VITALS
Power in numbers Complex rehab technology companies are growing. Next up: getting more buy-in from insurers BY CEDRIC DENT JR.
he Nashville area’s health care ecosystem generates about $100 billion in annual revenues from just about all corners of the industry. The complex rehabilitation technology space isn’t one that catches a lot of the spotlight, but several of its key players are based in Middle Tennessee. They’re growing, too, and pushing for a helping hand from the insurance industry to fulfill what they see as their market potential. Home to HCA Healthcare and other hospital players as well as surgery center operators and senior care providers, the Nashville area presents a wealth of marketing opportunities for CRT companies as the U.S. population’s average lifespan continues to climb and produces a robust pipeline of potential clients with ailments that necessitate equipment such as power wheelchairs. Those products are far more than just wheelchairs with motors: Contemporary models are smart chairs that not only move at variable speeds but also rotate nimbly, elevate and lower the seats and connect to features for OnStar-like alerts so that chair producers can send out technicians to assess the product or help users take advantage of the chairs’ features.
T
40
FALL 2021 | NASHVILLEPOST.COM
Among the local CRT players is Swedish global producer Permobil, which has had its headquarters for North and South America in Lebanon since 2000. The two other big names are National Seating & Mobility, or NSM, and Numotion. Both companies are headquartered in Williamson County and owned by large private equity firms — NSM by Cinven since 2019 and Numotion by AEA Investors,
which bought a majority stake in 2018 — and market and distribute equipment and related technologies. (Numotion also sells urological supplies and speech-related solutions.) NSM runs 180 locations throughout North America — it first expanded into Canada nearly three years ago — while Numotion has about 150 stores in the United States and works with more than 260,000 clients.
COURTESY OF LUCI
