Page 15 - HME Business, April 2020

platforms is the ability to call forth those com- plex documentation workflows,” Knowlton says.
DME providers also have to consider the
cost – usually the initial installation and a per- transaction fee – of using e-prescriptions. “The challenge for us is, we pay for it,” Brummett says. “Prescribers don’t pay for it. On the supplier side it’s a per-transaction fee. Unless they can see sig- nificant increase in efficiencies in their business because it’s not manual, it’s not worth it.”
There are some variations in fee structure depending on the vendor and the system capabilities. Knowlton says about 80 percent of the functionality in most of the leading DME e-prescription systems is the same. The other 20 percent is how those vendors set themselves apart.
“The primary e-prescribing solutions differ greatly in terms of initial and ongoing costs of solution adoption and ongoing use by HME/ DME providers,” says Farmer. “Some solutions charge annual or monthly subscription fees and transactional order-based fees, while others solely charge transactional fees for service for
each order transmitted.”
If there’s not a lot of uptake in your market
and you really want to switch to e-prescriptions, persuading your referral sources to make the move falls to you – something that doesn’t sit well with some DMEs.
Brummett recounts a conversation she had with an AAHomecare member. “He said, ‘I found a software application and I really liked
it, but they’re not in my geography where I have businesses. So if I sign up for them, I am expect-
ed to go sell their product to my referral sources to use. Then as a supplier I have to pay the soft- ware vendor for that privilege, as opposed to using my sales staff to sell my products, goods and services.’”
“That, to me, is the probably the biggest dilemma.” Brummett says.
Some vendors will offer training and support materials for getting your referral sources on board, but it’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth the staff time and effort.
With Stratice, “Once enrolled, providers have access to a variety of introductory sales and training materials, as well as collateral marketing materials that can be co-branded for delivery
to providers’ prescriber and referral sources,” Farmer says. The company also offers individual provider implementation sessions and online demonstrations for providers’ field sales forces and administrative staff coordinating order fulfillment. n
Holly Wagner is a freelance writer covering a variety of industries, including healthcare.
hme-business.com
7
Untitled-4 1
DME Pharmacy | April 2020
3/4/20 2:42 PM
“The market
for DME
e-prescribe
is young and
the number
of competing
platforms can make shopping for the right fit a challenge.” — Kim Brummett, American Association for Homecare