One-on-One With an Industry Expert: John W. Fiore, DC, president, Bodyline Comfort Systems, Jacksonville, Fla, talks to Chiropractic Products about the products and services it provides to chiropractors.

Why should DCs carry Bodyline products as a secondary profit center?
Bodyline™ labels every Back-Huggar® with the doctor’s name (or clinic), address, and phone number on an oval tyvek label placed on the back of the Back-Huggar; hence, creating referrals among the patients that they supply the Back-Huggar to. This is not available anywhere else, and it’s a free service to the DC. As a profit center, the doctor should expect to make from 50–100% profit on each product they prescribe to the patient. Bodyline invented the Back-Huggar in 1968 and has continuously concentrated on improving its quality. When DCs provide the patient with the Back-Huggar, they know the patient will realize the superior quality and have more confidence in the DCs’ services.

What does your Back-Huggar product offer that makes it stand out among your competitors?
The Back-Huggar is the most well-known lumbar-support cushion brand name in the world in and out of chiropractic. The Back-Huggar is a valid registered name, and it’s the original low-back support cushion, developed in 1968. Bodyline owns dozens of expensive aluminum molds that make the foam core to “exact specifications.” Even though other companies have copied the shape of the Back-Huggar, they cannot duplicate the quality of the molded foam. Also, because Bodyline owns its own molds, it has been able to better control the cost increases that have hit the foam industry hard in late 2005.

Describe some other top Bodyline products that chiropractors should sell in their offices.
Bodyline offers a line of very popular cervical-support pillows, including the best-selling two pillows—The Maxi-Rest™, a convoluted double lobe cervical pillow; and the Maxi-Smoothee™, a one-piece, double-lobe soft and smooth cervical pillow. Bodyline also carries a high-volume back brace called simply the Lumbo Sacral Brace. It is extremely popular with clinics because it is universal in sizing and very good at offering the proper support to the lumbar region for virtually every patient. Bodyline also produces the “Ice-Magic” kit for doctors to supply to their patients as an easy way to apply ice treatment to control and stop pain more swiftly than any other known method.

What types of profit margins are chiropractors seeing by carrying your products?
DCs should expect to see a 50–100% margin depending on what they charge the patient and how many products they purchase at a time from Bodyline. Bodyline gives deep discounts to DCs when they purchase larger quantities with each order. Most DCs have a supply of Back-Huggars on hand so they can offer the patient support in their car to help hold their valuable adjustment when the patient leaves their office. The patient usually has no problem realizing that this is a tremendous service and is happy to pay the doctor’s rate for the popular Back-Huggar.