Providing Life-Changing Supplies
Article from the Community Free Press
Story by: James Hanson
A simple mobility device or pain-management system can change the life of a senior citizen or a disabled person.
Stephen Bach, co-owner of Bach Medical Supply, said helping seniors stay in their homes longer and keeping it accessible is rewarding.
“You wouldn’t believe how a stair-glider is lifechanging,” he said. “I’ve had people come in and say they hadn’t been upstairs in their house for over 10 years and that is the favorite part of their house.When you can take someone and get them to a part of their house they haven’t been to in 10 years safely, that is pretty rewarding.”
Bach worked for Cotter’s Pharmacy throughout high school. In 1976, he began running Cotter’s Medical Supply, which he did until 1981. Bach decided to get into the medical-supply business and joined forces with business partner Scott Whitlock in 1981 to form Bach Medical Supply.
Bach said he grew up in a pharmacy but didn’t want to be a pharmacist. “I did enjoy the equipment and I enjoyed helping seniors,”he said.“So this was the most natural transition.”
Bach said the store provides seniors and handicapped customers everything they need to make their home independent, safe and accessible.
Bach Medical Supply sells transcutaneous electric nerve stimulator (TENS) units for pain management, compression stockings, bath-safety supplies, power scooters, power lift chairs, emergency response buttons, walkers, wheelchairs and more.
Bach said they do their own service work inhouse, which he said is really important in today’s medical-supply industry. “There are less people out to service this stuff and less dealers around now,” he said. “If they go on TV and get a power chair from an 800 number, say from somewhere like Texas, then who fixes it? Everything eventually has to be fixed. That is really important for a customer to realize when buying from an 800 number. There is a good chance no one will be there to fix it when it needs to be fixed.”
Bach Medical Supply accepts most insurance, Medicaid and Medicare. “There are some insurances we can’t take but not by our choice,” he said. Bach said the continuous changes in the insurance business, including Medicare and Medicaid, and keeping up with those changes, is challenging. “There is a lot more insurance paperwork now than there used to be,” he said. “Following the insurance guidelines for coverage can be difficult. All the guidelines for coverage are changing on a daily basis and the criteria is becoming more stringent for the covering of items.”
Bach said the business has grown from three employees in 1981 to 30 full- and part-time employees today, including a full respiratory department. He said it buys its supplies and equipment from more than 40 different companies throughout the United States.
Bach said the quality of the product and the service after the sale, people being people instead of a number, have all played a role in the company’s success.
“People are people,” he said. “They are a person with a problem and we are a company that tries to come up with a reasonably priced solution to their problem.”
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