More than a decade ago, Bryan Schultz took note of the millions of tourists piling into the city of Las Vegas every year—thousands with disabilities requiring equipment they were unprepared to travel with. “I saw the need for [HME equipment] in the hotels,” he says. “In the Vegas mentality, everything is quick—they want it now and they don’t want to wait—even if it is three in the morning.”
Schultz developed a plan to accommodate that demand, and in 2003 he opened Desert Medical Equipment, a full- line HME company specializing in rentals and providing services that cater to the unique needs of Las Vegas’s disabled community, both visitors and residents.
The Vegas Lifestyle
When Schultz opened his company, he knew he had to deliver top-line equipment in short order. Also, he was certain that he didn’t want to deal with Medicare or Medicaid. “I said, ‘I am not messing with it,’ ” he recalls of the latter. “Everything is up front—99 percent of our revenue is paid up front. We have contracts with the hotels, but it is a small portion—a very small portion.”
Schultz and Desert Medical partner with a number of Las Vegas’s leading hotels, including the Bellagio, Venetian, Mandalay Bay and several others.
When customers make a hotel reservation by phone and mention the need for a wheelchair, oxygen or any other piece of medical equipment, hotel operators transfer them to Desert Medical. Schultz’s company takes the reservation for the equipment, accepts payment via credit card and ensures that the product is at the hotel when the guest arrives. Schultz says, “We build into our contracts the option to keep wheelchairs and scooters on-site. We keep 35 to 40 wheelchairs and scooters on each property.” While wheelchairs are stored on-site, other HME necessities—a hospital bed, oxygen, a CPAP machine, a cane or bathroom equipment—are available for delivery before the guest arrives at the property. Upon check-in, a bellhop brings the equipment to the guest’s room.
If no reservation has been made, the company guarantees delivery within one hour—even if a prescription is required. Nevada law, Schultz says, allows a vendor 24 hours to obtain a prescription. Customers who require oxygen often travel with their prescriptions, but if not, Desert Medical will contact their HME company and the prescription is faxed the next morning.
Much like the city it’s based in, normal business hours at Desert Medical Equipment are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Nothing stops customers from getting what they need. A new CPAP mask at 2 a.m.? You got it. If you’re grappling with a broken scooter at 4 a.m., a replacement is on its way. “Vegas is a service town,” Schultz explains. “We really are the only business in town that does 24-hour [service], and to the extent that we do it. If they need tubing at 3 a.m. and they’re willing to pay, we go out and get them set up.”
In addition to timely service 24 hours a day, Desert Medical offers another novelty that has proven very popular among visitors to the city. “We have a meet-and-greet airport service,” Schultz says. When customers reserve equipment, they are also informed of the service that began when Schultz recognized exactly how long it took clientele to get to the hotel after their flights had landed. “When you have a disability, you spend so much time obtaining the equipment and getting it over to your hotel. It’s a mission to get to your hotel, get yourself checked in and settled. It’s a hassle. And you’ve killed half the day,” he says. As Schultz points out, six hours is a lot to lose when the average Las Vegas stay is just three to four days. Desert Medical’s meet-and-greet saves travelers a lot of valuable time.
“We offer the service up front, when a customer makes the reservation,” he explains. “This way, they don’t have to wait for a taxi, and we help with their luggage, too.” A Desert Medical employee will take the customer to a car rental agency or hotel. In many cases, they’ll meet the guest with the equipment at a rate of $35 ($45 after hours).
The Back Story
Schultz employs a small staff of eight workers. “Most companies that do the numbers that we do, and the same amount of deliveries, have between 15 and 20 staff members,” he says. Schultz says the key is to cross train—everybody does everything at Desert Medical. “That’s how we get everyone to understand what guests need,” he explains. The guy who makes the deliveries has taken reservations. The master technician who services the equipment also can make deliveries and take reservations.
Once a week, the staff gathers for a meeting. They do some Monday morning quarterbacking, going over the problems and successes of the week, and they learn from those situations, Schultz says. “It gives us a chance to focus on the customer. Because without the customer, we are all looking for work.”
Schultz frequently reiterates his philosophy, “Treat guests as if they were your family. Would your mother use this wheelchair? Is it clean and in good condition? Customer service is huge,” he says. “We consider ourselves an extension of the hotel—we have to be very careful about the level of service we provide.”
That means taking scrupulous care of the equipment. Two employees work directly in the field—maintaining, disinfecting and testing the equipment at the hotels. Bath and respiratory equipment is returned in-house to be tested and sanitized.
“Appearances are big in Vegas,” Schultz says. “We keep the equipment looking good.” To this fact, Schultz just updated all of the scooters, which were beginning to look worn. “We had to make sure we had a new fleet. We just partnered with Invacare and bought a ton of scooters. We did a custom color. It’s silver, and no one else has it.”
Schultz has an 8,500-square-foot facility that houses 600 wheelchairs and other equipment, and mainly serves to store the growing inventory. “We have to have the ability to pull from the back and deliver [to the hotels],” he says, noting that when the city recently hosted a highly publicized boxing match, 300,000 people flooded into town and his entire inventory was rented. “For us, inventory on hand is rental equipment on hand.”
“We are running out of space,” he says, noting that there is a possibility the property next to his might become available—which would mean another 5,200 square feet for inventory and the opportunity to add another product line.
Schultz is constantly reinventing—not only because he believes that keeps a business fresh, but also because there are still surprises. He finds that with the CPAPs customers are not only renting, but also buying the masks/headgear from him.
Some customers want him to store their personal equipment for their next visit, and he will do it for only the delivery fee.
He’s discovered, too, that those with disabilities aren’t his only customers. Las Vegas is a convention town, and Schultz says he regularly gets calls from attendees who aren’t disabled but want to rent scooters to get around the miles of convention aisles. “They can get a lot more done,” Schultz says.
The challenge is always to “stay relevant,” he says—to find ways to meet people at their points of need. “I love for people to find independence when they travel to Las Vegas,” he says. “We try to help them, no matter what.”
