Page 14 - HME Busines, Nov/Dec 2018

Contents
5 Showcasing DME’s Superstars Several DME product categories are almost guaranteed sellers. What are the best ways to stock them so that you maximize their revenue potential?
12 Exploring E-Commerce
There’s a robust e-commerce market for DME products. How can your DME pharmacy tap into it?
13 DME Marketplace
We look at some of the latest products on the market.
Editor’s NotE
CBD’s Quest for Market, Legal & Medical Legitimization
December 2018
Helping pharmacy owners and operators expand their DME businesses.
Executive Editor Associate Editor
Art Director Production Coordinator
Director of Online Product Development
Group Publisher
David Kopf
(949) 265-1561
Leila McNeill
Laurie Layman Charles Johnson
Marlin Mowatt Karen Cavallo
(760) 610-0800
A SPECIALFRPOUMBLICATION
November/December 2018
SHOWCASING
Stocking retail winners to maximize their sales performance.
ALSO INSIDE
• Small Pharmacy-Big DME Items • DME Pharmacy Marketplace hme-business.com
Retail DME
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
We’ve all watched
the ongoing push to legalize marijuana play out for several years now, but while much of the consumer news has focused its attention on the portion of the market devoted to recre- ational use of the psychoactive
cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), there’s an equally important market for the other canna- binoid cannabidiol, otherwise known as CBD.
Many consumers have come to experience and evangelize the benefits of using CBD oils, lotions and pills to treat chronic pain, insomnia and anxiety. I have personally found it beneficial to treat ongoing pain from a shoulder injury I suffered as a teenager. In my personal experi- ence, it works and I’m grateful for it — a lifelong pain issue no longer interrupts my sleep or ruins my quality of life.
CBD products are sold in varying dosages that might or might not contain very small percent- ages of THC, as well. You can buy them online and depending on what state you live in, you can buy it at retail establishments. In fact, CBD use has grown so widespread according to market researchers the Brightfield Group, the global CBD market could expand to $22 billion 2022. That’s not what I’d call an outlier.
The problem is that CBD has been existing in
a legal grey area. For all intents and purposes, the DOJ and DEA consider any part of cannabis, including CBD, a narcotic, but they have not enforced any laws when it comes to so-called “industrial hemp” products that include less than 0.3 percent THC, which covers most CBD products.
However, CBD has found an unlikely Congres- sional champion in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has introduced legislative language into the bi-partisan 2018 Farm Bill that would remove industrial hemp production from the Controlled Substances Act. Oddsmakers on Capitol Hill give the Farm Bill a 65 percent chance of being passed before the end of the year.
Moreover, besides market potential, CBD advo- cates argue that, as a non-addictive painkiller, the drug could be a cure for the opioid epidemic facing the United States. That said, we haven’t seen Congress approve funding for in-depth NSF or NIH research into CBD’s efficacy as a safer opioid alternative.
And that’s what CBD needs: Research. It has the market legitimacy. It’s getting the legal legitimacy. But it needs the actual medical
and pharmaceutical legitimacy that makes for sound medicine. For instance, CBD can influ- ence the liver’s cytochrome P450 enzyme system, which helps metabolize various compounds — including a whole host of drugs, such as statins, steroids and antidepressants. Without medical research into possible interactions, the medical community and consumers are flying blind.
It’s time to get past whatever hang-ups we might have about CBD or cannabis, and start doing the necessary research that legitimate pharmaceuticals require. Market demand and usage have brought the issue to the fore.
David Kopf
Executive Editor
HME Business & DME Pharmacy
Steve Ackerman
President Spectrum Medical
Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq.
Chairman of the Health Care Group of Brown & Fortunato, P.C.
Cara Bachenheimer
Lobbyist/Government Af- fairs for Brown & Fortunato, P.C.
Rob Baumhover
Director of Retail Services for VGM Retail Services
Ty Bello, RCC
President and Founder Team@Work
Georgie Blackburn
Vice President, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs BLACKBURN’S
Rob Boyeye
Executive Vice President of HME Brightree LLC
Sandra Canally
President
The Compliance Team Inc.
George Coppola
Director of Marketing CAIRE Medical
John Letizia
President of Laurel Medical Supplies Inc.
Joe Lewarski
Vice President of Global Respiratory and Sleep Drive Devilbiss
Ron Resnick
President Blue Chip Medical Products Inc.
Tom Ryan
President and CEO AAHomecare
Wayne Slavitt
Founder and CEO Mobül: The Mobility Store
Wayne van Halem
President and Founder The van Halem Group LLC
INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS GROUP
President & Group Publisher Group Publisher Group Circulation Director Group Marketing Director Group Social Media Editor
Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Technology Officer
Executive Vice President Executive Chairman
REACHING THE STAFF
Kevin O’Grady Karen Cavallo Irene Fincher Susan May Sydny Shephard
Rajeev Kapur Craig Rucker Erik A. Lindgren
Michael J. Valenti Jeffrey S. Klein
by
Editors can be reached via e-mail, fax, telephone, or mail. A list of editors and contact information is at www.hme-business.com.
Email: email is routed to individuals’ desktops. Please use the following form: firstnameinitial,lastname@1105media.com. Do not include a middle name or middle initials.
Telephone: The switchboard is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. After 5:30 p.m. you will be directed to individual extensions.
Dallas Office: 14901 Quorum Drive, Suite 425, Dallas, TX 75254 (972) 687-6700; Fax: (972) 687-6799; www.1105media.com
Corporate Phone: (818) 814-5200; Fax: (818) 734-1522
Rx 4 December 2018 | DME Pharmacy
hme-business.com