Navigating the OTC Podiatry Market: Strategies for Effective Product Dispensing

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Hey everybody, it's Dr. Nicole Freels here. Today we're going to talk about navigating the OTC market, looking for efficient ways to dispense OTC without cannibalizing other services that you're doing.
 
So what are the biggest challenges in navigating the OTC market and how can you overcome them? First things first—every patient is concerned about getting this on Amazon. The good news is there's so many products on there. They've completely flooded the market. So patients are confused. They don't really know what product to select so that's why they're coming to us.
 
Whatever they have tried is not working. I have a lot of patients that say “Hey, I already have an over-the-counter insert” and my response is “Well, you're sitting here. Is it working for you? Apparently not.” Use that opportunity to educate them on why this product that we have selected and vetted is best for their condition.
 
Education is key. One thing we want to avoid is being salesy. You have to be very careful of coming off that way. We offer a lot of products in our office. We need to get the buy-in from the patient. So the biggest thing that we do is offer them education. Talk about what's going on and how this particular product will help them for their condition. So if we're not doing that piece of critical information, the patient doesn't understand and it just comes off just trying to get them to buy things and not understanding the why. I always find even when I'm purchasing things, if I don't understand the why, why do I need this? Then I'm probably going to pass on it.
 
Also be very mindful of how many times you are promoting products and in what areas. We have a Scandinavian design style in our office, so we're very intent on where we put particular products. We do have a display in our reception. However, we don't have these products on our slideshow. We once did, but we thought that this may be too aggressive, too salesy, so we removed all of that. Truly, we went back to our roots, why do people choose and select the things that they want? It's because they understand what the product is and how it can benefit them.
 
How has the OTC market changed since I started practicing 16 years ago? Big time. Everyone is educated. Google, WebMD, all of those platforms have really exploded over the past 15 years. So patients have a really good idea of what they have going on. They've already tried different products that have not worked for them. Education and the ability to use ChatGPT and all the AI platforms out there to help self-diagnose has completely changed the landscape of healthcare. Another thing that's also changed over the past 16 years is patients are willing to pay out of pocket. Everyone is now becoming aware of insurance and their ways to stop paying and how they're able to mitigate paying claims and putting the onus on the patient.
 
Finally in the past few years patients are understanding that insurance is not their friend. Insurance has not been a doctor's friend for many years so that is one thing that has been helpful is that they understand more that they're gonna have to purchase this stuff if they want to get better otherwise insurance just says hey you know takes more time. Well, patients don't have time. Everybody's working, everybody's busy. So they're willing to add these OTC items into their treatment plan because they understand, because we've educated them on how it's going to help them and they are more than willing to spend money on this because more than likely they've already spent money on Amazon and it's not working.
 
So they are at this point truly desperate and they are ready to make that commitment financially on what can they use at home to help them get better. One thing that Amazon has done for us, which is actually pretty good, it has created mass patient confusion. So they have tried maybe two, three treatments for nail fungus and they don't understand that not all products are built the same. Marketing is manipulation. So they have fallen into this purchasing a particular item based on what they have been sold. They're coming into our office looking for other alternatives because what they purchased on Amazon just didn't work for them. That's why they're in our office for us to help them.
 
How can you improve your outcomes from product dispensing? This is a big one, and this is an easy one. Anything we're doing OTC is only gonna enhance pain reduction, facilitate faster healing, and if it's cosmetic, well, their insurance likely isn't paying for it anyway. You know, for example, if you write for urea 42% to the pharmacy, that's likely going to end up as a $75 fee for the patient. However, you can offer it in your office at $35 for the same exact percentage of urea. Sometimes I'll tell the patient, “Hey, you need this.” If they're insistent on getting this through their insurance, I give them the caveat, I'll write the prescription. Listen, if it's more than $35, leave that at the pharmacy and just pop in the office at your convenience to grab something that's much more financially reasonable.
 
Also, offering payment plans. The economy's up and down right now, so we offer robust payment plans, but not on OTC items. So if they are signing up for a payment plan for DME, they'll probably have a little extra funds left over to purchase OTC. And using all of these items in tandem with each other is really how we get our patients better the fastest way possible. That is my goal in the office. I don't have time to be injured. I don't have time to lay around. Nobody does. So understanding this and educating them on how these different products will enhance and reduce their healing time. Patients are fine with that.
 
Again, it's all about education. So don't forget that critical part. I have found that is the biggest factor in creating patient product conversion and sales is education.
 
Alright guys, I'll see you next time. Thanks for watching.