Walk into any one of the three perkins medical Supply stores in Florida and you are practically guaranteed a cheery hello from a friendly staff person. “Our customer service is without comparison and it is always hands-on,” says Alexis D. Lopez, a marketing representative who has been with the company for 2 years.

He knows what he is talking about. In the two decades since pharmacist Louis Perkins started the company, it has never wavered from its “hometown” attitude and commitment to customer service. Despite its growth—last year it served more than 5,000 patients in Indian River, St Lucie, Okeechobee, Martin, and Palm Beach counties and grossed $4 million—customers who walk into one of its stores still feel like they are being cared for by one of the family, the company reports.

“Perkins Medical Supply has been here so long that the people who live here just know us,” says general manager James Timmerman, who has been in the HME industry for 13 years and with Perkins for 5. “Our high level of client satisfaction and sales has a lot to do with our location in Vero Beach, because this is a hometown community. We are a trusted and well-known name, and our customers get the security of knowing that they will get the highest quality products and services possible from us.”

However, just because it has a strong community bond does not mean that Perkins is content to rest on its laurels. The company makes a conscious effort to maintain the good relationship it has worked so hard to establish over the decades by consistently offering caring service and a selection of products that outstrips those of the competition in both variety and quality.

“Regardless of our consistent business base, we constantly strive to provide the greatest selection and value in products, supplies, and services to assist in improving quality of life for our customers,” Timmerman says.

That full-service approach applies to each of Perkins’ locations, which are all within a 5-mile radius of one another. Perkins Medical Supply West, the first store opened by the founder, moved from its original location in a small storefront to an 11,000-square-foot building in Vero Beach in 2001. Perkins Medical Supply East is housed in an 8,000-square-foot building that was built by the founder in 1993 in another part of Vero Beach. A third location opened in the nearby community of Sebastian in 1996.

Each store is designed to be a one-stop shop with a full line of HME products including disposables, mastectomy products, oxygen concentrators, beds, walkers, canes, wheelchairs, scooters, and power chairs. Perkins also has a full uniform department for professionals in the health care industry.

“When customers walk into one of our stores, right away they realize we have a different feel from other HME businesses,” Lopez says. “It is like walking into the Macy’s of HME: Perkins stores are big, bright, and clean, and there are aisles and aisles of disposables and DME to look at.”

Staffing and Standards of Care
According to Timmerman, “Service from trained professionals is a promise” at Perkins. The 40-member staff includes two full-time respiratory therapists and approximately eight certified orthotics, mastectomy, and vascular fitters, and the company offers custom rehabilitation work, such as seating and positioning, and custom pediatric wheelchairs, as well as service on all of its mobility products.

“We have a [rehabilitation technology supplier] who goes out and does a home assessment [to determine] the needs of the patient, and anything we cannot do we contract out,” Timmerman says.

No matter whether customers are served in the store or at their homes, Lopez says quality customer service is high on Perkins’ agenda.

“We approach everyone who walks in the door,” he says. “Our policy is to ask everyone who comes in if we can help, and all of our salespeople are cross-trained in several areas, though some do specialize in compression garments or rehabilitation products or mastectomy products.”

Because its locations are in a popular retirement area, Perkins serves a largely senior clientele. Lopez estimates that 60% to 80% of the company’s customers are seniors.

To help make things most convenient for these customers, Perkins provides free delivery of all its items. In fact, Lopez estimates that 60% of its sales are home delivered.

The company accepts all insurance plans, and files for reimbursement for its clients, 50% of whom are covered by Medicare and 30% of whom are insured by private companies. The remaining 20% of business is in cash sales.

“Our walk-in cash sale business is a huge success for us,” Timmerman says.

Perkins links its three locations with a mainframe computer to keep track of all types of sales, and all customer information, including equipment details and insurance information, is accessible at any location.

“Almost everyone is tracked, except perhaps someone who comes in to buy Band-Aids,” Lopez says. “In the case of certain patients who require follow-ups, like those on continuous positive airway pressure therapy or those who need compression stockings, we put them into a special follow-up system.”

To keep employees up-to-date in the HME field, Perkins offers a range of in-house training sessions, sends staff to local and state trade association shows, and takes advantage of the offerings of the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services (FAMES).

“Over the years, FAMES has provided a lot of support to us in many realms, including staff education,” Timmerman says. “We work quite closely with [the FAMES staff], and they offer training and support. We can always contact them with questions and if they don’t know the answer, they will research it for us. We have been members for the last 9 years, and they have been really strong supporters the whole time.”

In turn, Perkins lends support to the surrounding community. The company is involved with the Council on Aging, and does special events in concert with a local hospice that Perkins has a service contract with. Activities range from health fairs to special awareness seminars.

“The hospice and other local health care providers regularly call on us to participate in these events,” Lopez says. “When we participate, we also share in the marketing costs, advertising, and helping out with literature.”

Aside from special events, Perkins does little marketing of its services and products. Timmerman explains that the company’s two decades in Vero Beach has created a built-in clientele that makes advertising unnecessary.

“We do have competition, but we are so well-known that we do not consider it as such,” Timmerman says. “In fact, we don’t even have to rely on referrals; our customers just seem to come to us.”

The company also bucks an HME trend by not belonging to a buying group, relying solely on a dedicated purchasing person to do the sourcing, pricing, and ordering of all merchandise.

“In terms of buying from the manufacturers, our idea was that we never wanted to be tied to any agreements with anyone,” Lopez says. “We wanted the flexibility of making our own day-to-day decisions without any political pressure. We have a dedicated purchasing person who makes sure we have the kind of items we need, and that system works well for us. Though we might be a few dollars higher on some items than our competition, our quality speaks for itself. We don’t buy junk.”

A Standard of Excellence
The fact that Perkins has a high standard of excellence in all realms of business is not just talk—in August of last year, the company proved its commitment when it finished its third Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) survey with a score of 97 out of 100.

“In the good old days, before we all had to be politically correct, we called that accreditation with commendation,” Timmerman says. “We are ecstatic and very proud of the JCAHO results. These types of achievements don’t come without a lot of hard work and sacrifice.”

Timmerman credits the cooperation and communication among all of Perkins’ staff members as the reason why it did so well on the recent survey.

“Everyone plays a valuable role in keeping up high standards at Perkins,” he says. “Our staff members here have a feeling of pride to work in an accredited corporation that can make great improvements in so many people’s lives.”

From a personal standpoint, Timmerman found it so satisfying to help people that the part-time job he had when he started out in the industry while still a college student has become his life’s work.

“I think we are really lucky, because Perkins is not like any place I’ve ever been,” he says. “The national companies cannot do what we can do for our clients, because we have a great degree of flexibility with today’s growing trend toward cost-effective health care. In our 25 years in this area, the demand for our services has never been greater.”

Elizabeth Finch is a contributing writer for Dealer/Provider.