February 2019

Welcome

Greetings from ActivStyle! The whole team at ActivStyle is honored and excited to work with you. We appreciate that you trust your clients’ medical supply needs to us. We are here to help you and your clients as a full-service provider of high-quality, medical grade supplies for at-home use. We offer a wide variety of products including diapers, protective underwear, bladder control products, catheters, ostomy supplies, nutritional supplements, and more for adults and children. Remember, we are here to make your and your client’s lives easier when it comes to getting the medical supplies they need.

 

Product News

Bladder Control Pads or Booster Pads: What’s the Best Choice?

Everyone experiences incontinence a little differently. Choosing the right incontinence product is vital to managing incontinence and living life more comfortably. We get thousands of calls from our customers every month and one recent call really drove home the importance of using the right product, or combination of products, to meet the needs of the customer. 

The customer called to tell us that their diaper was leaking at night. We care about our customers and want them have the very best experience with the products that we provide to them. Our representative asked the usual questions to understand why the customer was experiencing leaks at night. The representative queried, “Have you gained or lost weight?” An improperly sized diaper could cause leaking. The customer said, “No.” The representative asked, “Was the diaper applied too tight or too loose?” Which can also cause leaking. The customer also responded, “No.” But then she added that she needed a little more absorbency during the night so she had added a bladder control pad inside the diaper for added protection. Thanks to that information, we’d discovered the reason for the leaking… the bladder control pad that was inserted into the diaper.

Bladder control pads are absorbent pads that have a plastic backing. They secure inside regular underwear with adhesive strips and have absorbent cores to capture urine leakage or accidents. The plastic backing is there to keep the user’s clothing dry and to contain liquid within the absorbent core of the pad.

In our customers example, once the absorbent core was saturated with urine, the plastic backing of the pad prevented the urine from flowing through to the diaper, forcing the urine out through the leg holes of the diaper.

What our customer needed for additional night-time absorbency was a booster pad. As the name implies, they “boost” absorbency by providing an extra layer of protection. Also called diaper inserts or “diaper doublers”, booster pads are worn inside another absorbent undergarment to increase the absorbency, which provides an extra layer of protection. They do not have a waterproof backing, so urine is absorbed by the booster pad and any excess liquid flows through to the underlying diaper. Some booster pads have adhesive backing to hold the pad securely in place. If one booster pad is not enough, you can “double up” or stack one on top of another to provide a double layer of extra protection. Booster pads are always worn inside another absorbent product like a diaper or pull-up. Booster pads may be used by women or men.

The above example is a good reminder that using the right product makes a world of difference. There are a host of great incontinence products available to help manage incontinence, but the key to living confidently and comfortably with incontinence is to use the right product. That’s where ActivStyle’s trained Product Experts are a great resource. Once we understand how a customer experiences incontinence, we can recommend the best products to address their personal needs for great results.

If you have questions about ActivStyle’s products or services, our staff is ready to help when you call 855-373-5141, Monday thru Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Central Time.

 

Getting Started with ActivStyle

What is the Process for Signing Up for Medical Supplies with ActivStyle?

Thank you for referring your clients to ActivStyle. We really appreciate the client referrals and hope that you and your client appreciate the ease and convenience of ActivStyle’s home delivery of medical supplies. A referral puts in motion several important steps to ensure the timely delivery of medical supplies to a client. We thought that you might like to learn what goes on after you submit a referral. Below we explain the ActivStyle process in four easy steps.

Step 1: We collect personal information

To get started, we need to collect a little basic information about the client to complete the order.

Personal information – This includes the client’s name, phone number, address, and email. We need this information to contact the client and send them supplies.

Medical condition/diagnosis – We need to know what medical condition the client has and, for example, how they experience incontinence. This information will allow our Product Experts to recommend the right products to meet the client’s needs.

Doctor’s information – We need to collect the doctor’s name and phone number. We use this to secure a prescription for the medical supplies and complete other required paperwork. 

Insurance information – We need to know all the client’s current insurance plans and member/policy IDs. This is required to verify coverage.

Step 2: We verify insurance

After we have collected the personal information, our Insurance Verification Team will verify insurance with the client’s insurance company.

During this step we will:

• Check that the insurance is valid and active.
• Check that the supplies requested are covered by insurance.
• Complete the required insurance paperwork.

Step 3: We secure a prescription and medical Information from your doctor

After insurance verification, our Document Management Team we will contact the client’s doctor for a prescription and any required medical information. This step usually takes longer than other steps for a variety of reasons:

• Doctors are busy professionals and it sometimes takes a while for them to answer our request for paperwork.
• If the client has not been to their doctor in a while, the doctor may need to see them before he or she will provide ActivStyle with a prescription.
• An error may require the paperwork to be redone. Insurance plans have strict guidelines for completing paperwork and if it is not completed properly, we may have to go back to the doctor for a correction.

What can the client do to help make this step go faster?

• The client can visit their doctor before signing up for services with ActivStyle.
• The client can let the doctor know that they are requesting supplies from ActivStyle.
• The client can ask the doctor to assist ActivStyle in the process by completing requested information as quickly as possible.

Step 4: We ship the order

Once Steps 1 through 3 are complete, we will be ready to ship the order to the client. In this final step, an ActivStyle Product Expert will make one last call to the client to verify that they still need the supplies and that they authorize us to ship them.

Reordering Supplies is Simple with ActivStyle

Reordering supplies from ActivStyle is easy each month. Depending on preference, clients can confirm their order via a personal phone call from a representative, automated phone call, or email. With either of these modes, we’ll ask a few required questions and if the client signifies that they still need supplies and authorize shipment we’ll ship the order to them.

That’s the ActivStyle process. Once a client is signed up they will enjoy easy, discreet, and convenient shipments of medical supplies directly to their home.

You can always contact the ActivStyle staff with questions by calling 855-373-5141, Monday thru Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Central Time.

 

FAQs

Q: How do I know if insurance will cover the incontinence supplies that my client needs?

A: When it comes to incontinence supplies, the good news is that many Medicaid and Medicaid HMOs will cover incontinence supplies. However, Medicare and most commercial insurances do NOT cover these items at all. In order to determine if your client’s insurance will cover supplies, they must call the number on the back of their insurance card and ask if the supplies they want are covered.

Q: Does my client need a prescription to get medical supplies covered?

A: Yes. Medicaid and Medicaid HMOs will only cover the products if a physician deems them to be medically necessary. A physician who writes a prescription for the supplies deems them to be medically necessary. Some HMOs require the physician to obtain an authorization, or a referral, in lieu of a prescription.

We want to hear what FAQ topics you are interested in seeing! If you have questions or suggestions for future FAQs, please email us at .



If you have other questions for the ActivStyle staff, feel free to give us a call at 855-373-5141, Monday thru Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Central Time. We want to make your life easy, so you can provide the best service and information to those you serve.

 

Industry News

Watch for our booth if you are going to the Minnesota Social Service Association (MSSA) Conference & Expo, March 20-22 in Minneapolis, MN. We’ll be there with information on getting medical supplies from ActivStyle, how to refer clients to ActivStyle, and complete information on the supplies available from ActivStyle. We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Working with ActivStyle

Wouldn’t it be great if you spent less time mired in case-related paperwork and details and more time helping those who need you? ActivStyle is a full-service provider of high-quality, high-value home medical supplies serving thousands of practitioners and case managers across the United States. Our product expertise and knowledge of constantly changing state and federal regulations allow us to give you — and the clients who depend on you — the level of service you need and deserve.

Founded in 1997 in Minneapolis, MN, ActivStyle has grown to over 200 employees compassionately serving patients in 47 states with their medical supply needs. Specializing in incontinence, urological, and ostomy supplies, our trained Product Experts are available to discuss product options, insurance benefits, free delivery, or product samples. Feel free to call one of our Provider Services representatives toll-free at 855-373-5141, they’ll be happy to talk with you and answer any questions you may have about our products, services, or take a referral over the phone. You may also conveniently make client or patient referrals online.

At ActivStyle, we’re dedicated to making your life easier.