MTMC’s November 2019 acquisition of Invacare Interior Design and a follow-up post-acute national sales meeting point to the national rep group’s desire to expand its presence in the post-acute market.
“This segment of healthcare is enjoying nice growth due to demographics, life expectancy and payers,” said managing partners Jack Moran and Dennis Snedden. “We are always looking to support our distributors and vendor partners in healthcare segments that are growing.”
The move makes sense for many reasons, according to Moran.
“For several years, many of our vendor partners have had products that could be sold into the post-acute market but have primarily been sold into the acute and ambulatory segments,” he says. In fact, 90% of the suppliers at MTMC’s recent post-acute national sales meeting were already represented by the firm in the ambulatory or acute markets.
While MTMC’s acute-care sales team has supported and inserviced products for the post-acute market, volumes have been relatively low, and the MTMC sales team has primarily been supportive of the customer needs, Moran continues. That is expected to change.
“We plan on growing our post-acute sales team, supplier portfolio and distributor partners in 2020,” he says. “We have the capacity to add more vendor partners and plan on investing in more dedicated post-acute sales resources.
“Our goal is to keep our sales force focused on their current customer base and our vendor partners in these segments of healthcare,” he adds. “In the interim a few of our reps may have some post-acute responsibilities. However, the long-term goal is to have a totally separate post-acute sales team.”
Interior Design
The acquisition of Invacare Interior Design – since renamed MTMC Interior Design – deepens MTMC’s position in post-acute care and brings expertise in interior design to its acute and ambulatory care partners and customers, according to Moran and Snedden.
“Under the Invacare ownership, the focus was strictly on post-acute,” they said. “Under MTMC, we are expanding into the ambulatory care, IDN and acute-care spaces.” MTMC’s 28 post-acute reps are supporting Interior Design’s efforts, and the firm’s inside sales team is generating project leads for the sales team and distributor partners.
“Currently the growth on the post-acute side is in independent living and assisted living with memory care,” says Director of Interior Design Jacki Zumsteg. And the demand should only increase for the next five years. “From a marketing perspective, offering different levels of care on one campus can be appealing. As the resident’s level of care changes, they are able to transition easier.”
From a design standpoint, today’s post-acute care providers are seeking a hospitality vibe to their facilities, with furnishings appropriate for the level of care, rather than an institutional one, she says.
“Marketability is critical for post-acute providers. We often say you have five seconds to make that first impression.”
Moreover, it is important for residents to feel at home and that they live in a facility they will benefit from, she adds. “You will often see media rooms, beauty salons, coffee bars, fitness areas – anything to promote active, engaging lifestyles.
“When it comes to long-term care, we definitely want to look at how the right selection of equipment and furnishings can have an impact on the outcome of the residents.
“We are excited about the additional products MTMC Interior Design now has from the large MTMC supplier offering,” says Zumsteg. “We will continue to stay focused on providing a turnkey solution for the post-acute market.”