Page 12 - HME Business, March/April 2022

Increasingly, DME pharmacies are supporting sleep therapy patients with a variety of devices and related products. As their communitys’ resource for healthcare products, it makes sense given the statistics around obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Roughly 25 million U.S. adults have either diagnosed or undiagnosed moderate to severe sleep apnea, according to the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project.
While the main sleep products are the continuous passive airway pressure (CPAP) devices themselves, the list of sleep products also in- cludes resupply items. Resupply items include mask frames, cushions, headgear, tubing, filters, water chambers and chin straps, which need to be replaced at regular intervals. Moreover, those resupply replace- ments are reimbursable items.
Every first-rate sleep therapy equipment provider knows the importance of a comprehensive resupply program, which is great for the bottom line, but resupply is also important for care. Pharmacies specializing in sleep therapy support know that resupply impacts pa- tients’ therapy compliance, which in turn benefits patient outcomes. Effective resupply programs are efficient, regular and accomplish the ultimate goal of helping patients comply with their therapy regimens, leading to satisfied clients and referral sources.
ReSt eaSy
Consistent patient communication is a key element of any successful sleep therapy resupply strategy. How can DME pharmacies be ‘great communicators?’
Sleep ReSupply:
Helping patientS
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4 DME Pharmacy | April 2022
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CARE HINGES ON COMMUNICATION
Consistent patient communication, a key element of any successful resupply strategy, has become even more important during the CO- VID-19 pandemic. Since most sleep labs have been temporarily closed or operating at lower capacity during the crisis, providers are not seeing the same flow of new patients seeking CPAP machines or other sleep therapy equipment. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that even as the pandemic is hopefully transitioning into more an endemic, it will have left an impact on sleep resupply. Some patients will have changed their habits as a result.
All this means that pharmacies with sleep practices must have a