HME Handbook: Incontinence
How to Build an Incontinence Service that Cements Client Relationships
Properly serving incontinence patients requires professionalism, care, discretion and understanding.
When a patient suffers from incontinence, he or she is really suffering from two things; the negative impact that their physical condition is having on their lives, and the frustration and embarrassment they feel from an emotional standpoint. Our youth obsessed popular culture has done an excellent job of stigmatizing and mocking the condition of incontinence to the point that people with the condition don’t want to talk about it — at all.
Which is surprising from a statistical standpoint, because the population of American incontinence sufferers is large. At least 25 million adult Americans suffer from some form of urinary incontinence, according to the National Association for Continence. Think about that: more than 12 percent of the U.S. population has some form of incontinence. Moreover women comprise 75 percent of that population. A massive segment of the U.S. population has a medical condition that they find too embarrassing to discuss.
If there was ever a moment where HME providers can establish their businesses as safe sources for effective products that are backed by knowledgeable service, and where patients can safely review and discuss those solutions, then they will create client relationships that can last a lifetime. Here are some ways to make that happen:
Provide Complete Solutions
A provider must provide a full range of solutions so that they can become a one-stop shop. Adult diapers, catheters, lubricants, cleaning products, and underpads for chairs and mattresses are key items. And there is a large variety of offerings within those categories to suit individual needs. For instance, a men’s catheter that works for one patient might not work for another, either due to style, material, physiology, comfort, size, or some other factor. (Again, we are talking about very personal solutions.) Make sure you stock enough items to cover all your patients’ needs. Regularly monitor your vendors to know the new options available, as the field of incontinence is constantly evolving.
Offer Community Outreach
A big problem for many incontinence patients is a complete lack of awareness regarding their condition. Many incontinence patients go for long periods of time without being diagnosed. The average wait time between symptoms and getting a diagnosis for incontinence is over six years. Moreover, those patients are likely to address their conditions on their own, randomly buying various products and trying them out in hope of finding an viable solution.
This all comes from a lack of awareness that your business can easily fix. Engage in various types of community outreach to key communities that are likely to suffer from incontinence. While most incontinence sufferers aren’t going to line up for a free seminar, public service awareness campaigns using a mix of traditional and new media are a great way to reach those people to let them know that there is a helpful, discrete service provider offering solutions to their problems.
Educate Your Referrals
While incontinence is both a funded and a retail business, your referring physicians and other referral sources can drive a solid amount of business to a door. The key is to educate them in much the same way you educate your patients. The key issue is that many of them are not up-to-date on what’s available. This is your opportunity to set up an in-service or some other educational event in order demonstrate the range of solutions you offer, and establish yourself as an expert resource to whom they can direct their patients. Given that your referring physicians are in need of various treatments for their incontinence patients, but might not be aware of all the options available, they will appreciate having a product expert with whom they can collaborate in order to develop a complete solution for each of their patients.
Offer Discretion, Privacy and Dignity
Once incontinence clients are in your showroom, you need to ensure that you have the right “infrastructure” to properly care for them. Remember that many incontinence sufferers feel embarrassed and even stigmatized by their situation, so you want to provide service that can properly respond to that.
Ensure that the staff members that will be working with those patients are the same sex, educated when it comes to incontinence, and have a “bedside manner” that combines professionalism, maturity, respect and discretion, so that patients feel free to discuss their condition. Also, dedicate a completely enclosed, private are with toilet and washbasin that can let them not only discuss solutions, but also try them.
That discretion doesn’t just extend to consultation. If you ship or deliver incontinence items, consider packaging them in anonymous wrappings or boxes. If patients come to pick up items from your store, consider providing a private way they can pick up larger incontinence items, such as packages of diapers, in a discrete, careful fashion.
Work With Caregivers
At times, you will deal with family members, spouses, significant others, caregivers and other people who are working as a proxy for a patient. This is understandable, but it does create some degree of difficulty, because the go-between is not going to be able to answer questions with the same level of specificity that a patient can. When you are working with an intermediary, urge that person to encourage the patient to come in. Show them the various resources you have in place, and provide a business care for the staffer with whom the patient would normally consult. Better yet, provide a pamphlet that describes the lengths your business goes to in order to preserve the confidentiality, privacy and dignity of the patient while creating a space that fosters the kind of open dialog that will result in the patient getting the right solution.
Points to remember:
- While the population of incontinence sufferers is huge, they often go under-served because they are embarrassed about their condition.
- Create a private, discrete space that fosters open discussion with experienced, professional, and mature staff experts.
- Patients’ conditions and preferences can vary greatly, so stock a wide range of products.
- Market to clients via public service campaigns, and meet with referral partners so patients and physicians are aware of what you have to offer.
Learn more:
Check out the Urology Care Foundation (urologyhealth.org) and the National Association for Continence (nafc.org) for information that benefits patients, caregivers and health professionals.
This article originally appeared in the June 2017 issue of HME Business.