A Medical Supply Company Opens The Door To Growth

When Medical Direct Club's commercials air on TV, prospective customers get excited. "They want to sign up. But, of course, we have to get their signature on paper before we can start working with them," explains Jeff McDaniel, the company's marketing director.

Medical Direct Club delivers urological supplies directly to customers' homes – a huge convenience. But for Medicare or Medicaid to pay the company directly for the supplies, new customers must first complete an "assignment of benefits" form. And that's where things can get challenging.

"By the time they receive a letter or package … a week or so later, some of the luster of the service has gone," McDaniel says. People may forget they requested the information or they may set the paperwork aside to take care of later. In the past, only about half the forms made it back to the company – and those that did often took up to four weeks to be returned.