Rubber duckies don’t count as a bath safety accessory. Yet, you would be amazed at the number of HME retailers who accent their bath-safety displays with the venerable yellow toy in the hope of drawing attention to what is there.

Take it from Bob Rosen: there are more effective ways than playthings to enliven the presentation of bath safety products and encourage stronger sales. Rosen, a registered pharmacist, is president of 68-year-old Belmont Medical Supply Co, Belmont, Mass, where bath safety products have been a big part of his showroom for decades. Rosen estimates about 25% of Belmont’s total business is bath-safety products and accessories—including benches, grab bars, handheld showers, and elevated toilet seats.

To find bath safety products and accessories, Belmont customers must venture toward the back of the store. On view in that section is a vignette employing a bathtub and several toilets. The effect mimics the look of a typical home bathroom. Safety products are displayed round and about the vignette. “This arrangement allows us to illustrate and demonstrate for customers how the products are used at home,” says Rosen.

The bath-safety products section is strategically located in proximity to displays of hospital beds, continence supplies, lifts, wheelchairs, and scooters. The idea is that a customer shopping for one or more of those other items will on impulse also select something from the bath-safety products collection, and vice versa. “Bath-safety items lead into a sale for a related item about as often as a related item leads into a sale of bath-safety products,” says Rosen. “For example, a customer comes in looking for a piece of bath equipment and that tells us this is a person with a disability issue of some sort. We take that as an opportunity to be able to show them, perhaps, a transfer handle to help them more easily get off their bed, or cushions to help them get in and out of chairs.”

Not infrequently, customers come into Belmont accompanied by a physical or occupational therapist. These practitioners, says Rosen, want to be able to point out (rather than simply tell) what is available in bath-safety products. With that in mind, Rosen allocates some of his ad-buy dollars for a therapist-awareness program aimed at giving local practitioners a heads-up on the gamut of bath-safety products and accessories he can supply to their clients.

More often, though, customers arrive alone, brandishing a list of recommended purchases supplied by a doctor or therapist. Don’t let such customers sift through the possible product choices on their own, Rosen warns. With so much selection, customers usually find themselves overwhelmed. The likelihood they will make a poor decision is high. Guidance offered by knowledgeable store staff can make the difference between disappointment and satisfaction, Rosen indicates.

Decisions, Decisions
Dozens of new products are unveiled each year in the bath-safety segment. However, Rosen says he has not for a while seen much that might be characterized as revolutionary. “A lot of products that are introduced are similar to products already on the shelves,” he says. “Others are improved versions of older products, but most of the time the improvements are minor.

“The best improvements lately have been to the quality of the construction of some of the older products we’ve been carrying,” he adds.

Specifically, Rosen mentions bath benches designed to better accommodate girth—important in light of the apparent obesity crisis sweeping the land. “These products have been made more durable and have broader seating with more adjustability,” he says. “Some of the new products are coming with accessories that are helpful for people of all shapes and sizes. For example, one company has introduced a shower bench that comes with and without a back—as most now do—but this has additional handles that can be dropped in to provide extra safety. It also has an accessory that holds the shower hose so it won’t fall to the floor or be in the way.”

When a new or otherwise improved bath-safety product or accessory comes to Rosen’s attention, he weighs several factors before deciding whether to take a gamble on it. Price is one such consideration. “Whether our particular clientele is going to be able to afford the product in question is a concern because Medicare won’t cover bath-safety products and only a few private payors do,” he explains, adding that, when reimbursement is offered, it is less than generous.

Another consideration for Rosen is the product’s capabilities. If it is an inferior product and he knows it, no amount of vendor cajoling or incentives will make him want to tie up shelf space with it. Rosen also takes into account the reputation of the vendor and its sales representative. “I only deal with companies that are above-board and genuinely supportive of my efforts to sell product,” he says.

Once the decision is made to carry an item in the bath-safety department, the next challenge is deciding on the quantity to stock. “We go to great lengths to make sure we stock sufficient inventory so we can avoid running out,” Rosen tells.

The most in-demand bath safety items (at least at Belmont) are bath benches. “These bath bench products move fairly rapidly,” Rosen says. “With one model, we order 20 to 30 units at a time and we can expect to reorder about five or six times a year.”

ASK QUESTIONS
Above all, the most important requirement for achieving genuine success with bath-safety items is to know thy products—in particular their individual application performance capabilities and limitations, Rosen posits. “You also have to know the disabilities of the patients so you can match their needs with the most appropriate products,” he says. “There are a lot of different products from which to choose, but I don’t believe there is a perfect product for every patient. Most of the time, it is a matter of there being a product that is better than others for a particular set of circumstances.

“What you will want to do is ask questions of customers,” Rosen continues. “Try to find out what they are able to do and not able to do with regard to getting in and out of a bathtub or down off a toilet.”

Be sure to find out too about the fixtures already in the home. For instance, if the customer is looking to buy a set of bathtub grab bars, clarify whether the bathtub enclosure is fiberglass, tile, wood, or metal, because there are bars and anchor systems designed specifically for each of those surfaces.

Rosen expresses dismay that bathroom safety products must for the most part be purchased out-of-pocket by customers. And, if it strikes you as a bit self-defeating that Medicare and private insurance do not pay for bath safety products, you could not be more right, he adds. “The purpose of safety equipment is to keep patients from injury in what arguably is the most dangerous room in the house for a person with a disability—the bathroom,” says Rosen. “Without that safety equipment, those patients are at risk of slipping or falling and hurting themselves. If a patient takes a spill, breaks a hip, or cracks open their head, they will be in the hospital and running up a potentially huge bill when all that could have been avoided simply by picking up the tab for a $100 piece of equipment.

Rich Smith is a contributing writer for Dealer/Provider.