Page 13 - HME Business, January/February 2020

reduce that is a great development.
And software companies are pushing to
release e-prescription tools for providers. HME professionals should continue to monitor this trend. Early adopters will be those that want to mitigate audit issues while delivering as turnkey a service experience as they can for their referral partners and patients.
The Expansion of Resupply
For sleep providers, optimizing resupply has been the name of the game both in terms of care and the bottom line. An effective resupply program ensures that patients’ equipment is performing as it should and giving patients
as sound and comfortable a night’s sleep as possible. This ensures that they stick with their therapy and enjoy better outcomes.
That’s music to the ears of referral partners
who need to demonstrate positive outcomes and therapy compliance to funding sources. So if a provider can help make that happen, it will cement rock-solid relationships with its referral sources and ensure many resupply orders in the future.
To make that happen, sleep providers have implemented a combination of workflows and technology tools that help them track each
patient’s equipment usage, determine when they need a resupply item, and then make that resupply process as simple and easy as possible.
Now providers of other categories that entail resupply items, such as incontinence, diabetic supply and incontinence, are starting to take notice of the gains that sleep providers have made with resupply, and looking for ways to implement more automated resupply proce- dures into their workflows. This year will likely see increased activity among those providers
in terms of implementing such solutions. Who knows? They might inspire even more categories to follow suit.
CBD
It’s tempting to write CBD off as a gimmick
— don’t give into it. Providers have a chance
to establish themselves in a product category serving an undeniably large market. CBD use has grown so widespread according to market researchers the Brightfield Group, the global CBD market could expand to $22 billion by 2022. Another study from Cowen and Company proj- ects the CBD market to hit roughly $16 billion by 2025. Low or high, take your pick, those esti- mates speak to considerable market demand.
And why do all those people want CBD? To help them deal with aches, pains and sleepless- ness. Why CBD? CBD is one of the compounds called cannabinoids produced by the cannabis plant. The first cannabinoid most everyone has heard of is THC, the psychoactive component in recreational marijuana. CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is the cannabinoid often used in managing chronic pain, insomnia and anxiety.
Now, think about the patient groups you serve. Many of your patients are in pain — real, honest- to-goodness pain. If they’re coming into your HME business for a knee brace, there’s a good chance they’re in pain. If they’re coming in for orthopedic footwear, they’re likely feeling some pain. If they’re coming in for a TENS unit, you know they’re in pain. In fact, for some providers, pain management represents a healthy percentage of their revenues.
So, providers have a large group of patients seeking non-drug solutions to manage their pain. CBD is an increasingly popular non-drug solu- tion that represents a massive retail opportunity. HME patients consider HME providers experts on solutions to their health issues. Providers need to connect these very obvious dots and add CBD to their product line-ups in 2020. n
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