Page 40 - HME Business, October 2019

payers and contracts and submitting claims, getting all that done so they can get the 80 percent covered, then worry about the patient pay,” Gehring says.
It’s often a difficult conversation, but one your billing service can help with. “They’ve got to be able to help the patient almost from a financial planning standpoint.” Gehring notes. “People understand that if providers are not getting paid for the equipment or service they are providing...they will go out of business.”
RECOVERY TIME
At the beginning, you will have to invest a little time and effort into finding the right billing provider, getting them access to your records and transitioning your system and work flows. Often that means a flurry of activity the beginning, a break, then another flurry of activity taking the new system live.
Most billing services can be up and running within 60 days of starting your contract, and often the startup time is significantly less. Like everything else, it will depend on the services
you choose and how your software conforms to the billing provider. You’ll probably have to update a few processes, but in general the new procedures will save time and hassles in the long run. Your business will get more effi- cient and have more current and predictable revenue flow.
COST OF TREATMENT
One thing most outsourced billing services have in common: They don’t get paid until you
get paid. Most work for a percentage of money collected. “It’s a win-win because the DME has fewer past-due invoices and improved cash flow from a system that incentivizes resolving issues,” says Graham.
There are lots of variations depending on the services contracted. Some services charge a small up-front fee (often delayed until the first service billing), and others offer a flat fee per invoice collected. The fees will depend on whether the services are for current or overdue accounts, the payment source and how long payments have been outstanding.
“If it goes over 90 days, the likelihood of it getting collection is about 40 percent,” says Gehring. That alone should be enough to make any DME with past-due accounts consider getting some help, before billing problems become terminal. n
Holly Wagner is a freelance writer covering a variety of industries, including healthcare. She can be reached at documentarydvdiva@ yahoo.com.
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The Accreditation Multi-Tool . . . . . . Exploring the CBD Market . . . . . . . . HMEB’s New Podcast Service . . . . . Improving Referral Management . . Redefining, Expanding Resupply . . Retail: Separate Legal Entities . . . .
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What’s Inside:
AnnualHMEHandbook . . . . . . . . . . . 8 News, Trends & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 6 Editor’sNote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Six-YearLookbackAudits . . . . . . . . . . 28 SleepTherapyProducts . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Managing Your Revenue Cycle . . . . . . 31
How-to Articles to Help HMEs Leap up to the Next Level
With tight reimburse- ment pressures and a hyper-com- petitive market, HME providers are continually looking for ways to
l r e e v v e e l n - u u p e s w a h n e d n fi i n t e c o - t mu n e i s n g t o t h d e r i i v r i n g n e w business operations . That’s why we’ve been assembling our annual HME
H H a M n E d bp o r o o f k e s i s s s i o u n e a s l s i n n c e e w 2 0 i d 0 e 8 a t s o i n g t i o v e h o w they can deal with industry changes, ipmroptreocvteththeeirirbpuesrinfoersmseasn .ce, and
“ s p T r h i n e g a b r t o i c a l r e d s s ” t h t e h ma t s p e l r v o e v s i d o e f f d e e r t a i l s o n new market opportunities, help providers understand and address a key market challenge, develop a winning strategy, or improve their back-office operations so that they cut costs and operate more efficiently . Each article offers a broad introduc- tion on each topic, then dives into the finer points related to each subject, and then offers ways to learn more . For the 2019 edition of the HME Handbook, we present 10 different articles on topics including financing, new market opportunities in pain management, specialized accredita- tion, educating portable oxygen patients, patient workflow automation, and more . Like in previous HME Handbooks, we’re looking to help you take the next great leap forward . 2019 Annual
HME Handbook . .Starts on Page 8 June 2019
Volume 26, Number 5 hme-business.com
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38 HMEBusiness | October 2019 | hme-business.com
Management Solutions | Technology | Products
“If it goes over 90 days, the likelihood of it getting collection is about 40 percent”
— Bruce Gehring, Allegiance Group
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Ideas for Growth More than 30 ideas for expanding oxygen profits.
Margins Remain Tight, But There Are Still Ways to Widen Them There is no doubt about it; when it comes to providing respiratory equipment and services, reimburse- ment rates are snare-drum tight . Toxhyagt’esnwphryotvhideedriscuasnsgiornowofwidayesr that margins continues to be a perennial topic in the industry .
r i e H n o c i w n ge v d e e r , c w l i n h e i l e s i p n r o f e v e i d - f e o r r s - s a e r r e v i e c x e p e - reimbursement, they continue to diegveulpopnewwayresvteondureivoepcpoostrtouuntitoiefst,heir wt i o o n r k a fl l o e wf fi s c , i e a n n c d i e i d s . e L n i t k i f e y g n a e r w d e o n p e e r r s a - tending their patch, providers must regularly fertilize their businesses while weeding out problems .
That’s why HME Business recently sat down with several experts from across the respiratory side of the industry to harvest new ways in which they can grow revenues and widen margins . To that end, they came up with more than 30 tips and ideas .
We broke this collection of “quick hit” pro-tips into different groups ranging from supplier relationships,
to specific value-adds and up-sells, to orchestrating operations, and beyond . Read this month’s cover story,
“Ideas for Growth,” to see what ideas the experts we interviewed rounded up and determine which ones make sense for your business .
Growing Your
Respiratory Margins . . Page 18
May 2019 Volume 26, Number 4 hme-business.com
HME SPRINGBOARDS Our Annual HME Handbook Offers 10 Ways to Leap Forward
July 2019 Volume 26, Number 6
2019 Buyer’s
Guide AN INDUSTRY’S WORTH OF RESOURCES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS.
Connected Care
Providers Tap into Technology to Differentiate Their Businesses
Data is becoming a critical tool in the realm of post-acute healthcare . A growing number of HME products are remotely collecting patient health and usage data that providers can put into the hands of physicians in order to benefit patient outcomes and help them differentiate their businesses .
Sleep therapy is a classic example of how remote patient monitoring can change how care is provided: positive airway pressure devices collect patients’ usage, as well as how the machine has interacted with the patient, and transmit that data to a secure, cloud-based monitoring and reporting system . That system helps physicians and other experts involved in patients’ care see which patients are complying with therapy and managing their conditions; which patients are struggling; and which patients are suffering serious events during sleep and need immediate help .
We’ve seen remote patient moni- toring expand to the diabetes care world, and we are starting to see it pick up momentum in other areas of post-acute care . But many questions are starting to arise: For which areas of HME does this makes sense? How will this interact with technology trends in the overall healthcare market? Where does that leave HME providers?
Read this month’s cover story to learn more .
Remote Patient
Monitoring . . . . . Starts on Page 18
and HME
Providers occupy an ideal position in remote patient monitoring. Can they hold on to it?
What’s Inside:
EffectiveRetailMobility . . . . . . . . . . 23 News, Trends & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 8
ThePaceofYourSuccess . . . . . . . . . . 13 Next-Level Delivery Management . . 14 AccreditationServices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 MovingonFromMedicare . . . . . . . . . . 30
August/September 2019 Volume 26, Number 7 hme-business.com