"We've seen a surge in specialty hospitals," adds Hill-Rom exec Rieth, "orthopedic, vascular, cancer centers and specialty hospitals need a lot of what we sell."

Two major challenges: Competition from China and Small Plastic Parts.


Notes Piedmont sales executive Schelling: "We've recently seen a surge of patient room furniture from China," he says. "Inexpensive Chinese manufactured bedside stands and overbed tables, in particular, have begun to flood the domestic market. This has posed a challenge to our sales staff in pitching our more expensive, higher quality ware. However, our customers realize you get what you pay for."

Randy Lowers, owner of L&R Services, a Miramar, FL-based independent supplier to doctors' offices, acknowledges that "imported equipment is out there, but does not match American made. Several of my customers have found this out."

In terms of repair, however, plastic components are a challenge, according to Dembkowski.

"You cannot re-use them, you have to buy new plastic parts," he says, adding, "we recently spent $1000 for little pieces of rubber and plastic for one bed."

Lowers, in fact, would like to see more domestic vendors. "There are not enough," Lowers says. "Service companies are few and far between that actually
have reputable techs and sales companies of major equipment are in short supply and that gives accounts less options when buying."

While the Joint Commission of Accreditation monitors national patient safety goals, the Food and Drug Administration generally regulates medical devices.

"Plenty of people sell as-is beds, very few really re-condition beds," says
Bill Montgomery, VP/Bed Techs Inc. of Milan, ID. "We take a lot of pride in
what we do."

Bed Techs' niche is Hill-Rom beds and Montgomery underscores that his
company is the "world's largest supplier of after-market and reconditioned Hill-
Rom beds and parts," adding, "Many of my staff formerly designed and built Hill-Rom beds as electronic engineers."

Most of the re-sale vendors describe business as "good" or "steady & growing." But Hill-Rom's Andy Rieth notes regulatory issues are a concern.

"The FDA constantly looks at new product and quality controls and the Medicare system is constantly looking for new ways to control costs," he explains.
"Hospitals bill for a procedure. Out of that fee it must cover all costs, including purchasing new equipment."

Reimbursement, he adds, is more a regulatory environment issue than a new technology one.

Given the government scrutiny, and the emphasis placed on new medical bells and whistles, hospitals and medical centers are demanding of its hospital furniture, Hill-Rom and Stryker, with long histories of product superiority, look to continue to dominate.

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