Not Just For Athletes -- HME Business

Not Just For Athletes

By Ken Kirk, Lisa Ann McCall
Jun 01, 2002

A common misconception about the sports medicine market is that the target demographic groups are younger athletes or the middle-aged, clichéd "weekend warriors." In fact, a recent polling of sports medicine providers found that the sports medicine customer base is vast and varied, including every age group with a high-concentration of seniors. Seniors are especially vulnerable to sports medicine type injuries because both range of joint motion and elasticity in tendons and ligaments naturally decrease with age.

Sports therapy is a great fit for home medical equipment dealers for both their current clientele and potential new sales opportunities. The mainstay product line for dealers in sports therapy is orthopedic braces and supports. Creating a sports medicine or orthopedic section is relatively easily and profitable. The keys to success in this segment are maximizing visual selling techniques, determining the right product mix for increased sales per inch, and offering unique, differentiated products.

Seniors are especially vulnerable to sports medicine type injuries because both range of joint motion and elasticity in tendons and ligaments naturally decrease with age.

Diane Dooley, medical supply manager at Kunkel's Pharmacy in Cincinnati, realizes the benefits of visual selling and is having great success with orthopedic and sports medicine products. "We have a variety of different customer types purchasing our orthopedic and sports medicine products. Even surprising to us is the large percentage of orthopedic sales from walk-in traffic versus physician scripts," she said.

"Our display is very prominent in our store and easily seen by customers. It is not uncommon for someone to be in our pharmacy for something unrelated and end up purchasing a support for a particular ache or pain once they see the display," Dooley said. Utilizing visual merchandising by creating an attractive, well-organized display in a high-traffic area, Kunkel's capitalizes on its walk-in customers and increases sales from their orthopedic segment.

In addition to smart merchandising, finding the right product mix to maximize profits is critical to success in this often chaotic segment. However, finding the right product mix can be tricky. Sports medicine and orthopedic sections should include a full range of products to have a complete offering. The majority of space should be dedicated to products for knees, wrists, ankles and elbows-those areas where injuries most commonly occur. These products offer greater sales turn rates.

At Kunkel's Pharmacy, supports for the knees and ankles are the best sellers. "In these segments we offer a range of products to meet different individual needs. By focusing more space to these segments we can sell anything from a hinged knee brace for someone with a knee sprain to an easy-to-apply wrap around knee support for an elderly person with arthritis who doesn't have the strength to pull on typical knee sleeves. We are able to meet our customers' needs and capture the sale," Dooley said.

The mainstay product line for dealers in sports therapy is orthopedic braces and supports.

Offering a variety of products in certain segments has benefited Ephrata Medical Equipment in its three locations in Pennsylvania. According to Dave Mumma, customer service manager, "Wrist supports for carpal tunnel syndrome are our leading unit seller in orthopedics. Even though most of our business is driven by physician scripts, our customers like having a choice. Many customers will select a low-profile, attractive brace for daytime wear and also a comfortable, immobilizing splint for night, which results in two product sales for us. We are able to offer this variety in a 12-foot display space easily supplied by one vendor. Our customers also like attractive, retail packaging with visual graphics and detailed information about their condition and the product."

Dedicate more space in your orthopedics and sports medicine section for products that will maximize your profits and turn-rates for increased sales per square inch. Focus on offering products used to treat the most common sports or orthopedic injuries--the following listing gives some of the most common orthopedic injuries. Depending on the individual store size, customer base and the desired sales goals, this can be accomplished in as little as 4 feet by 5 feet of retail display space or as much as 64 feet by 5 feet.

Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Planogram Representing 8 Feet of Retail Display Space

By carrying differentiated orthopedic products, home medical equipment dealers can distinguish themselves from national chain drug stores and sporting goods stores. Home medical equipment dealers are part of the medical community and offer professional medical products and services, therefore consumers expect home medical equipment dealers to offer higher grade, professional products compared to products available at mass merchandisers.

Dooley said, "Our customers realize our orthopedic products are not available at the local national pharmacy chain down the street and they like the professional, hospital grade of our product offering. It assures our customers that they are getting quality products and service from our business."

Mindy Cunningham, manager at Reeves-Sain Medical Services in Murfreesboro, Tenn., agrees, "We carry quality, professional grade products that are not available in stores like Wal-Mart or Walgreens. We believe our products should reflect the professional medical service we provide our customers. We work with several local physicians that script products such as carpal tunnel braces and ankle supports. When we fill a script we spend time helping the customer understand his or her condition, ensuring that he or she selects the best product and are properly fitted. National chains can't match our service, and we don't want to match their product lines."

By carrying differentiated products, home medical equipment dealers are able to distinguish their businesses and valuable services for a competitive advantage against national chains.

Relatively simple changes to orthopedic and sports medicine retail sections can greatly increase sales and create a growing annuity. Just using visually selling techniques and finding the right product mix will make a difference. As a whole, the home medical equipment community still has tremendous opportunities in this segment. Still, to the average consumer, home medical equipment dealers do not necessarily spring to mind the individual needs a knee support or wrist brace. To take this segment to the next level, HMEs need to increase awareness of the availability of these products.

Trish James, manager of Woodhaven Pharmacy in Baltimore is working to increase awareness of the store. "Often we have customers see our display and claim they have been search all over town for the types of supports and products we carry and didn't realize they were available down the road at our store. We are continuing to educate the public about our business through advertising in local newspapers and seniors' publications. Our advertising efforts are working well to communicate what our store offers, and our business has increased. We also are looking to increase awareness in our local medical community, specifically physical therapy."

In addition to smart merchandising, finding the right product mix to maximize profits is critical to success in this often chaotic segment.

Many home medical equipment dealers have realized the benefits of simple local marketing efforts such as advertising, fliers to trainers, coaches and fitness centers, health fairs, informative Web sites, scripts and mailers to medical professionals. Reeves-Sain Medical Services gets increased scripts by having its own marketing representative call on physicians to detail the new products available at their respective location. Reeves-Sain is planning more marketing campaigns targeting local school trainers for sports supports and large industrial parks for ergonomic and preventative supports and braces. Most dealers would agree the industry has seen much improvement in the sports medicine and orthopedic segment but there is a lot of opportunity for growth.

Tips on Creating or Updating a Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Section

Display Your Products - Capitalize on Visual Selling

Customers must be able to see the products to realize you carry them. Whether you specialize in referrals, prescription or traditional durable medical equipment products, customers are walking into your location every day. When customers can see the types of products you carry, they are more likely to come back or tell their friends when they have a medical need. Become the source in your community for quality, professional medical products.

Use Basic Merchandising Techniques

Use suitable display materials, point of purchase displays and signage wherever possible. Remove any plain or old packaging. Ensure your display is neat and organized, and organize products so that they are easy to find. Use manufacturer's planograms whenever possible.

Store Layout

Consider store layout and traffic flow, place items with high visual selling potential in well-lit, high traffic areas. Ensure customers have enough room to comfortably shop and try products on privately if fitting is necessary.

Find the Right Product Mix

Find the right inventory level for your particular store. Ensure you have enough stock to meet your customers' needs while maximizing profits and eliminating out-of-stock. Dedicate more space to those products that will maximize your profits per square inch-focus on products used to treat the most common injuries.

Ensure Your Staff is Educated and Comfortable with the Product Line

It is important your staff is able to properly fit the products and answer any customer questions. Provide as much information to your staff, referring physicians and customers as possible.

Promote Your Business and Develop New Opportunities

Market your business and products to your local community. Most consumers don't realize home medical equipment dealers carry products such as orthopedic supports and braces. Get the word out in your local area and open completely new business channels.

Most Common Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Injuries

Knee

Chrondromalacia (Runners' Knee)

Patella Tendonitis

Knee Strain/Sprain (ACL Conditions)

Osteoarthritis

Ankle

Achilles Tendonitis

Ankle Sprain (Inversion)

Wrist/Hand

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Wrist Sprain