For durable medical equipment, customers should turn to Family Medical Supply, which opened in 2019.
“We carry a little bit of everything, from pediatric to adults,” co-owner and CEO Cecelia Blackmon said.
The store carries everything from walkers and wheelchairs to CPAP and CPAP supplies, from wound care, incontinence and urology items to bath-safety products and compression socks.
Blackmon loves helping customers. “Making sure the patient has what they need is our mission,” she said.
And Blackmon, whose mother and stepfather have worked in DME for 35 years, has lots of experience. “I’ve been in this business all my life,” she said.
Best of all, Family Medical Supply is “strictly retail,” Blackmon said. “We don’t accept insurance up front.” However, they do help patients fill out paperwork so they can get reimbursed, she said.
At Family Medical, patients don’t need prescriptions, and they don’t have to schedule appointments, wait for office notes or deal with red tape, she said.
“With each item insurance pays for, it requires five to 10 pieces of documentation,” she said. “We don’t have to wait on that. If you want it, you can walk in and get it."
In 2021, Family Medical Supply may open another location. In addition, Blackmon would like to add a patient advocacy service and use her experience to help patients get insurance approvals and avoid being overcharged.