Home truly is where the heart is, which is why many patients choose home healthcare to treat chronic and terminal illnesses. Almost 5 million patients chose home care, as reported in the most recent CDC FastStats data. Home care agencies treat various conditions including Alzheimer's and dementia, heart disease, endocrine problems, immune deficiencies, gastrointestinal issues, respiratory disorders and cancer. The clinical staff and providers need the right medical supplies and equipment in order to provide care.
Trusting Care for Treasured Family
The Home Health Chartbook 2015 indicates that 85% of home care patients are aged 65 and older, although younger patients with developmental disorders, neurological conditions and genetic illnesses may also use it. Sometimes, traumatic injuries of all ages may also require home care. It's clear that home healthcare agencies provide services to a wide range of patient populations.
Family members would not entrust the care of these fragile loved ones to just anyone, and you should not entrust the delivery of medical products to just any medical products supplier. As a trusted home healthcare agency, you may need to consider many factors when choosing the right medical products supplier for your home care patients.
Below are some important ideas to consider when choosing the right supplier to meet your agency's needs.
- Products. It is important to ensure you have the right products to meet individual patient needs. Working with a distributor that offers a wide array of products in the units of measure you need will ensure you have the right product at the right time.
- Dependability. A vital necessity in a home care provider is dependability. A delayed order could mean serious complications for the patient, causing discomfort, increased illness or worse. A trusted home care distributor will make sure that supplies arrive on time, all the time.
- Inventory. Does your distributor offer inventory tracking and management that can alert you when supplies run low? What about usage reporting and compliance programs? Patients, insurance and regulatory industries monitor home care supplies and medications closely, requiring a dependable inventory management system.
- Costs. Many factors are included in determining the cost of equipment and supplies. It is important to consider all associated costs when striving to get high quality products at the lowest cost of ownership.
Patients and their families depend on their home care provider to deliver the care they need. In order to focus on delivering care, home care providers need a dependable distribution partner. Concordance Healthcare Solutions has been serving the home care market for many years and has developed a set of value-added Provider Solutions tools. For additional information or support, click here.