Jeff Friedman and Sheila Bond are making their dream of educating home health care consumers a reality at Total Health Solutions.

New orleans needs one place where people can see, touch, and learn about their home health care solutions,” Jeff Friedman explained to people who asked him about the new business he was starting. “We want to create a new concept in retailing home medical equipment where people can come to explore hundreds of health care products. And where our caring and knowledgeable staff of health care professionals can then explain the products that are right for them.”

Four months later, Friedman’s dream store was a reality. Going from putting an idea into practice in such a short period of time is challenging, but as a veteran health care administrator, Friedman knew well how to identify, define, and implement his desired objectives.

Total Health Solutions, the business Friedman started, is a 4,000-square-foot retail HME located in a strip mall across from the Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie, La. Stop by and it quickly becomes clear that this is not your typical HME. Outside, it has 80 feet of frontage with floor-to-ceiling window displays. Inside, the warm colors of the carpet and walls are offset by the rich tones of wood flooring pathways and slat-wall displays. A staff of six veteran health care professionals is there to greet customers when they enter and find out how they can help meet their home health care needs.

“Customers, caregivers, and patients can come here to learn about home health care issues and solutions,” Friedman says. “The store is staffed by health care professionals who understand their medical concerns and are knowledgeable about the best HME and supplies available to meet their health care needs. Plus, the separate Caring for Women Boutique provides women with a private place to come for information, education, and compassion.”

A New Approach To HME
Home health care products enable people to maintain their independence, but so many consumers do not even know these products are available or where to find them. Total Health Solutions aims to change this. Most of the HME products in its store are found out-of-the-box hanging from slat-wall displays, on shelves, or on the showroom floor. Customers can test-drive a scooter, sit down and try out a lift chair, or sit on a bath seat in a bathtub and try holding a handheld shower. By handling these products, both caregivers and end users can experience how the products would benefit them directly.

But when it comes to health care, one must also consider the need for compassion and privacy. It may be fun to try a lift chair out in the open, but it would be quite embarrassing to select a breast prosthesis in public. The Caring for Women Boutique within Total Health Solutions deals with this by offering an intimate room where women can discuss their health care concerns from maternity to incontinence to cancer to mastectomies. Surrounded by displays of colorful turbans, wigs, bras, and hosiery, patients can sit down with a health care professional and learn about the home health care options available to them.

Banking on a Plan
A good idea is, of course, not all it takes to create a full-service retail HME and supply business. To get started, Friedman and his partner, Sheila Bond, approached their bank to obtain a business loan. Their request was in two equal parts. The first part was for a fixed-term loan for leasehold improvements and equipment with a 5-year term. The second part was for a line of credit for start-up expenses, initial inventory, and working capital.

In their strategic plan, they explained to the bank that their objective was to sell a full line of medical equipment and products designed for use in the home for all ages, from infants to seniors. They expected their new business to be 75% to 85% retail sales and 15% to 25% rentals.

Based on a demographic analysis of their primary service area and hospital discharge data by diagnosis code, they decided the product lines would be extensive, ranging from blood pressure cuffs to breast pumps to allergy relief products to mastectomy prostheses. Their business plan also called for the rental of more traditional HME products such as hospital beds, bedside commodes, and wheelchairs. Their complete selection of HME and supplies was to include aids for daily living, allergy relief, bathroom safety, canes and walkers, child safety, compression hosiery, diabetic shoes and supplies, incontinence supplies, lift chairs, medical supplies, natural therapeutic pillows, orthopedic supports, ostomy and wound care products, patient room furnishings, skin care, wheelchairs and scooters, and women’s health products.

Because Total Health Solutions’ customers would be the end users of the products, direct consumer advertising would be important. However, its marketing plan also targeted key referral sources such as insurance companies, hospital discharge planners, physician offices, social service agencies, and home health agencies. And, of course, it would accept payments by cash, check, and credit card, as well as insurance payments from Medicare and Medicaid, managed care companies, and private insurance carriers.

Rolling Out a Retail HME
Total Health Solutions followed a comprehensive approach to developing its state-of-the-art showroom with a complete product mix. Friedman contacted experts in HME who focused on every aspect of the business: demographics, product mix, showroom design, reimbursement, legal issues, financial pro formas, sales training, product training, merchandising, referral marketing, and advertising.

After finalizing the initial strategic business plan, Friedman focused on the demographics in the community. From there, he worked with experts to determine his product mix and core vendors for each product category. Then the showroom was professionally designed to highlight all of the core and related product areas.

During this initial phase of development, the business name, logo, and corporate colors were also created through a process of brainstorming and consensus. A logo was designed, followed by business cards, stationery, and a four-color, tri-fold store brochure.

Core vendors were contacted and products ordered. Classified ads were run for staff positions, candidates interviewed, and finalists hired. The showroom was built and slat-wall displays and hardwood flooring were installed. Finally, products began to arrive and were merchandised in their appropriate sections. Vendor representatives began to in-service the staff on their respective products.

Medicare made its on-site inspection after the products were merchandised. The company designed a referral marketing program for the new outside salesperson. Local insurance companies and health maintenance organizations were contacted and introduced to Total Health Solutions.

Finally, the store opened its doors for a “soft” opening without fanfare or advertising. Friedman wanted a few weeks’ breathing time for a dry run of their operation. Customers began stopping in to see what products they offered, and the sales began, from inexpensive herbal pillows to high-end back cushions, from gel foot insoles to lift chairs and scooters.

Open for Business
As this article goes to press, Total Health Solutions is just beginning to roll out its advertising campaign in a newspaper for seniors, on the radio, and on cable television. It is planning its grand opening to be followed by a series of disease state-related open houses.

This retail HME offers a new concept in the way people shop for health care products for their home and family because it combines health care expertise with retail savvy. The result is a dynamic place and concept that is thrilling customers, caregivers, and health care professionals alike.

Jack Evans is president and CEO of Global Media Marketing, Malibu, Calif, and a nationally renowned health care marketing specialist. Contact him at (310) 457-7333 or jevans@retailhomecare.com.  Total Health Solutions welcomes visitors and is located at 3211 North Causeway Boulevard in Metairie, La.