Discover How BIOLYTE Can Help Your Patients

Shannon Battle (00:05):

Alright, so hello everyone and welcome to this month’s edition of IPC’s Vendor Vantage Network. This is our monthly spotlight session and following along with our current focus on medical at home solutions. So today we’re going to talk a bit about a topic that it can seem simple, yet it can alleviate and even prevent a lot of major complications and issues with our patients. So today we’re going to talk a bit about hydration. I am Shannon Battle, I’m the pharmacy services manager here at Independent Pharmacy Cooperative, and I’m here today with Jalyn Rowlands, who is the CEO of Bili, one of our preferred vendors. Jalyn, thank you for joining me today. I, I’m looking forward to shedding some light on opportunities where all of our independent pharmacies can really step up and educate their patients. So for those who aren’t familiar with BIOLYTE, please tell us a bit about your part in Bio Light’s growth over the years and really the history here and what’s important to them.

Jesslyn Rollins (01:00):

Yeah, for sure. So first of all, Shannon, thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here and nerd out on Hydration for all the members and so thank you for the opportunity. Okay, so a little bit about me. So I am Bio CEO and I get the great privilege of getting to lead the vision of my family’s company. And the reason I got involved in BIOLYTE is, as I said, it’s my family’s company. So a few years ago my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and when she was going through her chemo treatments, she really struggled to stay on top of treatments because she was so dehydrated. They kept having to prolong treatment, blow out her veins. I mean, it was just a nightmare. And so my dad is a board certified anesthesiologist and pain specialist. He wanted to create a product that would bring the IV bag home to people just like my mom who needed that level of hydration anywhere and everywhere.

(02:16):

And so BIOLYTE is the very first IV in a bottle. What we did was we combined the science of IV hydration with the convenience of a sports drink to give you the most powerful rehydration product on the market. I step into the story when we actually needed to talk to people and sell BIOLYTE. So dad came up with the formulation. I was really the sales and marketing branch of our teeny tiny family business in those early years. I went and visited high school football teams testing it with their athletic departments and it just really took off. And what we were finding was that, I mean the products that were on the market, and it was the same story with mom. I mean, you had the standard sports drinks, she had the standard children’s rehydration products, but those products were not working. People were dealing with muscle cramps, people were dealing with fatigue issues, all those things. And so BIOLYTE really was an opportunity and a product that fit a need of somebody who was getting dehydrated on a regular basis.

Shannon Battle (03:42):

Yeah, absolutely. So the education on the product, what are we seeing as differences here for those of us or those who are drinking the standard electrolyte based products over the counter? What’s going to be the major differences that they’re going to see and really what are your recommendations here on using this?

Jesslyn Rollins (04:03):

Great question. Okay, so let’s talk about the formulation of BIOLYTE. So if you are not familiar with BIOLYTE, here is our ready to drink format and then here is our powder format. So when you’re talking about a standard sports drink, BIOLYTE has close to seven times the amount of electrolytes you’d find in a Gatorade or a Powerade. Literally the formulation of BIOLYTE comes from a standard IV bag, a D five, half lactated ringer, which means that we would match the sodium, the chloride, and the potassium that we’ve got in our cells that make everything work in our body. So the first real key differentiator is not just the amount of electrolytes that’s in BIOLYTE, which is a lot compared to what else is on the market, but it’s also that balance between the sodium, the chloride, and potassium. That really is our secret sauce because it makes everything in our body work.

(05:13):

The second piece with BIOLYTE is there are ingredients in BIOLYTE that help relieve discomforts of dehydration. So we’ve got ingredients like B three, B five, B six, B12, and dextrose, which help with boosting energy in the body naturally without spiking your blood sugar. And then you’ve also got ingredients that help the liver function at peak capacity. So if somebody is dehydrated and they are dealing with nausea and headaches and fatigue and memory issues, something along those lines, having a that is highly concentrated with electrolytes and ingredients that help prevent and help you recover from dehydration is really going to be the answer. And so if you’re looking at the other products on the market, I know that hydration is a big topic right now. So in comparison to a standard sports drink, you’re looking at seven times the amount of electrolytes in comparison to a standard other electrolyte powder. You’re looking at close to four times the amount of electrolytes you’d find in those types of products like an LMTA liquid iv, something like that. And then the other piece of it is the other ingredients that are in the product that help you recover and prevent dehydration.

Shannon Battle (06:52):

Yeah, absolutely. So we talk about different specific patient demographics that are maybe at high risk, and we can go over some of those here. But just what you’re saying with all the different elements added in the things, the symptoms that our stores are hearing from their patients, maybe they just came from the emergency room or maybe they’ve had a procedure done, this is something that they could use as an add-on sale just for that, not just for one of these particular high risk patients or ailments and things of that sort, but really it could be added in on a lot of different levels here.

Jesslyn Rollins (07:29):

So one of my favorite quotes that dad told me when he started the product was everybody is made up of saltwater. So in the early days in middle school science class, we learned that the human body is made up of 60% water

(07:53):

And dad has always said, yeah, that’s close, but you’re not quite right. It needs an asterisk that we are made up of 60% salt water. And it really varies depending on what organ you’re talking about in the body because the lungs are 89% saltwater, the head and the heart or your brain and your heart are 73% saltwater. And so those common ailments like the headaches, nausea, the fatigue that happens to so many people throughout the day, the first line of defense is making sure that you have optimal hydration levels. And that’s where this product comes in. We cater to a wide array of different patient profiles from somebody who is just trying to keep their hydration in good standing versus somebody that’s going through cold cough and flu or another acute illness to somebody that is going through cancer and needs to maintain proper hydration levels so that when they go in for their chemo treatments, their veins are plump and they can get their chemo and stay on top of their treatments, but mean you can really, because we are all made up of that 60% saltwater BIOLYTE is applicable to a ton of different patient profiles.

(09:29):

But the pharmacists that we work with are really recommending BIOLYTE when somebody’s got colon prep, if somebody’s got a GI illness, if somebody is going through cancer or has pots and has to maintain proper hydration levels. And then if somebody’s going to go and get lab work done. I just recently had my annual physical and I am so proud to say that my sodium, my chloride, my potassium are in exactly where they need to be. And it is because I drink one of these every day. So it’s an annoying answer, I get it. But hydration is so critical for making us feel good whether we’re healthy or we’re sick, but it’s a huge opportunity for these pharmacies to really offer their patients such a great add-on to make sure that they feel their best, whether they are healthy or whether they are sick.

Shannon Battle (10:34):

Right. And that’s a huge thing right now is really changing the mindset in the healthcare industry. If you’re running a pharmacy, you can no longer make your money just on drug reimbursement. You have to have the add-on sales. You have to really offer a complete picture of health to your patients. And being able to know what those symptoms are and what the different ailments are and all the support that they have in products like VII is really going to help keep them alive as well. That full picture, not just for the pharmacists, but for the technicians and staff as well, and those little conversations that they have really getting to know their patients. So as far as community efforts, I see a lot of stories on lights pages and a lot of testimonials and things like that. What type of community efforts are you seeing that pharmacies or healthcare centers are really getting into that’s helping them with this?

Jesslyn Rollins (11:26):

So the biggest piece has been since day one, going back to my early days of selling to high school football teams. So high schools are such a point of pride in the community, and you’re talking about a place in the community that connects so many different age groups from all way down to elementary school to high school, to then you’re connected to their parents, then you’re connected to their grandparents. And it’s just that I had no idea how beneficial getting involved in within the high school community would be for not only our brand, but the independent pharmacies that we’re associated with and that we get the great privilege of partnering with because let’s say you have an independent pharmacy that, I mean, obviously you care about being an expert in your community and providing services that your community really depends on. And so offering, making a relationship with those high schools, with those athletic departments and maybe sponsoring those high school programs, maybe sponsoring the theater program, it really doesn’t matter just as long as you’re connected and you are a part of that central point in the community.

(13:05):

So we’ve seen anywhere from different independent pharmacies names being on banners, showing up on jumbotrons during the big game. And I mean, it’s very fun to have people sending you texts being like, oh my gosh, I saw this pharmacy I saw on the jumbotron and this, that and the other. And so it just shows that you care. It just shows that you’re there. And the way that I think of marketing is you have to be available and you have to be visible. And so making sure that you’re visible through these points in the community has been very critical. And we plan on building that every single year from here on out.

Shannon Battle (13:58):

Yeah, absolutely. Well, if you’re store that is using BIOLYTE or is not yet using BIOLYTE, definitely check out buy Alight social pages. There are tons of ideas where other stores, and not just pharmacies, but all kinds of businesses are utilizing it in the community and really some good ideas to get out there and show your community the education that you have behind the product and what a great pharmacy you all are. I know many of our stores are already by supporters. A lot of our IPC staff use it on the road and my house included we’re all great by supporters and we’re really thankful for all of the benefits that are provided in many ways. So I do again, want to thank you for joining me today and just kind of chit-chatting here. As you can all see on the screen, there is a QR code that’ll take you directly to the IPC vendor landing page for BIOLYTE. On that page, you’ll be able to see some of the McKesson information for direct ordering there. And your IPC pricing is already attached to that. When you log in, if you do have any questions, there’s a contact form as well on that IPC page and either someone from Byte or myself will reach out to you immediately on that contact as well. So Jolyn, thank you again for joining me today and really being a part of IPC’s mission to empower the independent pharmacy. I appreciate you coming and I hope everyone has a great afternoon.

Jesslyn Rollins (15:20):

Thank you so much for having me, Shannon. Bye everybody. Bye.