Dealer/Provider spoke with Ron Richard, vice president of marketing for the Americas, ResMed Inc, Poway, Calif, about what it takes to win a Frost & Sullivan award and what the award means to users of ResMed’s products.

Dealer/Provider: What were the main reasons the S7™ Elite won the Frost & Sullivan award?
Richard: We were recognized for this award based on several criteria, including user friendliness, performance, and durability of the product in terms of warranty and repairs. Also, the fit and finish of the product, including materials, parts, and overall product quality, was factored into the judging process. Frost & Sullivan interviewed a number of physicians, clinicians, and patients and found that the S7 Elite demonstrated superiority in these categories.

Dealer/Provider: How does ResMed incorporate feedback from patients and specialists in developing products?
Richard: We begin by gathering data before we start developing a product. We identify the key target audience that the product is intended for—the sleep center, the patient, the doctor, or an HME—and we do a lot of focus groups, one-on-one interviews, as well as talking to people in the industry about their needs. We identify problems and then create products to address those concerns. By getting that feedback, and with our mask products in particular, we have done a very good job of improving comfort, effectiveness of treatment, and compliance with patients that are receiving treatment for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).

Dealer/Provider: What does this award tell users about ResMed’s products?
Richard: It recognizes ResMed not only as an innovative company but also a quality company. As time goes on in the industry, people have found that paying for quality actually reduces costs. Our products are durable, and they don’t require a lot of warranties, exchanges, or repairs. We put our money where our mouth is in the sense that long before we got this award, we had launched a flow generator guarantee program. Warranty repairs are not free; it costs the dealer money to facilitate a transaction, and it also costs money in lost opportunity with the patient and their referral sources. If one of our flow generator devices does fail under warranty, they send the product back to us, and we return it back to them repaired, along with a free mask to make up the cost of facilitating a warranty repair. We are one of the only companies in the industry that stand behind our guarantees like this—maybe the only one. We have a similar gu

Dealer/Provider: What is ResMed doing to expand awareness?
Richard: We have been sharing the cost of a public relations campaign with Respironics. It’s a non-product branded campaign where both companies recognize the need to educate the public about sleep disorders.

Dealer/Provider: How do you see CPAP therapy advancing in the future?
Richard: Patients want less obtrusive, smaller devices that blend into the bedroom. Dealers want products they can make money on, and they don’t want a lot of new features that they can’t get reimbursed or paid for. They want products that meet the needs of the marketplace and fill the prescriptions.