Page 19 - HME Business, May 2019

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Know your suppliers: Close relationships with suppliers can lead to better business results. Philips Respironics has many marketing and operational programs that are specifically designed for DMEs to optimize their businesses. Working closely with a supplier can help signifi- cantly. – HO
Offer financing options: We offer financing for pretty much anything. We work with Care Credit, and we also have OxyCare Total Advantage,
a fixed short-term loan that can be used on anything in the retail space. So they could use
it to buy a lift chair or a scooter and they pay
for it on fixed payments each month. The DME gets paid in full within about 24 hours. That goes down to a much lower FICO score than Care Credit. That’s really helpful for people who are on a fixed income. – VM
MIND THE STORE
Tidy up: Another avenue that we’re constantly exploring here at Philips is asking our DME customers about the in-store experience. Can patients find what they need, or are they over- whelmed at the number of options and the manufacturers’ benefits? If the patient is just window-shopping, how are you engaging with them after they leave? – HO
Manage selection: Referral partners will want to know that when they send a patient to a DME, the patient will receive excellent care and the best equipment available. If patients are demanding POCs from a provider, they are more likely to be compliant with the therapy. Therefore when a DME is marketing itself to a referral base, they should make sure the referrer knows that they will provide POCs and other top oxygen equipment as this will lead to happier patients and compli- ance with their therapy. And compliance with therapy usually means lower readmissions, which is typically the goal of the referral base. – FL
Portable modality selection: Drive works to use the existing inventory and make better up-front decisions on new modalities to better serve the patient and their business. – DP & AS
MAP IT OUT
Transition tank patients to POCs: The most impactful change that any oxygen provider can make to increase their profitability would be to consider replacing costly deliveries of portable tanks by embracing distribution of portable oxygen concentrators. After providing a POC to a patient, there will be no further portable oxygen deliveries required by a homecare provider and the upfront acquisition cost will quickly pay for itself. Reliability for POCs has never been better, so this is a surefire business practice to increase profitability. – FL
Cluster your deliveries: A lot of people will say, “I moved to POCs but I’m not seeing any savings on deliveries.” What they are doing is putting POCS on their tank routes. You are not seeing any savings from not delivering or from POCs if you don’t optimize your routes. Look at clusters or people. Most people can’t get completely
out of tanks, but that’s OK as long as you are optimizing where you are delivering. Cluster your deliveries. Cluster people who bought POCs and cluster people with tanks. – VM
CUSTOMIZE
Use distributors to customize orders: Larger distributors offer private labeling, so any drop shipments can have your invoice, logo and contact information (as well as discreet pack- aging, when needed). The patient will only see your name when supplies arrive.
Use distributors to tailor orders: Since Supreme breaks cases and boxes on all dispos- able medical supplies, you can ship in exact Medicare/Medicaid allowables and eliminate the cost of carrying that inventory from your books. One huge advantage to using Supreme’s PHD program is unlike most wholesale distributors, they do not own a DME provider. This allows you to buy from a partner, not a competitor. – CM
Don’t sweat the small stuff: Every trip out costs money. For disposable supplies, Supreme Medical encourages providers to use their PHD (patient home delivery) program. This allows you to ship supplies directly to your patient’s front porch from the Supreme Medical warehouse. – CM
ACCESSORIZE
Think mobility: SoClean is a great add-on product for a CPAP user. It’s necessary and convenient. When it comes to the COPD patient, mobility is a key factor. Offering the retail acces- sories that often go unnoticed is a great way to open up more opportunity with the patient. For example, our SimplyGo Mini has an optional extended battery that allows the wearer to be even more mobile – a great add-on accessory. Another angle would be the SimplyGo Mini backpack – one of the most common challenges with POCs is having a free hand or two while tackling everyday tasks. A backpack frees
up both hands so the patient is free to move around while receiving their oxygen therapy. – HO
Retail all the accessories: There are many opportunities for cash sales to patients that DMEs can pursue. Items such as POC batteries and accessories are typically high-margin prod- ucts that have strong demand from patients and can be sold for cash. Accessories may seem minor in nature, however these high-margin generators can really add up to a solid, profit- able business line for DMEs. – FL
Get patients charged up. Our unit has extra batteries, a backpack, a desktop charger for the extra battery, carry bags and an accessory bag to hold all the accessories, and patients want that. Even if you are renting the POC, they will buy all those accessories. You can also retail the machine itself. – VM
Accessories as gifts: Knowing caregivers
as well as patients opens up more marketing opportunities to advertise accessories around holidays or special occasions (Black Friday, Mother’s/Father’s Day). – HO
“If the patient
is just window- shopping, how are you engaging with them after they leave?”
— Heather Osborne, Philips
Management Solutions | Technology | Products
hme-business.com | May 2019 | HMEBusiness 19
“We all recognize that the Home is the care setting of the future. By working together ... we can help patients age in place and manage their chronic disease states from the comfort of their homes”
— Colton Mason, Supreme Medical