DECEMBER 2016

hme-business.com

1216hme_DME_Cover1NLS.indd 1 11/17/16 4:01 PM

Only QS/1® offers total integration between our pharmacy management, HME and POS systems. Your multifaceted pharmacy doesn’t have to include multiple systems that don’t communicate. QS/1’s total product integration eliminates duplicate entry with shared doctor and patient files. Documentation entered into our NRx® or PrimeCare® pharmacy systems automatically transfers to our SystemOne® HME solution for billing. And, the POS system helps ensure date-of-service compliance for Medicare Part B. These integrated systems seamlessly manage orders, documentation, claims andinventory – helping you maintain compliance, efficiency and profitability.

© 2016 J M SMITH CORPORATION. QS/1, NRx, PrimeCare, SystemOne and the QS/1 logo are registered trademarks of the J M Smith Corporation.

To learn more about how QS/1 can integrate your pharmacy and HME business, visit www.qs1solutions.com/HME-Rx-integration, call 866.910.9734 or scan the code below.

T ired of your pharmacy management and HME systems not sharing?

Bring It On. Whatever your challenge, QS/1 has a solution.

A champion for patients and community, The Compliance Team’s Exemplary Providers are held to the highest standards

of patient care. Those who meet these critical standards are looked upon by the community as trustworthy leaders who represent only the best in safety, honesty, and caring®. Our accreditation program for Community Pharmacy is Medicare-approved

for DMEPOS*, and can be customized to include Infusion, Compounding, Specialty Drugs, In-Store Clinic and Long-Term Care accreditation.

Each program features a series of expert-led implementation webinars; measures for improving your “star ratings”; and access to our national Patient Quality

Measurement™ satisfaction reporting service.

For more details, call us at 215.654.9110 or visit our web site: TheComplianceTeam.org/pharmacy_services.aspx.

Exemplary Provider Accreditation®

*The Compliance Team’s Exemplary Provider® accreditation is nationally recognized and “deemed” by Medicare to accredit Part A-Rural Health Clinics and Part B-DMEPOS providers.

®You’re not just any community

pharmacy.

+

You’re an Exemplary Provider.®

4 December 2016 | DME Pharmacy hme-business.comRx

As most pharma-cies know, they play a key role in their communities that goes far beyond filling prescriptions or offering over-the-counter medications. Pharmacies fill an important healthcare compo-nent in their communities.

And, as many pharmacies know, that role could use some reinforcement. Reimbursement for pharmacies is being cut by a variety of enti-ties and programs. Pharmacy benefit managers representing Medicare, private payer insurance, state and other government health programs, and the like are working overtime to drive down price. This has resulted in diminishing profit margins and a feeling as though pharmacy owners and operators — particularly those with strong ties to their communities — aren’t being allowed to carry out the healthcare role that many see as the primary, gratifying pay-off. Simply put, the more compelled you are to focus on cost, the less you feel focused on care.

But there are options that can help you not only continue to provide benefits to your clients, but in fact broaden what you can offer. Better yet, you can do that while increasing your revenues and hopefully your margins. I’m talking about retail sales of home medical equipment items.

There are a variety of existing retail product offerings you can stock that will serve a wide range of your customers’ needs. For instance, on page 10 of this edition of DME Pharmacy, we round up some of the latest bath safety offerings on the market.

Bath safety is a critical concern, given that more than 80 percent of home accidents occur in the bathroom, which is considered to be the most dangerous room in the house according to the National Safety Council.

Moreover, bath safety is a service that spans across multiple, major customers groups, such as seniors, bariatric patients and people with mobility impairments, to name a few. This means that providing bath safety involves addressing a number of very different and distinct patient requirements and considerations.

Bath safety solutions include products such as grab bars, bathing stools and benches, transfer chairs and lifts to help patients get in and out showers and tubs. And, of course, there are general items, such as non-slip material or strips and similar household items.

Any pharmacy that has some free shelf space, decent merchandising chops, and a mind for marketing can offer these items. And if any sales training is needed, most of these products’ makers are more than happy to provide it, and often accompany that training with marketing and merchandising support.

Now is the time to get creative. By adding some applicable extensions to your shelves, you can expand the benefit you offer to your customers, while also expanding your bottom line.

David KopfEditorHME Business

Expanding Your Pharmacy’s Reach — and Value

REACHING THE STAFFEditors 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

December 2016

Contents

Steve AckermanPresident

Spectrum Medical

Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq. Chairman of he Health Care Group of Brown &

Fortunato, P.C.

Rob Baumhover Director of Retail Services

for VGM Retail Services

Georgie BlackburnVice President,

Government Relations and Legislative Affairs

BLACKBURN’S

Todd BlockingerSenior Director of Sales

The MED Group

Sandra CanallyPresident

The Compliance Team Inc.

Rob BoyeyeExecutive Vice President

of HMEBrightree LLC

John C EberhartPresident

Eberhart Home Health Inc.

Brian LaDukeVice President, Marketing

for North America Invacare Corp.

John Letizia President of Laurel

Medical Supplies Inc.

Joe Lewarski Vice President of Global Respiratory and Sleep

Drive Medical Design & Mfg.

Drew McCartney President and CEO of

Harmar

Ron ResnickPresident

Blue Chip Medical Products Inc.

Tom RyanPresident and CEO

American Association for Homecare

Wayne van HalemPresident and Founder

The van Halem Group LLC

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Kapur

Chief Operating Officer Henry Allain

Chief Financial Officer Craig Rucker

Chief Technology Officer Erik A. Lindgren

Executive Vice President Michael J. Valenti

Executive Chairman Jeffrey S. Klein

Editor David Kopf (949) 265-1561

Products Editor Sydny Shepard

Art Director Dudley Wakamatsu

Production Coordinator Charles Johnson

Director of Online Marlin Mowatt Product Development

Group Publisher Karen Cavallo (760) 610-0800

INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS GROUP

President & Group Publisher Kevin O’Grady

Group Publisher Karen Cavallo

Group Circulation Director Margaret Perry

Group Marketing Director Susan May

Group Social Media Editor Matt Holden

5 Shrinking Your Audit ExposurePharmacies selling Medicare reimbursable DME items will eventually be audited. We examine how to protect your claims and how documentation helps minimize your risk of having a claim recouped.

8 The Right Retail MixLike an experienced chef testing a new recipe, pharmacies adding DME products to their retail mix might not have the same degree of familiarity with DME items as they do with typical pharmacy products. We talk to some experts to get their insights.

10 Bath Safety MarketplaceBath safety is a key retail product category. We look at some of the latest offerings on the market.

DECEMBER 2016

hme-business.com

E d i t o r ’ s N o t E

1216hme_DME_ContentsEdNoteRx4.indd 4 11/17/16 3:11 PM

5DME Pharmacy | December 2016hme-business.com Rx

Like any DME retailer, pharmacies serving Medicare-funded patients run the risk of getting audited for Medicare claims. Unfor-tunately, many pharmacies, especially those just starting to add DME products and services to their mix, aren’t familiar with DME requirements and find themselves ill-prepared for when — not if — the auditors come calling. Remember, an audit doesn’t mean you did something wrong. Audits can happen simply because you’ve had an increase in your volume or because you’ve had audits in the past that you didn’t pass.

“Pharmacies are allowed to bill for the DME they dispense but they aren’t very good at keeping up with their DME requirements,” says Mary Ellen Conway, RN, BSN, President, Capital Healthcare Group, LLC. “They’re very good at keeping up with pharmacy requirements because they have a lot of patients using drugs, but when it comes to DME, they tend to not pay attention because they think it won’t be them getting audited.”

Part of the reason behind that, says Conway, is for most pharmacies, DME is a small percentage of their business. “They live in the world of pharmacy with a little bit of DME,” she says.

But by not responding appropriately to an audit, a pharmacy can be faced with an overpayment demand letter for millions of dollars or even criminal allegations. An appropriate response from the pharmacy, says

By Joseph Duffy

Pharmacies selling Medicare reimbursable DME items will eventually be audited. Here’s how to ensure your policies and procedures help minimize your risk of having a claim recouped.

Conway, can stop auditors from drastic actions and let the pharmacy get back to the business of taking care of patients.

Audits TodayBefore discussing how pharmacies can minimize audit exposure, it’s important to understand how audits are affecting the HME and phar-macy industries today.

“The Medicare program is administered through ‘contractors,’ which are private companies that contract with Medicare,” says Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq., Chairman of the Health Care Group, Brown & Fortunato, P.C. “Over the last 10 years, contractors have become increasingly aggres-sive in conducting post-payment audits and prepayment reviews of HME suppliers. The contractors are incentivized by Medicare to collect as much money as possible. HME suppliers are being bombarded with audit requests and have to allocate an increasing amount of resources to respond to the audit requests.”

Furthermore, getting a recoupment is only part of the problem. Recoupments are often up for debate, either because they are based on a technicality or flawed interpretation of guidelines from the jurisdictions on the part of the audit contractors. Medicare audits

Medicare Claims: Minimizing Your Audit Exposure

Medicare Claims: Minimizing Your Audit Exposure

1216hme_DME_PharmacyAudits57.indd 5 11/17/16 3:50 PM

6 December 2016 | DME Pharmacy hme-business.comRx

have an appeals process, and it turns out that a high percentage of these recoupments are overturned through appeal. So the onus is on providers to prepare just as much for appeals as they do for the audits.

“If a contractor concludes that a supplier should not have been paid on a number of claims, then the contractor will recoup against future payments to the supplier,” Baird explains. “The supplier can appeal a recoupment demand and can forestall offsets (against future payments from the contractors) during the early appeal stages. However, when the appeal makes it to the Administrative Law Judge stage, the contractor can offset pending the ALJ decision. Unfortunately, because of the backlog of appeals, it will take several years before an appeal makes it before an ALJ.

“This audit phenomenon is resulting in two outcomes: HME suppliers are closing their doors and those suppliers that stay in business are increasingly providing products to Medicare beneficiaries on a non-assigned basis,” he adds. “This means that the beneficiary must pay the supplier up front and then the supplier will submit a claim to Medicare that asks Medicare to reimburse the beneficiary.”

To date, pharmacies are not being overburdened by audits by Medi-care Part D Plans or by state Medicaid programs, Baird adds. However, pharmacies are being hit with increasingly aggressive audits by phar-

To sell Medicare reimbursable DME products, pharmacies need to be accred-ited unless they have been in the DME business long enough to be grandfathered in. Accreditation helps pharmacies providing DME products to construct excellent documentation practices that help minimize their exposure to audits.

Sandra Canally, President of The Compliance Team, a healthcare accreditation organization, offers these docu-mentation tips for pharmacies serving Medicare-funded patients. But beware — pharmacies must understand their own state requirements for DME products. Canally suggested using the National Supplier Clearinghouse Licensor Directory (http://www.palmettogba.com/nsc) because it goes through every state and every item requirement.• Get any type of licensor or certification that’s required

to sell DME products. Research what the billing criteria is through the local coverage determination (LCD). This will tell you if you need a license or a certification for that type of product.

• Document employee training on products requiring it. For example, if you are carrying diabetic shoes, you will need patient instruction and fitting documenta-tion, which is part of what any auditor would look at.

• Collect documentation that shows the patient’s ailment. For example, if selling diabetic shoes, you should collect and document that the patient is in fact a diabetic.

Good Documentation Practices

“There are people who think that if they send the auditors a mess, that the process takes the auditors a long time to audit and the DME provider will do better, and that is not true.”

— Mary Ellen Conway, RN, BSN, Capital Healthcare Group LLC.

macy benefits managers (PBMs). And this on top of the possibility of DME Medicare Part B audits can be burdensome.

“If a PBM is dissatisfied with the results of an audit, then not only will it demand recoupment but even more ominously, the PBM will kick the pharmacy off the PBM’s provider panel,” Baird says. “In conducting audits, PBMs are looking to see if the pharmacy’s documentation supports the claim. Additionally, the PBM is attempting to determine if the pharmacy is engaging in inordinate (in the eyes of the PBM) compounding and/or delivering prescriptions via mail order. The reason that PBMs are focusing on compounding is because they got burned over the past three years by paying large amounts of money for compounded pain and scar creams. The reason that PBMs are focusing on mail-order is because they do not want pharmacies competing with the PBMs’ own mail-order pharmacies.”

Audit Types and GoalsThere are numerous DME auditors and their goals vary. According to Baird, the two primary types of audits are prepayment reviews and post-payment audits. With a prepayment review, the supplier submits its claim for payment. However, the contractor will not pay the claim until the HME supplier submits documentation justifying the claim. With a post-payment audit, the contractor pays the claim but subsequently asks the supplier to submit documentation that justifies the claim. If the supplier’s documentation does not satisfy the contractor, then the contractor will recoup the amount previously paid. Audits by DME MACs and RACs focus on whether the claim meets medical necessity require-ments. Audits by ZPICs focus on whether the HME supplier has been committing fraud in submitting claims.

“DME MACs are making sure that the services are reasonable and necessary and billed in accordance with medical necessity and tech-nical requirements,” says Wayne H. van Halem, CFE, AHFI, president and founder of audit consulting firm The van Halem Group, now a division of VGM Group. “RACs are looking for improper payments, whether they

Minimizing Your Audit Exposure

Another product carried extensively by pharmacies is the nebulizer because the pharmacies carry the drugs used with it, says Canally. The nebulizer is a respiratory item so the pharmacy must have documented follow-up and access with 24/7 capa-bility to respond if somebody’s nebulizer fails.

Further, nebulizers can be a rental or purchase item. If it’s a rental item, when it comes back to the pharmacy, there needs to be documentation of cleaning, testing, etc.

Mary Ellen Conway, president of consulting firm Capital Healthcare Group LLC., offers these documentation tips:• Don’t use a yellow highlighter because when the

audit company gets your record, they scan it to create an electronic file. A yellow highlighter may end up blocking out what it is supposed to highlight.

• Don’t submit records with post-it notes attached or write notes on medical records. Instead, place a summary narrative on the front of every record that tells the reviewer what they’re going to find, what page it is on, where it is, etc.

• Never use white-out. Instead, initial and date all corrections regarding your own submittals. Obviously you cannot correct anything the doctor or prescriber might have written.

• All signatures must be legible. Do not use stamped signatures. If a doctor’s or prescriber’s signature is illegible, take the time to get a signature attestation. n

1216hme_DME_PharmacyAudits57.indd 6 11/17/16 3:50 PM

7DME Pharmacy | December 2016hme-business.com Rx

●● Signature dates●● Incorrect diagnosis codes●● Invalid proof of delivery●● Re-evaluation requirement (must be followed up)According to van Halem, compliance programs with appropriate

internal controls are the best way to manage through the process. “Pharmacies should have an upfront QA process to check claims

before they get sent, but also a compliance program that includes several elements, such as quarterly auditing, education and training, and communication,” he says. “Compliance programs are designed to protect suppliers. As the government considers it, it is their responsibility to protect the Trust Fund, but entities that bill the government share in that responsibility in making sure that the claims they submit are accu-rate. The ACA has made it mandatory that entities billing the govern-ment for reimbursement have a compliance program that includes each of the elements we described.”

Finally, Conway suggests that DME suppliers should always keep the following in mind as apart of everyday business:●● Proactively audit your files now●● Know various audit types and their objectives●● Learn how to respond to audits●● Examine documentation and its importance in audits●● Evaluate appeal process to overturn negative responses●● Set audit goals and measures for accountability“There is an old television commercial in which an auto mechanic

looks into the television screen and says, ‘You can pay me now or you can pay me later,’ Baird says. “The crux of the ad was that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.’ It does the HME supplier/pharmacy no good to sell a ton of products only to have the payments ‘clawed back’ pursuant to post-payment audits. It is impor-tant for the supplier/pharmacy to know what is expected of them up front so that they can feel confident that they will be able to keep the money they have been paid.” n

“Over the last 10 years, contractors have become increasingly aggressive in conducting post-payment audits and prepayment reviews of HME suppliers.”

— Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq., Brown & Fortunato, P.C.

“Pharmacies should have an upfront QA process to check claims before they get sent, but also a compliance program that includes several elements such as quarterly auditing, education and training, and communication.”

— Wayne H. van Halem, CFE, AHFI, The van Halem Group

are overpayments or underpayments. This could be medical necessity or based upon technical requirements. ZPICs and UPICs are looking to identify and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse, so they are a little more provider specific, where the other ones are looking at patterns or trends with specific procedure codes.

“DME MACs can do prepayment or post-payment but an over-whelming majority right now are prepayment. ZPICs and UPICs can do both as well and often times will do both at the same time. RACs are currently only post-payment. All of them focus on all different and unique things. RACs and DME MACs focus mostly on codes with high error rates. ZPICs and UPICs focus mostly on providers with aberrant billing practices.”

Remember, the False Claims Act makes it a federal crime for anyone knowingly presenting or causing to be presented a false claim for payment of approval. The penalties for violating this Act can be severe, including civil monetary penalties. The penalty for violating the False claims Act is $11,000 per violation and/or there times the amount of the falsely claimed charges. Each line on a submitted claim can be consid-ered a violation.

Preparing for AuditsBecause they can be new to selling Medicare reimbursable items, there can often be a disconnect with pharmacies when it comes to audits, so the best first step is to look at the Local Coverage Determination (LCD) criteria, located on the cms.gov website, says Sandra Canally, president and founder of deemed Medicare accrediting organization The Compli-ance Team. The LCD spells out what the pharmacy needs to have in order to meet the requirement to bill.

Another important point is that certain reimbursable products, such as orthotics, prosthetics and diabetic shoes, may require a license or a specific certification, depending on the state. An auditor that visits will look for specific training for required products in the form of a license or certification. An auditor wants to know if the pharmacy employee is competent to actually measure a patient for a fitted product.

Conway says the best way to respond to auditors is to read their requests carefully, as they will tell DME suppliers exactly what they want. A document request letter will provide general information on the type of documents to submit, such as:●● Patient medical records●● Supplier records●● Detailed written order●● Dispensing order●● Certificate of medical necessity (CMN)●● Delivery tickets“If the letter says that they want XYZ then you respond in the order that

they’re asking you for it,” she says. “So if the patients are numbered one through 15 or one through 100, whatever the numbers are, you respond in that order. You put them in the order because you want to make it as straight forward as possible when the auditors receive your response. There are people who think that if they send the auditors a mess, that the process takes the auditors a long time to audit and the DME provider will do better, and that is not true. If you send everything back organized and in a specific manner, it makes their job easier to go through things and that’s what you want. Because the last thing you want is for it to be such a mess that they decide that they’re not even going to look at it.”

Conway says some of the common audit issues encountered by DME suppliers include:●● Insufficient physician documentation●● No objective measurements on face-to-face mobility evaluations●● Refill requests●● Required elements on forms

Joseph Duffy is a freelance writer and marketing consultant, and a regular contributor

to HME Business magazine and related projects and publications. He can be reached

via e-mail at joe@prooferati.com. 

1216hme_DME_PharmacyAudits57.indd 7 11/17/16 3:50 PM

8 December 2016 | DME Pharmacy hme-business.comRx

Like an experienced chef testing an unfamiliar recipe, pharmacies adding DME products to their retail mix might not have the same degree of familiarity with DME items as they do with typical pharmacy products. Furthermore, many DME products are complex and serve patient niches that may be unfamiliar to the pharmacy staff. To help pharmacies with their DME retail sales, industry experts sound off regarding the differences between typical pharmacy and DME sales and offer tips for increasing your DME business.

Renae Favata-Storie, Director of Pride Field Sales and Strategic Accounts“More and more, DMEs and pharmacies that sell DME have the same opportunities for retail success,” said Favata-Storie. “Gone are the days where consumers are simply looking to fill a prescription. Retail DME consumers are just that — consumers — and while they may enter a phar-macy for a specific item, an inviting showroom that displays retail DME products in an inviting way can introduce customers to products that they may not have thought of and encourage browsing and purchasing.”The goal of an DME retail showroom is four-fold: display product, encourage browsing, create comfort, achieve a sale. An effective pharmacy DME retail space encourages customers to interact with products in an intuitive way — and having a product floor-plan inventory is key. A lift chair displayed in cozy décor, with accompanying fabrics

By Joseph Duffy

The ‘musts’ of home medical equipment merchandising in a pharmacy setting.

and educational kiosk, for example, encourages a customer to first touch the plush lift chair, then sit in it, and then move to the kiosk. It’s an initially tactile impulse that leads to further exploration, followed by a conversation with a salesperson. Therefore, whether a lift chair, scooter or power chair, having well-positioned product displays with reinforcing educational and point-of-sales resources is essential.

To enhance the DME retail product display and demonstration expe-rience, pharmacies should use advertising techniques, ranging from hang tags to posters and banners, to videos and point-of-sale accessory selections. The more ways that a pharmacy can demon-strate an HME retail product’s features and benefits, the better.

Todd Carter, Director of Sales for Pharmacy/HME, Apex Foot Health“In most cases, retail product offerings are very similar in both DME and pharmacy settings,” said Carter. “Pharmacies have the advantage of a large volume walk-in business where DME busi-nesses must beat the bushes, so to speak, and rely more heavily on referrals. A minor difference is that DMEs carry larger DME items like power chairs and beds. They are similar in that they usually carry the same smaller DME items such as lift chairs, manual wheels chairs, shoes, compression, OTC bracing and off-the-shelf cash items.”

1216hme_DME_RetailFeature89.indd 8 11/17/16 3:49 PM

9DME Pharmacy | December 2016hme-business.com Rx

Joseph Duffy is a freelance writer and marketing consultant, and a regular contributor

to HME Business magazine and related projects and publications. He can be reached

via e-mail at joe@prooferati.com. 

at the same time and on the same day every week, or there are compa-nies that specialize in e-mail customer contact management.

Cy Corgan, National Sales Manager, EZ-ACCESS“The challenge for pharmacies has been two-fold: the first is the Internet,” said Corgan. “E-commerce has impacted the pharmacy busi-ness, primarily the smaller to mid-size, indepen-dent owners. Typically, when caregivers are told they need a ramp for their home, they are going to go home and start searching for products online. Second, pharmacies can’t compete with the selection that is online, so it comes down to how do they handle their special orders? Pharmacies don’t traditionally buy direct from the manufacturer; they usually go through a distribution partner. How they handle those special orders can make it challenging for the pharmacy.”Have the products readily available in the store. Having the product on the shelves and in the showroom will help increase sales. EZ-ACCESS is working with pharmacies across the Midwest to place their ramp prod-ucts within the store, complete with signage and educational materials. Have a solution for special orders. Because of the confined space, pharmacies closely look at their sales per square foot. So pharmacies will certainly use the products that sell the best to occupy the space within the store. In addition, they may not be able to carry the full assort-ment and styles of a particular product. Therefore, they need to be able to immediately address special ordering with the product company. For example, EZ-ACCESS provides the pharmacy a card with the special order information printed on it. The special order items are already loaded into the pharmacies POS system. That way the customer knows right away that the item will be available and shipped to the store within a couple of days. Pharmacies should work with manufactures and distributers that can create special ordering with pharmacies.

Brandon Noble, CO, LO, Director of Medical Sales and Marketing, Vionic Group“In the footwear world where I am from, there really isn’t a big difference between DME and pharmacy retail,” said Noble. “It’s still the same message and still the same patient but it is a different setting. So if you embrace good retailing habits, you are going to get consistent results across all channels.”Categorize your merchandising. For example, make sure that if you have an area for pain relief that you are combining all your pain relief items into one category. Don’t spread them around. Don’t put topicals in one spot and taping in another. Bring them into one space so when the patient comes in looking for pain relief, there’s a multiple sales opportunity in one selection area. Catego-rize by condition or type of treatment versus by product. It appeals to the senses of the consumer more. There is a specific reason (condition or treatment) why customers come into the store, which means they are likely not looking for a specific product.Make sure your retail space is stocked and inventory is full. Don’t create an environment in which you are apologizing for your retail because you are out of an item a customer needs. When you have empty spaces on shelves or displays, it makes the customer feel you don’t care about your retail environment. Check your shelves once a day, either at the end of the day or first thing in the morning. n

Patient education is the key to the kingdom. At Apex, we provide pharmacies with signage to hang and display throughout the store. These collateral pieces are designed to prompt those customers with diabetes to ask their pharmacist about diabetic shoes.Pharmacists should make the best possible use of prescription bags. Placing stickers on the outside of the bag with big and bold calls to action can be very useful. For instance, stickers that ask the question, “Are you Diabetic? You may qualify for a pair of diabetic shoes!” can both educate the consumer and drive them to have a conversation with their pharmacist for more information.

Todd Blockinger, Senior Director of Sales, The MED Group“DME retail is different due to the fact that customers are coming in because they have a need for a supply or piece of equipment,” said Blockinger. “Often times, they come in for one thing and, if the people working the retail floor do a proper job, utilizing their expertise and deliv-ering on the obligation of keeping people living safely and independently in their own homes for as long as possible, they leave with much more than that. Pharmacy retail differs in that the majority of customers walking through the door are coming in for a refill on their prescriptions. The challenge for the pharmacy is how to engage with that customer and see if there are any products in the store that might be needed. Also, impulsive sale products can play a large role in increasing your sales-per-customer ratio.”Understand your products. It is extremely difficult to be successful in selling DME without knowing how the products will benefit the customer once they get them home, so educate and train all of your staff on the products you keep on your shelves within the store. Host a “lunch and learn” training session with the manufacturers who have inventory in your store — most manufacturers will jump at the opportunity to train your staff on their products. They can cover details such as adjustability and why it is important, weight capacity, where products should and should not be used, and, ultimately, why their product would be helpful to a customer. They will also be able to provide suggestions on proper product staging, offer planograms, and help with easy selling tips. These are all vital pieces of information to covey to the customer in order to have successful selling. Once your staff has a comprehensive under-standing of the products you sell, they will be better at cross-selling and up-selling, which will help increase your sales-per-customer ratio.Establish a customer e-mail list if you are not already doing so. Some very successful companies have been utilizing their e-mail lists to help their customers stay safe and independent by informing them of sales on particular products, health fairs offering blood pres-sure and glucose tests, cleaning and checking CPAP machines, etc. This is a great way to attract customers to your stores, as well as keep current customers engaged. It is very easy for pharmacies to become yet another “faceless entity” in the homecare world; engaging your customers, even at a very basic level, helps you to stand out and creates loyal customers. Once you have created your customer e-mail list, decide on an e-mail schedule (do not flood their inboxes) and decide on the kind of content you want to send (make it relevant). You can spend some time once a week scheduling your e-mails to send automatically, which will help take the work out of remembering to send

1216hme_DME_RetailFeature89.indd 9 11/17/16 3:49 PM

10 December 2016 | DME Pharmacy hme-business.comRx

What’s the most dangerous room in the house? A 2008 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that every year about 235,000 people over the age of 15 visit emer-gency rooms because of injuries suffered in the bathroom. Of the injured:• More than 33 percent were caused while bathing or showering• More than 14 percent occurred while using the toilet

Injury rates increased with age, especially those that occurred on or near the toilet. The proportion of injuries in or around the tub or shower was highest among persons aged 15 years to 24 years (84.5 percent) and lowest among persons aged 85 or older (38.9 percent), whereas the proportion of injuries that happened on or near the toilet was lowest among persons aged 15 years to 24 years (7 percent) and highest among persons aged 85 and older (51.7 percent).

Key retail product offerings for DME pharmacies. By Joseph Duffy

Injuries associated with getting into and out of the tub or shower occurred among persons of all ages, suggesting that adding grab bars both inside and outside the tub or shower might help prevent bathroom injuries to all household residents. Overall, approximately 14 percent of injuries were associated with standing up from, sitting down on, or using the toilet, but among persons aged 65 years and older, the proportion ranged from 19 percent to 37 percent. The CDC said that preventing falls and subsequent injuries in this vulnerable older population is critical. Persons with postural hypotension can reduce symptoms by standing up slowly; installing grab bars near the toilet would provide an additional measure of safety.

The DME industry has an extensive inventory of bath safety prod-ucts, which are key retail offerings that DME pharmacies could easily stock for a wide variety of patient groups. Here are just some of the bathroom safety products to consider for a pharmacy:

Wheelchair Makes Bathrooms AccessibleThe WheelAble Folding Commode Chair lets physically challenged people use any bathroom or toilet stall in a more flexible, spontaneous and independent manner. The front casters are opposite from the large rear wheels and provide maneuverability. The location of the wheels makes it possible to back in toward a regular toilet without the need for spacious areas typical in accessible bath-rooms and toilet stalls. The area under the seat is especially narrow, providing a significant advantage in narrow passages. Push up arm rests give users an easy and safe transfer, while the upholstered, waterproof seat is made for comfortable seating for a lengthy time. Clarke Health Care Products(888) 347-4537www.clarkehealthcare.com

Movabowl Is a Movable and Flushable CommodeMovabowl is a movable and flush-able commode that makes it easier for people with disabilities to use the toilet and makes it easier for care-givers to tend to people with disabili-ties. With the Movabowl’s design, the toilet bowl be removed and taken out of the bathroom to where the disabled person is located. Hence, the mobile toilet bowl can be used in locations outside of the bath-room. Then, the mobile toilet bowl is returned to the docking station in the bathroom and can be flushed because it has water in the bowl. Movabowl(949) 456-9992www.movabowl.com

New Walk-In Tub Has 7" Entry ThresholdThe new cast acrylic Restore ACR Walk-In Tub from Mansfield Plumbing has a low 7-inch entry threshold, 17-inch high ADA-compliant seat, easy-to-clean surface and easy-to-access cable-operated drain. Available as a bathtub, whirlpool, air bath, combination whirlpool and air bath, or MicroDerm Therapeutic Bath, Restore ACR is IAPMO approved, is manufactured in the U.S.A. and offers a smooth, glossy appearance that won’t fade. Optional features include a heated seat and backrest. Mansfield Plumbing(828) 890-8065www.mansfieldplumbing.com

Everyday Hand-Held Shower Head Offers 5 Spray OptionsSpray options let users help bathe pets, children and persons with special needs. Shower head can be easily installed in minutes on any standard shower arm. Options include bubbling, massage, half saturating and pause spray functions. Change the spray settings with your finger-tips, even with wet, soapy hands. Other features include mounting bracket and diverter valve, matching extra long 80-inch reinforced hose and three-year warranty.Graham-Field(770) 368-4700www.grahamfield.com

1216hme_DME_BathMarketplace1011.indd 10 11/17/16 3:48 PM

11DME Pharmacy | December 2016hme-business.com Rx

1-800-371-3509 E-mail: service@safe-er-grip.com P.O. Box 780838, Wichita, KS 67278-0838

Ergonomic design and finish complements most modern bathroom designs

Engineered ABS plastic construction independently tested and verified tomax load bearing weight capacity of 500 lbs.

Mounts horizontally or vertically to standard wall stud spacing

NEW!BATH SAFETYBAR

NEW!BATH

INNOVATIVE PERMANENT-MOUNT GRAB BAR FOR SHOWER OR BATH

www.safe-er-grip.com

18"

mhi-permanent-mount-safety-bar-ad-horiz-no-booth.xpress_Layout 1 9/27/16 11:45 AM Page 1

Joseph Duffy is a freelance writer and marketing consultant, and a regular contributor to HME Business magazine and related projects and publica-tions. He can be reached via e-mail at joe@prooferati.com. 

Rollator Combines Rolling Walker and Toilet SafetyHelping the user to safely use the toilet in any restroom, the Free2Go Rollator combines the rolling walker with toilet safety products beneficial to seniors and the mobility impaired. Features include a raised toilet seat, toilet safety frame and rolling walker. Portable and lightweight, the Rollator rolls directly over a standard toilet and provides additional height over a standard toilet to reduce body strain. The Rollator frame was designed to assist with sitting, lifting and fall prevention. Free2Go Mobility Products(844) 324-8228www.free2gomobility.com

Toilet Incline Lift Helps Users Safely Use the CommodeThe TILT Toilet Incline Lift helps provide bathroom safety by lifting to patients’ natural body movement. Weighing 34 pounds, the unit can be installed in about 15 minutes. It attaches directly to the bowl, which offers greater stability. The TILT moves the user 7-1/2" forward for clearing obstructions and rising from the bowl. This also positions the user’s shoulders over their feet for optimal balance and positioning. The unit accom-modates users 5'2" to 6'4" and bowl heights of 14" to 21".EZ-ACCESS(800) 451-1903www.ezaccess.com

1216hme_DME_BathMarketplace1011.indd 11 11/17/16 3:48 PM

Brought to you by HME Business, DME Pharmacy editorial is created exclusively for pharmacies that carry HME. Topics include:• Software specific to this segment• Reimbursement-friendly products• Consumer mobility• CMS accreditation requirements• Incontinence products• Orthopedic softgoods• And more!

The e-Letter is distributed quarterly.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!http://hme-business.com

Or contact us at subscriptions@1105media.com

Attention Pharmacies with HME!Free Subscription to

DME Pharmacy e-Letter

hme-business.com