Home I.V. Specialists

After working for years in the home infusion therapy industry, Julia Robinson realized northeast Arkansas wasn’t being properly served.

So she opened Home I.V. Specialists Inc. in Jonesboro in March 1991 to deliver the treatments.

“I had really found my niche,” said Robinson, who graduated from Arkansas State University at Jonesboro in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

Home I.V. is a pharmacy that dispenses medications and intravenous drugs to patients treated in their home. Registered nurses and pharmacists work with a doctor to provide the care.

When Home I.V. first opened, it was just Robinson and a receptionist. Now the company has 45 employees and an office in Little Rock that was opened in 2001.

While Robinson declined to release revenue figures, she said sales have grown between 20 percent and 25 percent a year since 2002, mainly because of the Little Rock market.

Home I.V. also has support centers across the state and serves patients in southern Missouri.

One of the company’s biggest challenges over the years has been dealing with the pharmacist shortage, Robinson said.

“We recruit constantly,” she said, to try and meet the challenge.

The company also has dealt with the shrinking government reimbursements over the years but has remained profitable.

Robinson said the secret to the company’s success is employees with “excellent clinical skills.” Home I.V. also provides the best possible patient care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said.

Robinson said Home I.V. has always been able to adjust to the market trends and expand in areas where there’s a need.

“We are going to have further growth and commitment to excellent services,” she said.

Robinson declined to say where she would open new offices so that she can get a jump on the competition.