Back to Blogs

3 Startup DME/HME Challenges Faced Routinely

by | July 5, 2021 | 12:27 pm
Category : DME, HME
3 Startup DME/HME Challenges Faced Routinely

Startup DME/HME businesses face financial challenges like any other business, regardless of the industry they operate in. However, DME/HME businesses are paid only after a successful claim application process, and this precipitates several challenges of concern, even as they work their way towards becoming small-sized businesses with goals of becoming larger.

1. The challenge of staffing; sourcing trained staff

Given the need for comprehensive paperwork in DME/HME businesses, staff needs to understand the basics of record-making and record-keeping when creating new orders. This is in addition to ensuring the medical needs of patients are covered and met by the business.

Within the constraints of COVID-19, particularly after the layoffs and furloughs, finding trained staff and manpower can prove to be a challenge.

If your DME/HME business has trained staff, the challenge is to ensure productivity even in the face of a high volume of work. Given a steady stream of incoming orders, existing staff can easily get overwhelmed, leading to unintentional errors and omissions in the process of recording critical patient information. This information most often includes insurance verification, checking for pre-authorization on equipment, and filing critical documents including prescriptions. Missing or unavailable information can cause claim applications to be delayed or denied completely.

2. Managing high volumes; realigning processes for growth

As a DME/HME business grows, the order volumes may surge, challenging existing staff and causing them to fall behind on the record-keeping part of the business.

When realigning processes for growth, it is important to assess business requirements and deploy automation where needed. Automation helps minimize human error while creating records that are more reliable. An automated revenue cycle management system can help address the challenge of managing high volumes of orders.

Apart from making record-keeping more reliable, automation also streamlines the process of revenue management, reducing the instance of incomplete claim applications and delayed payments.

3. New business; building the pipeline

Pursuing new business opportunities, while ensuring existing commitments are not affected, can be a difficult juggling act even for established DME/HME businesses.

The lack of adequate resources to deal with high volumes of orders can put pressure on existing business resources to complete the additional work. In the process, the pursuit of new income-generating opportunities can take a back-seat, affecting a necessary activity: the building up of a business pipeline and creating new income-generating avenues.

Spotlight: Resolution

One way to resolve this is to outsource your DME billing requirements. This provides multiple resolutions for the business:

  • Trained staff for the purpose of order-taking and management
  • Automation and infrastructure to carry it out
  • Expertise in RCM services to streamline billing operations; HIPAA-compliant professionals
  • Experience in revenue cycle management
  • Reasonable costs; hassle-free operations

Next Steps