Due to declining reimbursement, healthcare providers are pursuing opportunities to generate ancillary revenue. In-office retailing and dispensing has been an option that comes with significant challenges. Welcome to EBM Medical®, the industry’s first virtual concierge medical company.
EBM Medical offers an innovative solution for HCP’s to retail cash-only products and services without the complexity or pressure of selling through the office.
Simply put, EBM Medical creates the balance between patient accessibility and affordability for non-covered therapies while providing the option to build revenue for your practice:
Patient access and affordability
No in-office processing
No inventory management
Zero investment
Retail price flexibility
“Real-time” profit reconciliation
Dedicated patient refill management
There are 3 primary ways to work with us. EBM Medical only represents non-covered products and services available exclusively through healthcare providers. Each model offers patient savings comparable to market options and shipping is always FREE.
1. Virtual Concierge Model
100% Turnkey System
Provider sends EBM Medical the prescription.
EBM Medical contacts patient and collects payment. HCP revenues are generated in real-time.
Product is delivered to patient.
2. In-Office Retail
Dispense from office
Purchase bulk inventory and sell the first order directly from your office with the option to have EBM Medical manage all refills to maximize continuity of care. Bulk pricing discounts are available with this option.
3. Patient Direct
Lowest-cost option
Bypass the business opportunity and offer your patients the greatest savings. Simply send EBM Medical the order/ prescription. EBM Medical will contact the patient, facilitate the transaction, and ship the product.
Patient Benefits
High quality and affordable products
Guaranteed pricing
Flexible payment options
Free shipping
First-class patient services
Product Portfolio
EBM Medical utilizes USP grade active pharmaceutical ingredients, supported by evidence-based medicine, to address metabolic deficiencies for acute and chronic conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is EBM Medical?
EBM Medical is a transactional software company that, through its proprietary software, assists providers in managing the supply chain, distribution, and sale of certain medical products and therapies not covered by public or private insurance programs.
What is EBM Medical’s business model?
EBM Medical operates a service model that automates supply chain, patient management, provider pricing procedures, fulfillment, patient refill continuity, payment processing, inventory management, clinical control, and financial reconciliation for the provider. Under all service models offered, EBM Medical acts as the supply chain administrator for the products, provides point-of-sale and data- entry services, acts as the call center for patients, and collects and processes patients’ payments to providers for products sold through the EBM software platform. EBM Medical reports provider earnings from the sales and issues a year-end 1099 statement to the provider for tax purposes.
What is EBM Medical’s proprietary software platform?
ETHIC®, EBM’s proprietary software platform, is a turnkey virtual concierge medicine, fulfillment service, and medical transaction clearing house. EBM offers the provider the opportunity to leverage EBM’s proprietary virtual dispense platform to streamline concierge medicine operational efficiencies, improve access to non-covered products and therapies, and focus on improving clinical outcomes without conflicts of business interest.
How do providers benefit from EBM Medical’s services?
EBM Medical’s software platform eliminates the need for providers to manage inventory, revenue-cycle, payment issues, patient refills, and shipping logistics, to monitor beyond-use dating, and to spend resources on marketing displays or other marketing initiatives within the office or clinic setting.
Can products available through EBM Medical’s software platform be purchased “over the counter” or without a legal prescription or doctor’s order?
No. Providers have the option to sell products through EBM Medical’s software platform only with a valid prescription. Consistent with the standard of practice and professional ethics, providers shall only prescribe and/or sell products which the providers deem, in their sole medical judgment, to be medically necessary and in the best interests of the patient. Providers are solely responsible for the professional medical advice and treatment rendered to their patients.
How does EBM Medical’s business model help protect against the perception of patient exploitation?
Under EBM Medical’s business model, there are safeguards in place through EBM Medical’s software platform that prevent providers from setting a patient’s price higher than the price of the nearest competitive product in its respective class. EBM Medical strives to ensure providers are utilizing the ETHIC® platform with the intention of prescribing or ordering treatments and therapies that are in the best interest of the patient. Providers using EBM Medical’s platform represent and warrant that they price products consistent with fair market value. Providers are responsible for setting the parameters for, and informing patients of, any applicable product return or exchange policies. For products priced above cost to the providers, providers are required provide disclosures as required by applicable law, and the retail price is intended to be equal or less expensive than market alternatives.
Does EBM Medical accept payment from private or government insurance plans?
No. EBM Medical serves as a financial clearinghouse to improve access to non-covered products and works only with cash-only pharmacies. The products sold through EBM Medical’s proprietary software platform are sold on a “cash only” basis and are not covered, paid, or reimbursed by any by any federal, state, military, or private insurance. The services provided by EBM Medical are intended to support the provider’s ability to provide cash-only products and are not intended for use in connection with products covered by any federal or state medical programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, or any comparable program or by any federal, state, military, or private insurance.
What price do patients pay for products sold through EBM Medical’s software platform?
Products sold through EBM Medical’s software platform are sale transactions between the provider and the patient, and the patient pays to the provider the retail price set by the provider. EBM Medical’s services do not include product pricing. The provider, not EBM Medical, is solely responsible for the pricing of products which the provider sells to patients and the decision as to whether the provider will derive addition revenue by setting the retail price above the wholesale price. EBM Medical does not induce or incentivize the provider to adopt any particular business model or price. EBM’s revenues, which are based on EBM’s wholesale price to the provider, are not impacted by the business model or retail price chosen by the provider. The wholesale price which the provider owes EBM remains the same regardless of the retail price the provider sells to patients.
What payments does EBM Medical make to providers?
None. EBM Medical does not make payments to providers. The only payments made for any transaction through EBM Medical’s proprietary software platform are (1) the payment from the provider to EBM Medical for the wholesale cost of the product along with any associated transaction costs such as virtual inventory, shipping and credit card fees associated with the transaction, and (2) the payment from the patient to the provider for the retail sale price of the product set by the provider.
Does EBM Medical offer any offer rebates, commissions, bonuses or incentive payments to providers?
No. EBM Medical does not offer rebates, commissions, bonuses, split-fee arrangements, or any other type of inventive payments to providers. Providers are obligated to pay EBM Medical for the wholesale cost of the products sold by EBM Medical to providers, and providers are the owner of the proceeds from their sales to patients.
IS EBM Medical a pharmacy or does it have any ownership interest in a pharmacy?
No. EBM Medical is not a pharmacy and does not hold an ownership interest in the pharmacies with whom it contracts for products and therapies offered through its software platform. EBM serves as a financial clearinghouse for participating cash-only pharmacies. EBM eliminates the need for manual reconciliation of each prescription and the need for the pharmacy to invoice healthcare providers for each prescription.
Does EBM Medical or any of its affiliates market directly to patients?
No. EBM Medical keeps all patient and provider information for the sole purpose of servicing the provider and patients. EBM Medical and its affiliates do not share patient or provider information to any entity for any purpose, except as may be required by law.
Who is responsible for any potential adverse effects of sold through EBM Medical’s software platform?
Prescribing medicines through EBM Medical’s proprietary software platform should not be treated differently from traditional methods of prescribing medicines. While EBM Medical researches and tracks reported adverse or quality related events regardless of manufacturer, pharmacy, or laboratory, EBM Medical is not a product manufacture and does not control product quality. All participating suppliers and pharmacies maintain appropriate levels of liability insurance.
Why is EBM Medical’s business model not implicated by Anti-Kickback Statutes or Stark Laws?
The Anti-Kickback Statute [42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)] prohibits the knowing and willful payment of “remuneration” to induce or reward patient referrals or the generation of business involving any item or service payable by the Federal health care programs (e.g., drugs, supplies, or health care services for Medicare or Medicaid patients). Similarly, the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly referred to as the Stark law [42 U.S.C. § 1395nn], prohibits physicians from referring patients to receive “designated health services” payable by Medicare or Medicaid from entities with which the physician or an immediate family member has a financial relationship, unless an exception applies. In both instances, the application of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law is predicated on a health service that is covered and reimbursed by a federal health care program. Because the products available through EBM Medical’s proprietary software platform are not covered by federal healthcare program and EBM Medical does not receive any payments from federal healthcare programs, EBM Medical’s business model does not implicate federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws, as EBM Medical does not provide services to Federal program patients. All products and therapies available using EBM Medical’s software platform are “cash-only.” EBM Medical takes proactive steps to ensure that every product offered through the EBM Medical software platform is not reimbursed, and cannot be reimbursed, by any federal, state, military, or private insurance. An additional reason EBM Medical’s business model is not implicated by Anti-Kickback Statutes or Stark Laws is because EBM Medical does not make any payment of “remuneration” to induce or reward patient referrals. EBM Medical sells products to providers at a wholesale price, and those providers independently decide to resale those products to patients at a retail price which the provider, not EBM Medical, sets. EBM Medical does not offer any rebates, payments, commissions, bonuses, or split-fee arrangements to providers, patients, pharmacies, or suppliers to utilize EBM Medical’s software platform or otherwise to induce or reward patient referrals.
What prevents providers from abusing EBM Medical’s business model?
EBM Medical works to ensure providers are using the ETHIC® platform with the intention of prescribing or ordering treatments and therapies that are in the best interests of the patient. EBM prohibits the use of EBM’s services to be used solely for advancement of building revenue for the provider. Because EBM is a legitimate software transaction company that offers a platform to providers to increase patient access for cash-only products, EBM Medical’s business model is distinguishable from non-compliant arrangements that implicate the Stark Law and the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.