Being an w/c rep and having a family member with an ostomy forced me into learning about these companies. I see their reps and ask them questions. The Coloplast rep told me ConvaTec is the biggest company of the three but is losing market share and they (Coloplast) reportedly passed them for market share. The other player in ostomy is Hollister. In the USA, ConvaTec and Hollister dominate in the GPO acute care market for ostomy because they've been at this longer in the USA than Coloplast, however, their reps that I know seem very arrogant, unlike the Coloplast reps. My family member prefers Coloplast due to its ease of use. She says ConvaTec makes a lousy product(s), and most WOCNs who I call on seem to agree with her. What I find interesting is the price of their products. When shopping for my sister I was amazed how much more expensive ConvaTec and Hollister is than Coloplast. Between distributor and dealer markups, not knowing what the suggested retail is, it's a no brainer that the DME's margins must be getting eaten up with the higher priced product. Those reps must be worried if all they sell is ostomy. Although there are about 80,000 ostomy surgeries a year, with new and improved surgical techniques, between 75% and 90% of them get reversed within 3 months, therefore, it's got to be a tough sell, as you keep losing business to reversals, and then have to sell to hospitals, then to home health agencies and then to dealers who hopefully buy from distributors who carry your product and who are not in bed with the competition.
