DOTmed 100 Spotlight
American West Medical - Lenexa, KS

American West Medical, founded in 1985, is a manufacturers' representative for sales of specialized medical equipment and supplies. The company represents some 40 OEMs in specialties including radiology, ER, surgical services, cardiac cath lab, and biomedical services--the hospital department that uses medical instruments to test other equipment. Based in Shawnee Mission near Kansas City, Kansas, customers are hospitals throughout Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Southern Illinois.

"Our company deals primarily with new, cutting-edge technologies being introduced," said President Richard Orr. "Typically companies will come to us rather than hire their own sales force."

But selling to hospitals isn't easy. It requires contracting with the institutions' group purchasing organizations, a complex sale in what can be bureaucratic settings. "You have a new product that is a better, money-saving procedure but in many cases you need a contract with the GPO in order to do business with the hospital," Orr said. "We've got lots of items that make so much sense but it's changing protocol that is so difficult. In every industry there are early adopters and it's a matter of finding those."

The company was originally a representative for breast implants and switched to selling hospital equipment when implants were taken off the market. After developing its hospital business and relationships with purchasers, American West Medical is going back to its roots in the cosmetic surgery market. Working with a lingerie maker the company now offers its own line of post-surgical garments under the Contour©[<00A9>] brand. The precision-graded compression garments fit the patient's body for comfortable healing. The garments are designed to prevent reaccumulation of seroma, aid venous and lymphatic drainage, and minimize hematoma formation after abdominoplasty, breast enlargement/lift/reduction, chin surgery, or liposuction. Contour also makes compression hosiery and diabetic socks. "Now we are using our hospital base to move back into plastic surgery," Orr said. "That is our own product so we can control our destiny."

The company sells its excess inventory through DOTmed including demo models of portable sterilization units.

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