Medtrade preview: Dive into e-commerce – compliantly

By Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Updated 9:26 AM CST, Fri January 24, 2025
DALLAS – When it comes to launching an e-commerce site, Medtrade speaker Cassi Price sees a lot of hesitation from HME providers who don’t understand how they can do it compliantly.
Price, president of VGM Forbin, says she wants to pull back the curtain on best practices during her session, “Navigating Compliance in Ecommerce: A Roadmap for Online Retail Success in the Healthcare Industry,” which she will co-present with Kelly Grahovac of the van Halem Group.
HME News: What would you say are areas of concern for providers when it comes to e-commerce and compliance?
Cassi Price: I think it's overwhelming once they start getting into securing PHI in an e-commerce format. They may be overwhelmed by the talk of multi-factor authentication or vulnerability scans or encryption or firewalls, which really are requirements even if you have any product requests or form submissions on your website. I think when they talk about payment gateways and the security of payment gateways, they also get a little nervous.
HME: What are some key points providers should have in mind as they build a compliant e-commerce website?
Price: They need to really think through whether they want to dive into any type of prescription uploads and insurance verification on their site. These are very possible in an e-commerce setting. It just depends on how you set it up and who your partners are and how much they understand about how to how to really run a health care e-commerce site. I also think that, in terms of your catalog management, there's a lot of automations you can set up to be tax compliant and be ADA compliant and be MAP compliant that I think people shy away from that really aren't as scary as they sound.
HME: What should a provider look for in an e-commerce partner?
Price: They should look for an e-commerce development partner that works regularly in their industry. We’ve come across situations where a provider is working with a development company that does specialize in e-commerce but really isn’t an expert in or doesn’t have access to experts in the HME space. So, they're not as aware of these HME industry standards and that could be a difficult position to be in.
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