Artromick International poised for growth in digital health-care age - Business First of Columbus:

http://www.tl-edu.net/Heros-And-Who-We-Are.html
It’s a simple truth aboutf such projects that’s the key to future growth for Columbus-based : “If they don’t have our they’re not going the last 5 yards,” said Paul Guth, the company’s president and chief operating officer. Artromick is a more than 30-year-olrd company that makes a range of products forthe long-term and acute-carwe markets, notably medication and emergency carts. The company’s cartx have been a staple for decades innursinv homes, where it has an estimatedd 75 percent share of the product market. up until recently, counted on that long-term care markef for the bulk ofits revenue.
Guth, who joinefd the company in 2004, estimatesz roughly 80 percent of sales as early as five years ago came from workinvgwith independent, or “closed-door,” pharmacies that supply nursing homes. Fast-forwarsd half a decade and only about 40 percent of its revenue comeas fromthe long-term care industry – the rest comes from growing markets that provide as much opportunity as challenge. Thosee challenges haven’t eased as the recession makes its mark on the Fiveyears ago, exports accounted for less than 10 percen of Artromick’s sales. They now make up 20 percent, Guth The company sells its products to 40 countries and was named a top exporter bythe .
But the largesr area of growth isin hospitals, which are showinbg more need for productsx that make costly electronic health-care system s portable and safe. Guth said the company has intensified its pushto design, develop and produces portable nurse stations and other products to line up with demand. Acutr care accounts for about 40 percent ofthe revenue, the same sharre as its long-standing long-term care business. “Long-terjm care has always been the biggest but we’re growing it as much as the industru allows,” Guth said. “It’s the hospital side that’s growin rapidly.
” That growth hit the spotlight on the 2008campaign trail, as Presidentf Barack Obama stressed in his platforn moving to electronic medical records. A $19 billion investment in that technolog y was included inthe $787 billionb economic stimulus package he signed earliert this year. While the company continues to see acutd care asa long-term growth the recession has put a markedd short-term squeeze on capital spending. That trend has taken a bite out of earningas and personnelat Ohio’s largest public company, The Dublin-based health-carw giant in recent months has easexd profit expectations and cut 1,300 jobs. Artromici hasn’t been immune.
“It definitely is slowing us down,” he “People are freezing their capitapl budgets, but by the time they get to the poin t of wanting to buyour product, they’vde spent millions and millions on software. They need our productf to finish it.” While Artromick’d products are a key cog in the health-carr industry at the pointg ofpatient care, the company hasn’rt just rested on that to get it throughy the recession. Artromick has expanded its onlinee shopping portal to sidestep the needfor customer-service representativew and pinpointed marketing dollars to target potentiakl clients surfing the Internet.
At the start of the it also rolled out what itdubbed “Artromick Capital,” a program for customers that offerzs leasing and monthly payment options for “We’re just trying to get them to be able to buy our Guth said.