HME & Pharmacy

HME dealers and drug stores have become the primary retail outlets for selling home healthcare (HHC) products. They offer the winning combination of retail location, complete product selection and knowledgeable staff.

HME dealers that are located in retail areas depend upon cash sales from one-third to one-half of their gross sales. Drug stores have evolved into the HHC business because consumers hold pharmacists to be the most trusted professionals and it has been a natural transition from filling scripts to providing health and wellness and finally home healthcare.

However, many traditional HME dealers are still located in industrial or commercial parks and focus on insurance reimbursement for their primary revenue. Tthere is also a vast difference between a drug store that also sells home healthcare and a home healthcare business that is also a pharmacy. This difference in perspective - which is immediately visible in layout, merchandising, signage and staffing - often defines the success or failure of any retail HHC initiative.

Our contributions to HME's and pharmacies include:

• Developing an overall HHC program
• Identifying HHC customer bases
• Developing core and related HHC categories
• Designing store layout
• Recommending product and brand selections
• Merchandising HHC categories and products
• Hiring and training HHC staff
• Developing and implementing referral marketing programs

Related Articles

Background:

• The Retail Connection in HME
• HME as the Drug Store’s Front-End Profit Center
• Retailing Home Health Care
• Climbing the 12 Steps to HHC Retailing Success
• Retail Home Health Care Primer
• A Strategic Planning Checklist

Marketing & Advertising:

• Identifying HME Customers
• TV and Radio Advertising
• Marketing Strategies to Build your Business
• Selling HHC Online

Selling:

• Selling Against the Chains
• Retaining Customers and Profitability
• Capturing the Emerging Caregivers Market
• Building Categories to Maximize Sales
• How to Sell Categories