Grau takes lead at repair group

WATERLOO, Iowa – For more than 30 years, Wayne Grau has worked in nearly every facet of the mobility and rehab industry—holding leadership roles in supplier relations and government affairs, sales and marketing, trade relations, and business development—making him a natural pick as the DMERT Group’s newest chairman. 

Grau succeeds U.S. Rehab’s Greg Packer. 

“I will be working with both manufacturers and providers to understand their needs, but also to drive the DMERT Group to create great programs for our members,” said Grau, director of business development for MK Battery. 

The DMERT Group has developed minimum standards for repair technicians and offers three levels of training certification, ranging from basic DME to advanced complex rehab, as well as certification renewal. 

The group also partnered with RESNA recently to develop a pathway for DMERT Level 2 Repair Technician Certificate holders to obtain their ATP certification. 

“We are expecting significant interest in this program heading into 2023 due to pent up demand since the pandemic,” said Grau. 

The DMERT Group is in the right place at the right time, Grau says: With margins stretched thin, providers need to make sure they repair equipment correctly and efficiently. 

“With inflation having a severe, deteriorating impact on profit margins for DME/CRT providers, the industry needs to ensure that we fix things right the first time, and that is what the educational programs deliver,” he said. 

As the new chair, Grau’s top priority is to better understand concerns and pain points, including the “right to repair” movement to allow consumers to buy parts directly from manufacturers and repair their own equipment. 

“We are not equipment jockeys that simply drop-ship items to a person’s home and hope they use it correctly,” he said. “The products we utilize include motors, batteries, electronics and software that require trained professional service technicians to keep them operating safely and with minimal down time.”