Make Durable Medical Equipment Business Profitable by Automating Resupply

DME providers supply needed medical equipment and supplies to patients. Many of these products provided are disposables or require replenishment at recommended frequencies in order for the patient to maintain effective use.

In many cases, HME/DME providers wait for the patient to inquire prior to fulfilling orders and, in fact, are leaving revenue on the table and patients without the equipment and supplies needed. So, is durable medical equipment business profitable? Let’s discover.

Generate Recurring Income

Durable medical equipment providers can generate reliable, recurring income by providing patients with ongoing supplies and disposables while improving patient care. Implementing an effective resupply management strategy involves properly coordinating and executing an efficient reordering, process automation, and fulfillment strategy, enabling your clients to get their supplies on time.

Such a strategy is crucial for three major DME products:

CPAP Machines

Patients using devices such as CPAP require replacement masks and related supplies to ensure effective and hygienic therapy. Payers have frequency limitations on how often certain products are eligible for coverage and may require ongoing compliance and authorizations prior to dispensing.

Urinary Incontinence

Geriatric patients and those with chronic illnesses always need urgent resupply of bladder control pads, adult diapers, disposable inserts, catheters, and underpads. A day without these necessary products to manage urinary incontinence causes discomfort and an inability to do day-to-day activities.

Diabetic Supplies

Diabetes is a chronic condition that needs regular management. Resupplying insulin pens, insulin pumps, and blood sugar meters, among other DME devices used by diabetic patients, should be seamless and efficient. For efficient HME resupply for diabetic patients, regularly scheduled supply replenishment is critical to patient self-testing and care.

Your business needs a resupply and reordering strategy that delivers supplies at predefined frequencies while managing inventory, fulfillment, and administrative shortfalls. That means having a system to notify of order eligibility, identify payer requirements and ensure compliance with government and commercial payers.

Seamless Order Management

It is important to manage the order process effectively. You can lose money if you don’t have a transparent order management system. As such, you need a framework for managing patient eligibility and payer requirements, as well as managing the verification of documents. Once you’ve implemented such a seamless low-touch process, you can easily fulfill dropship orders with minimal effort. By streamlining touch points and implementing automated recurring order generation, you can increase the profitability of your resupply program.

To increase efficiency and boost profits, here is how you can manage DME orders effectively:

• Use lean process management: Maintain real-time visibility into order status so you know which orders are urgent, in stock, or delayed, helping you reduce supply chain costs and avoid miscommunication with patients.

• Subscribe patients to a reorder campaign at the initial order: Enroll patients in automatic reordering programs from the start to improve adherence, retention, and recurring revenue.

• Schedule reorder automation based on payer frequency guidelines: Align automated reorders with payer rules and the patient’s order history to stay compliant while maximizing allowable revenue.

• Automate authorization requirements: Track and manage prior authorizations automatically to prevent delays and ensure claims are paid correctly and on time.

• Automate insurance eligibility verification: Verify coverage upfront to reduce claim denials, rework, and unnecessary staff intervention.

• Enable quick shipping through fulfillment partners: Ship orders faster by integrating with fulfillment partners and pulling tracking updates in real time for better patient communication.

• Automatically generate invoices and claims: Streamline invoicing and claim creation so submissions go out faster, improving cash flow and reimbursement turnaround.