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Providers of rehabilitation products can play an important role in the industry by offering products that meet the wishes of therapists and, ultimately, patients. At first glance, dating is transactional. Providers have complicated e-commerce sites that list thousands of product SKUs that rehabilitation professionals can use, recommend, and sell to patients. These sites do their best to simplify the variety and ordering of branded products, with dashboards to control visibility and lower costs.
The most productive paints are perfect and almost invisible in the background, giving physical therapists, occupational therapists, manual therapists and other rehabilitation specialists the opportunity to do e-commerce, customizable product options under the colors of their name and logo, all undeniably, to free up the website.
“Therapeutics are an essential component of a patient’s treatment plan and have a direct effect on the recovery process. Having a wide variety of products available helps therapists provide the most productive care imaginable and improve outcomes. Given the importance, we have a legal responsibility to make sure products are of the best quality, competitively priced and readily available,” said Mark E. Biehl, President and Chief Executive Officer of North Coast Medical.
Biehl, a second-generation CEO, has grown the family business circle exponentially by expanding across a number of rehabilitation sectors, negotiating new distribution deals with the most productive branded products, sourcing other companies, designing and producing own brands (e. g. , ActivaPatch, Comfort-Cool, Touch-Test, Progress, Air-Putty, Norco and Achieva), and creates e-commerce opportunities for physicians through customizable product websites. Under Biehl, the company has a global supplier that distributes internationally.
However, according to Biehl, providers of rehabilitation products today have a legal responsibility to go beyond this transactional style to embedded distribution networks (IDNs), hospitals, clinics and personal practices in tactics that are not obvious.
This includes designing and producing new products when a need is known in the market, participating in shared opportunity deals with hospitals and clinics, and even promoting parts they create through competitive distribution channels. Biehl also calls on the industry to do more for charities that gain advantages for military veterans and others in need by donating a percentage of sales profits.
“Helping the industry as a whole is an advantage for everyone,” Biehl says. “We all work to create opportunities, from the hospital or IDN, to the healthcare professional and finally the patient. When you do that, everyone wins. “
Like other providers of rehabilitation products, North Coast Medical distributes a variety of products from other manufacturers. Lately, the company distributes globally in 58 countries. With 4 distribution locations worldwide (two in the United States, one in China and one in Europe), North Coast is, in fact, a global supplier.
“We’re not just a distributor of rehabilitation products, we’re also product developers,” says Biehl. “I like this aspect of the business because I think we’re delivering very innovative and exciting answers that help patients be independent and serve as they are in life. “
To create new solutions, the company draws on the expertise of its in-house product development team, which includes physiotherapy, occupational treatment and manual treatment professionals. The company also uses world-class product designers to collaborate on new designs.
“The industry has operated with a style of creating the cheapest device and looking to sell it in the highest volume,” Biehl says. “Rather, the purpose deserves to be to design high-quality products that rehabilitation professionals are proud to offer their patients, that are simple to use and that help the patient in their daily lives. “
Biehl adds that offering competitively priced product opportunities to hospitals and clinics has forced the company to manufacture many products overseas that might otherwise dominate an uncompetitive product category. being a little fairer because they can’t increase costs indiscriminately,” Biehl says.
The company is also committed to providing healthcare professionals with products that will be obtained in the long term. While this has been an issue, the COVID-19 pandemic has noticed a dramatic buildup in products that were unavailable for many months. or have disappeared from providers’ websites.
Unlike many brands that have an exclusivity logo, North Coast also gives other suppliers the opportunity to benefit from promoting the products they create. ” says Biehl.
North Coast branded products are also sold through retail resellers, including but not limited to home medical device (HME) resellers, durable medical device (EMR) resellers, web resellers, and pharmacies.
Another topic Biehl is passionate about is charitable giving to worthy causes. From its efforts to give back to the community, North Coast plays an active role in philanthropic efforts.
Currently, the company donates 5% of each sale to the VA or the Ministry of Defense through Mission: Next Step, a charity created by Biehl. The budget goes directly to the Freedom Station Warrior Foundation in San Diepass, which helps veterans. 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 recently pledged $100,000 over the next 4 years. Quality treatment and patient care practice in the United States. As part of its project to provide greater assistance to others, the company also works with other support groups.
“The expansion of our company’s charitable success honors my parents’ legacy while illustrating the caring nature of rehabilitation physicians who are committed to healing and the lives of others,” concludes Biehl.
Whether through those or other means, suppliers of specialized rehabilitation products would be sensitive to tactics to move beyond the classic “transactional” sales model. By supporting the industry from within, both doctor and patient will benefit.
For more information, www. ncmedical. com.