or contact us at: (866) 582-0966

During its first full quarter in operation, Pediatric Prosthetics brought in revenue totaling more than $300,000 -- equal to what Bean earned during an entire year as an independent contractor. Pediatric Prosthetics' first-year revenue is projected to be $1.35 million, and by 2009 the company anticipates cornering 10 percent of the burgeoning pediatrics market.

"Unless I've forgotten how America works," says Ken Bean, "this is going to be ridiculously successful. People realize we are just real people, trying to fill a role, and trying to do it right."Pediatric Prosthetics has carved a niche in the market by catering to children. The company makes advanced myoelectric limbs which connect to the body through nerve endings. These limbs are much more comfortable than a traditional prosthesis and have a wide range of motion.

Infants as young as three months old can be fitted with a myoelectric limb. Combining this technology with a keen understanding of a child's physical and emotional needs, Pediatric Prosthetics has built strong relationships with patients and lured top specialists to Houston. The company's future plans include expanding to build clinics throughout the country.

Kid-friendly
Before launching Pediatric Prosthetics, Linda Bean worked for Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc., a globally recognized provider of prosthetic and orthotic products and services that caters mostly to adults. Bean approached her bosses at Hanger about continuing to develop their pediatric business, and although they were interested, they were so busy meeting the company's already-overstretched demands that the idea of delving into the prosperous pediatric market never materialized.

Enter Linda's husband, a former president of a multinational corporation and pilot of his own Bellanca plane. Ken Bean encouraged his wife to fill the demand in the marketplace -- and to capitalize on her 20 years of experience working with children and their families. In September 2003, Pediatric Prosthetics was founded, and in January of this year, the company's storefront opened near Willowbrook Mall. Patrick Arnett, an investor relations consultant, has helped establish Pediatric Prosthetics as a publicly traded company. It trades on the Pink Sheets under the ticker symbol PDPR.PK. The company's stock was changing hands last week at around 9 cents a share, down from about 20 cents a share not long after the stock began trading last fall. But the Beans are not discouraged. "The idea of what we're doing launched the stock at 20 cents," Ken Bean says. "Afterward, we were busy 'company-building,' and for two months we didn't issue any information to the public. We have just released our first-quarter revenue, and from now on, our stock is going to be driven by earnings. It can only go up from here." Indeed, despite the flagging stock price, Arnett thinks Pediatric Prosthetics has a bright future. "The most exciting thing about the whole deal is that it is a wide-open market," says Arnett. "There are a small handful of prosthetists who do infants. With 500 children born each year without arms and 500 born without legs, at $25,000 a limb, the demand is right there." The pediatric marketplace is even more promising because children must constantly be re-fitted for limbs. While an adult limb might last indefinitely, most children under the age of 15 require annual fittings to adjust for growth and other changes. Arnett sees potential annual revenue for Pediatric Prosthetics in the tens of millions of dollars.

Marketing channels
Insurance companies typically pay between 70 percent and 80 percent of the cost of a prosthetic limb, and are willing to do this annually for pediatric patients, according to Linda Bean. However, she says, the company's biggest challenge is finding ways to market itself to potential customers. "Most hospitals do not record how many children are born without an arm or a leg," Bean says, so many parents are not aware of the resources available to them. Pediatric Prosthetics makes a point to market its services to nurses so that they may tell parents about the options available for their children. Realizing travel and incidental costs are still an issue for many patients and their families, Pediatric Prosthetics has even established relationships with organizations that will help absorb these extra expenses.

The company's Web site (http://www.kidscanplay.com/) has brought in business from all over the country and the world. Earlier this year, Linda Bean made a myoelectric arm for a 2-year-old from the Republic of Georgia. Still, Linda feels that there are many parents who do not know about the advances being made in prosthetics, or who fear they might not be able to afford them. Prosthetist Jean Gonzalez moved to Houston from Los Angeles to work for Pediatric Prosthetics, and will soon make house calls to patients all over the country. Not every prosthetist travels in a private company jet -- another business strategy that distinguishes this company. Ken Bean transports the company's seven employees in his Bellanca plane, adhering to their schedules and meeting the need for last-minute house calls. He plans to buy additional planes and hire more pilots as the company grows. "One of the toughest things about being in this business is the traveling," he says. Meanwhile, another challenge is training the future generation of pediatric prosthetists. Linda Bean hopes to eventually hire and train graduates from The University of Texas at Arlington, which has a school for prosthetics and orthotics. She occasionally meets a child who cannot fully benefit from a myoelectric limb, but she revels in helping the hundreds of children she can. "In every single case of the kids who have gotten fit when they are young, they turn into the most wonderful overachievers," Linda Bean says. When fitted with a myoelectric limb and taught to use it over a period of a few days, children can pick up toys, write, paint and generally feel more confident about themselves, says Bean, who points out that the limbs often change patients' lives.