If your state of health involves the ongoing need for medical supplies, you know what a burden it is on your budget. Whether you require urological supplies like intermittent catheters, or denture supplies, or even drain bags and holders, going without isn’t an option, but the continual hit to your back account can be unbearable at times.
If this description hits close to home, we’ve put together a quick guide to cutting your medical supply costs to help you out:
- Don’t be shy about asking for free medical supply samples.
Almost every medical supplier is happy to send you free medical supply samples. If you like their product and give them your business, they stand to gain far more than the cost of the free medical supply samples. What this means to you is, when times are lean, you might be able to get yourself some breathing room by requesting free medical supply samples rather than paying for it out of pocket.
This is also a great practice if you are just trying to choose the right medical supplier. By testing out the free samples, you can get a gauge on the quality of the supplies as well as the speediness of processing and delivery and how customer-centric the supplier is. This is all information that will make or break your medical supply experience. - If appropriate, consider reconditioned supplies.
We understand that there are many situations where this isn’t appropriate. If you need urology supplies, scroll on past to the next suggestion. You can’t reuse many medical supplies that you cannot reuse.However, many of the biggest ticket medical supplies and equipment can be reused, and you could save yourself hundreds on it. If what you need is a CPAP breathing machine or an electric wheelchair, you might want to look into reconditioned models.
Many people tell us they’re hesitant to invest in a used piece of medical equipment because they are concerned that they’ll be compromising quality, and it’s just not worth the savings when we’re talking about equipment your life depends on. However, if you use a an authorized dealer of a well-trusted brand of medical equipment, this is actually a way to improve quality and lower the price. When a piece of medical equipment is reconditioned by an authorized repair service, it is inspected with a fine-tooth comb. No ‘T’ is uncrossed and no ‘I’ is undotted. It doesn’t receive this level of attention when it is brand new off the assembly line. - Do some research.
In the days of old, people were fairly limited by the providers they could use for medical supplies. You had to find a brick-and-mortar shop in your area, or one that would deliver to you. You could price shop to the extent of what was available to you.
Now, in the era of Amazon Prime, the world is at your fingertips. Without leaving your couch, you can price shop and buy the cheapest toilet paper in the world, and have it delivered to your doorstep within 48 hours. The same concept applies to medical supply shopping. Do some research. Don’t accept the first quote you find. Don’t accept the first five quotes you find. Shop around and get a good grasp of what cost you’re facing.
We should add though, you shouldn’t let price be your only decision maker. If one medical supplier is substantially less than everyone else, there is likely a reason for it. They aren’t a charity; they are cutting costs somewhere and it might not be in a way that you want to take your chances on.
Before using a cut-rate medical supplier, make sure to read up on reviews from other clients. You might not find any suppliers without a single negative review, but if you see the same complaint over and over, you might want to steer clear of them. - Good customer service is a kind of value.
It’s easy to think of value only in terms of dollar signs. However, getting your medical supplies from a company who values their customers and their satisfaction can save you a world of trouble (and money) down the road! Talk to the customer service and get an idea of what you’re dealing with before you commit yourself to a provider.
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