Page 27 - HME Business, March 2017

START WITH EDUCATION
The key for any provider of compression comes down to expertise. A provider can have the best product selection in the world, but if it doesn’t have the staff that know how to use it, that provider won’t be able to help referral partners or patients. The provider must have staff who understand the various types and grades of compression products, as well as their applicability for difference patient conditions.
And that goes beyond understanding product basics. The provider should have key team members should have proper
training in compression. Fortunately there is training
available from the various compression vendors.
Select your in-house experts and sign them up to become certified compression fitters. Certified fitters receive training by going to different classes and seminars that are typically put on by the manufac- turers of compression product.
Once trained, the fitter will be able to review a patient’s history and ask important questions that will help determine the right type of product and level of compression. Fitters will also help ensure patient compliance, which isn’t always easy to instill.
FOCUS ON FACILITATING COMPLIANCE
Education plays a critical role in compression provider success, because, like a lot of the home treatments HME providers help facilitate, successful compres- sion outcome hinge on compliance. A compression provider with educated, expert staff that can help foster compliance through attentive patient care and education will help ensure patient success, and thusly secure referral partner confidence.
While successful outcomes for compression hinge on patient compliance, compliance can be tough
to achieve. That’s because, at the end of the day, compression garments can prove troublesome for many patients to wear. After being given a prescription from a doctor, some patients will come in to a provider get fitted for compression wear, and still not wear the compression garment. Why? Because compression garments can be hard to put on and take off, espe- cially for older patients and patients with joint stiffness, or for parent caregivers working with young patients.
Educated, certified fitters can show patients how to don and doff compression garments, especially hosiery, and avoid common mistakes. For instance, one mistake patients will make is that they will put on compression hosiery as though it were a typical sock; by bunching the compression sock up on their hands at the point above its heel. Then they’ll try to pull it up over their toe area and then their heel, which is very hard to accomplish.
Providers can help them by training patients on the different methods for fitting compression socks. For instance, in the “heel pocket out” method, the patient puts his or her hand into the sock, grabs hold of the heel and turns it inside out, in order to more easily get move the sock over the more challenging portions of the patient’s foot. Then the patient slowly smoothes the sock up around his or her leg.
Also, using rubber gloves can make the process go much more smoothly, by providing traction to help grab hold of the sock. Or, a patient can use a donning and doffing device that provides a frame that holds an open toe sock in position and lets the patient step
Management Solutions | Technology | Products
into it. If a patient uses an open toe sock, a plastic sack can be placed over the foot, the sock slipped over that, and then the sack pulled out from under the sock. (And those devices are also a sales opportunity, of course.)
Ultimately, staff that can help patients understand what compression garments and products do, how they benefit the patient, and how to use them is the heart of compression therapy. Patients who understand what stockings do and how they work are much more motivated to overcome the other compliance issues to get the health benefits the products provide.
mediven harmony
• Ready-to-wear arm sleeves, gauntlets, and gloves in up to 16 sizes.
• The perfect balance between strong & soft.
mediven for women vitality
• The perfect casual compression sock for work or leisure.
• Seamless mediGrip top band provides security without compromising comfort.
1-800-633-6334 mediusa.com info@mediusa.com
hme-business.com | March 2017 | HMEBusiness 25