15 December 2021
 Categories: , Blog

Medical supplies that you use on a daily or weekly basis are a big part of your healthy lifestyle and are essential for maintaining your health and well-being. So be sure you take some important steps when you order, manage, and use them. Here are some tips that you can use to help you do so.

Keep a List of Your Supply Needs

When you are ordering supplies of various types for your medical needs, it can be difficult to keep track of all of the different brands and names along with product item numbers so you can easily reorder them when you need them. This goes for items you order on a regular basis and not-so-regular basis. When you have a written list of items you order for your medical needs, then you can always refer to it whenever you are at your doctor's office. For example, you can request a new refill or a reorder or you need to go online to purchase new supplies on your own. 

Write down all your supplies and the specifics of each, and how often you use them or need to reorder them. For example, if you use a specific type of adhesive dressing to cover your glucose sensor for managing your diabetes, make sure you write down the size and if it is a nonporous or porous covering. Then, if you reorder glucose test strips, make sure you have the brand that you require for your glucose test meter. There are many different brands of test strips, and some meters are not interchangeable with different types of strips, so it is good to have this information written down.

Store Your Supplies

When you get your medical supplies delivered to you, make sure that you remove them from their shipping box so you can store them properly. Be mindful if your supplies require specific storage, such as in a cool area away from any heat and out of direct sunlight, or in the refrigerator; you want to place them there as soon as possible. Keep your medical supplies stored in a waterproof container, such as a plastic bin with a lid, which will protect them from moisture damage. Then, keep them accessible for you to easily grab when needed. You don't want to store them at the top of a closet shelf or in the crawl space under the stairs, especially if you need to switch out the site on your insulin pump in the middle of the night, for example.

Take care that you also rotate your supplies so that any new supplies you receive, you place behind any older supplies. Many medical supplies have an expiration date, and you don't want to lose out on using them if they get too old for use.

Keep these tips in mind when ordering medical supplies from a service near you.