Leading rehab product suppliers see benefit in moving beyond traditional sales models and embracing industry change on every level, from hospital to therapist to patient.
Rehab product suppliers play an integral critical role in the industry. Suppliers operate sophisticated e-commerce websites that list thousands of product SKUs that rehabilitation professionals can use, recommend, and sell to patients. However, rehab product suppliers today have an obligation to go above and beyond this transactional model to integrated delivery networks (IDNs), hospitals, clinics, and private practice in ways that are not immediately obvious, according to Mark E. Biehl, President and CEO of North Coast Medical.
“The best rehab product suppliers work seamlessly and almost invisibly in the background to provide opportunities for physical therapists, occupational therapists, hand therapists, and other rehabilitation specialists to conduct e-commerce,” says Biehl.
A second-generation CEO, Biehl exponentially grew the family company by expanding across a continuum of rehabilitation sectors, negotiating new distribution agreements with best-in-class branded products, acquiring other companies, designing, and manufacturing proprietary brands (e.g., ActivaPatch, Comfort-Cool, Touch-Test, Progress, Air-Putty, Norco, and Achieva), and creating e-commerce opportunities for clinicians through customizable product websites. Under Biehl, the company has grown to be a global supplier that distributes internationally.
According to Biehl, there are many ways product suppliers can move beyond the traditional transactional model to benefit the rehab industry, including designing and manufacturing new products when a need is identified in the market; participating in opportunity sharing arrangements with hospitals and clinics; and even selling items they create through competitive distribution channels.
“Helping the industry as a whole is a benefit to all,” says Biehl. “We should all be working to create opportunities from the hospital or IDN, to the healthcare professional, and ultimately the patient. When we do that, everyone wins.”
Biehl is also calling on the industry to do more to support charitable organizations that benefit Veterans and others in need through donation of a percentage of sales profits.
Currently, North Coast Medical is donating five percent of each sale to the VA or Department of Defense through Mission: Next Step, a charity Biehl created. The funds go directly to the Freedom Station Warrior Foundation in San Diego, which helps veterans returning from Iraq and Iran. To date, the company has delivered $200,000 and recently pledged another $100,000.
North Coast has also supported organizations like the American Hand Therapy Foundation (AHTF) for decades and has recently pledged $100,000 over the next four years.
Whether in these ways, or others, specialty rehabilitation product suppliers would be wise to consider avenues to move beyond the traditional “transactional” sales model. By supporting the industry from within, both practitioner and patient are sure to benefit.
For more information, call 800-821-9319 or visit www.ncmedical.com.