The new president and CEO of Graham-Field Health Products, Atlanta, uses the wisdom of experience to prepare for change.

Beatrice Scherer began her career at Graham-Field more than 41 years ago as an accounts receivable reconciliation clerk. She rose through the ranks to become vice president of customer service and administration, and then retired. In 2003, Scherer was asked to interrupt her retirement and rejoin Graham-Field to serve as senior vice president of administration. Due to her many contributions during the successful turnaround of the company, Scherer was promoted to president and CEO in September 2006.

Dealer/Provider: What made you decide to come out of retirement?

Beatrice Scherer: First of all, Graham-Field was my baby and retirement is not what it’s all cracked to be. If I could help in any way, and lend my experience to the people that were left hanging out during the bankruptcy, and help Irwin [former president and CEO.Irwin Selinger] bring the company back up, then that is what I wanted to do.

D/P: HME providers tend to pine for the “good old days.” As someone who has seen the industry evolve since the 1960s, were the old days really better days?

Scherer: The old days are gone. The HME industry is changing, and you have to change with it. I come from the old school. Irwin is the visionary. Somehow, he was always able to keep ahead of the competition, and he was always one step ahead of everyone else. But the old days are gone, and if you don’t adapt to how the customers want their products delivered and what they want—you’re simply not going to survive. So you have to adapt to the changing times. While the old days were good, I think today is better.

D/P: Of all the current threats to the industry—such as competitive bidding, oxygen rental caps, and reduced power mobility reimbursement—what worries you the most?

Scherer: We are concerned that our customers are getting lower reimbursement rates, and we have introduced a whole new host of products, particularly in the power mobility and the oxygen concentrator business, at significantly lower cost. Hopefully, our customers can reap the profits in these categories, which may somewhat compensate for lower reimbursement rates.

D/P: Can you describe Graham-Field’s e-commerce initiative and how it has helped HME providers?

Scherer: I would urge our customers to look at our new Web site. I think it is the best in the industry. We have a 99% full inventory, next-day and on-time delivery to most US cities, and quality products. We also have some daily specials, products that I don’t even know about. The products appear every day on the Web site at very low prices. We hope that the low price will enable the customer to raise their order to meet the minimum and, of course, to keep shopping.

Our Web site also allows customers to check their invoicing and pricing, and track their deliveries. It is the next best thing to speaking to a CSR. In fact, very soon, we are going to have live customer service representatives at the Web site, so that customers can ask questions online and receive a live response.

D/P: Many experts have complained that the industry does not speak with a unified voice when it comes to lobbying. Do you agree? If so, what can be done to correct this?

Scherer: We have a lobbyist who is active with the American Association for Homecare. We certainly support the Association financially, as well as participate in congressional meetings. But let’s face it, even with Invacare, Sunrise, and ourselves, we are a relatively small percentage of the federal budget—and have a relatively small voice in the voting. Certainly, we have to continue to voice our opinion to Congress, but at the same time, we must adapt and make sure that we keep our customers competitive by keeping our costs down, innovating our technology and products, and understanding that pricing is going to continue to be under pressure.  

D/P: During these uncertain times for the HME industry, what gives you optimism?

Scherer: The largest growing population in the world gives me optimism. No matter what happens, people will need our products, whether they are ours or our competitors. We have the fastest-growing industry, and we have no worry of recession as long as we can be the most competitive, the most cost-effective, the most efficient organization in the industry—which we believe we are—and we will grow. We’re growing very rapidly right now, and we will prosper. Last month, we had all-time record profits, and last quarter we had an all-time record profit. So, I’m very optimistic about our industry and our company.

Tor Valenza is a staff writer for Dealer/Provider.