PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. – DME providers have relied on Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare for generations, but the venerable company has undergone tremendous evolution over the last quarter century.

The We Are Drive brand awareness campaign (see related video HERE) is designed to fill some of those knowledge gaps to better inform providers about the ways in which the New York-based company has bolstered operations and improved its ability to serve providers and patients.

“A lot of people know some things about Drive, but I have not run into anybody who knows everything that we do,” says Derek Lampert, CEO. “The idea with this campaign was to encapsulate our evolution over our 24-year period and really inform people about who we are and what we do today.”

For example, a quarter of Drive’s business is international—outside of North America—with products sold into more than 100 countries. A quarter of Drive’s products are self-manufactured, with ten manufacturing centers around the world. Medtrade Monday sat down with Lampert to learn more about Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare’s legacy and where the company is headed.

Medtrade Monday: What are some additional misconceptions about Drive?
Lampert: Most people think we are just an importer. Some people think we only do commodities, or high-end retail, or respiratory, or DME, or pediatric rehab. In reality, we do all of those. Even our customers, who have been with us for a long time, rarely know all of the details.

Medtrade Monday: What is the company’s driving philosophy?
Lampert: Many years ago, I started asking all of us to start thinking about the idea that we need to be more than a price tag hanging off the side of a wheelchair. We needed to be valuable to our customers. Their business should be better off with us involved, meaning that we are consultative and we bring insights if they need help with billing, matching products to patients, data on outcomes, or clinical expertise. We have a clinical team that works hand in hand with the sales team. They call the customers together when we need to do those value-added programs.

Medtrade Monday: How are philanthropic efforts incorporated into this culture?
Lampert: Over the last two decades, Drive has been fortunate to grow in areas that allow us to give back to those who need it most, including our pediatric and Veteran populations. We are proud to deepen our commitment to enhancing lives through both financial support and hands-on work with incredible organizations that make such a meaningful impact in our communities. We are interested in anything that is around our core competency of products of mobility or respiratory. Anything that ties directly in with our current product portfolio and customer base can be part of that effort. We’ve supported Wounded Warriors, the New York Metro Ronald McDonald House, the Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, National Wheelchair Games, and Honor Flight for the Veterans Pittsburgh Chapter. We always try to keep our efforts relevant to our product lines and our customers.

Medtrade Monday: What’s your level of optimism these days regarding the state of the industry?
Lampert: My optimism is high. With an aging population, more people are ending up in our demographic every day. Baby boomers are living longer, and especially post-pandemic, more people want to age in place. People want to stay in their homes as long as possible. We are in an industry that allows for that and helps facilitate that. I think it’s an incredible business to be in, and one of the reasons that I have stayed here at Drive DeVilbiss for the past 20 years.

Medtrade Monday: How was your experience at Medtrade this year?
Lampert: I can say confidently that it was an exceptional experience. I haven’t missed a Medtrade for roughly 23 years. I was one of the proponents of getting rid of the dual-show structure where we had the east and west coast shows, and doing something more central and consolidated. For the manufacturers, exhibitors, and attendees, we needed to put all the resources into one great event. Dallas in 2023 and 2024 really hit the mark. The venue, booths, attendees, and the amount of exhibitors that were there all made it a great show. It’s the best Medtrade that I’ve seen since well before the pandemic.

Medtrade Monday: Why are in-person trade shows still relevant in 2024?
Lampert: In-person shows are tremendously important. People still buy from people; they still want to touch and feel products; they still want to look people in the eye and talk about how we can partner to make our business better together. You can do some of that over a computer screen, but you can’t do it exclusively over a screen.

Video chats are a supplement to the in-person meetings. You have the great meetings at Medtrade, and then you can follow up on a TEAMS chat. I tell the sales team every day; people buy from people. Customers are interested in the people that they are doing business with. I think there’s a trust element that you can only get when you have that in-person factor.

Medtrade Monday: Now that we are largely past the pandemic and supply chain issues, what does the future pipeline look like at Drive?
Lampert: We’ve got a tremendous amount of new product launches, both in the respiratory and DME space. We’ve got real innovation coming in respiratory and in retail DME. Those will be later this year and throughout 2025 and beyond. There are going to be some cool things to talk about.