SM06: Growing High-margin Respiratory Business Through Clinical Management of Low-margin Respiratory Business

The customer experience in a retail DME setting often hinges on one thing: the knowledge, confidence, and communication skills of the floor staff. In many retail DME businesses, however, product expertise and sales training are limited, leading to missed revenue opportunities and lower customer satisfaction. This session is designed to help DME owners and managers implement practical, high-impact sales training for their in-store teams—without requiring a large investment or major operational changes.

Led by a seasoned sales director, this session will walk through a proven training framework that teaches reps how to engage with customers, ask the right questions, and connect them to the right solutions. The focus will be on real-world scenarios in DME settings, where reps need to translate medical product knowledge into approachable, helpful conversations that build trust and drive conversions.

This talk is not about promoting any one company or brand—it’s about sharing techniques that any DME can implement immediately. To reinforce this, the session will conclude with two guest speakers from other DME businesses who have adopted similar in-house training models. They’ll share how ongoing education and a structured sales approach have led to stronger customer relationships, increased revenue, and more confident staff.

Whether you're running one location or several, this session will provide actionable tools to elevate your team and improve results on the floor.

As sleep-disordered breathing continues to affect millions of Americans, the traditional referral pipeline—from specialist to therapy—faces serious bottlenecks. With sleep physicians operating at full capacity and newer CPAP alternatives increasingly entering the market through primary care pathways, HMEs (Home Medical Equipment providers) must evolve their outreach strategy.

This session will explore how HMEs can grow sustainable referral pipelines by engaging primary care providers (PCPs) alongside traditional sleep specialists. We’ll examine the opportunity to integrate Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities (IDTFs) into this workflow to streamline diagnostics and improve turnaround times. Attendees will learn practical approaches for collaborating with PCPs, navigating diagnostics, and ultimately improving patient access, adherence, and satisfaction in sleep therapy.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand Market Shifts Identify the changing landscape of sleep referrals, including the strain on sleep specialists and the rising influence of PCPs in initiating sleep diagnostics and therapy.
2. Engage New Referral Channels Learn actionable strategies to educate and equip PCPs to recognize sleep-disordered breathing and refer patients for diagnostic testing and therapy.
3. Leverage IDTF Partnerships Discover how partnering with Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities can streamline the diagnostic process, reduce patient wait times, and increase therapy conversion rates.
4. Optimize the Patient Journey Explore how a simplified, integrated referral and testing pathway enhances the patient experience, from symptom recognition to therapy initiation.
5. Future-Proof HME Operations Gain insights on building scalable, diversified referral networks that align with emerging care models and technology-enabled diagnostics.

In today’s digital landscape, accessibility is not just a legal requirement, it’s a competitive advantage. Join us for an interactive workshop with our partner, accessiBe, designed to help HME businesses identify accessibility gaps on their websites and understand what to improve first.

The session includes a video demonstration led by Josh Basile, Esq., Community Relations Manager at accessiBe, who navigates the web using assistive technology and accessibility features firsthand. Josh was recognized on the inaugural Forbes Accessibility 100, highlighting leaders advancing digital accessibility. His perspective helps illustrate how common website barriers affect real users.

Building on that insight, attendees will participate in a guided workshop using a practical site audit and prioritization framework. Participants will leave with clear next steps, a better understanding of where their website falls short, and a roadmap for improving usability, trust, and accessibility over time.