the obesity problem in the general population, there has been a shift in how obese patients are viewed, from individuals who are at fault for their condition to individuals with genuine problems and needs that can be met with beds and support surfaces equipment. “More and more organizations are popping up, demanding care for these people,” says Len Feldman, owner of Big Boyz. “They're no longer being treated as gluttons, but people with real problems,” he says.

Obesity used to be a shameful or embarrassing condition, experts say. “In the past, [obesity] was kind of tucked away,” says Duwayne Kramer, president of Leisure-Lift. “Today, more people are out there trying to get something done about it.”

More Equipment, More Often

One market factor recognized by both manufacturers and dealers is the sheer volume of equipment that bariatric patients require, and this doesn't mean just the size of beds and support surfaces products. While these patients do need larger devices, explains Mani Cohen, president of Unicare, which recently began manufacturing bariatric mattresses, the nature of obesity means bariatric patients also require more equipment, more often.