Suppliers ePrescribing

AI Intake for DME: Why Simply Digitizing Fax Orders is No Longer Enough

The Parachute Health Team

Outdated HME ordering systems could be costing you $40 per order—and the right technology can help you reclaim it. From inefficient manual processing to lost orders, fax-based orders may be the leading cause of revenue leakage for HME providers.

This article explores how you can fix that leakage and give every patient a referrable experience.

Why Every HME Provider Needs AI Intake

While estimates vary, roughly 80% of HME orders are currently submitted via fax. This creates a heavy burden on clinicians, as it takes an average of 71 minutes of back and forth on fax and phone to submit a single order. But it also generates clear problems for HME providers:

  • Processing Time: Fax-based orders are usually printed, reviewed, manually entered into the ERP or billing system, and then filed—all of which creates a large administrative workload. Research suggests this manual processing drives up operational costs by 30%.

  • Form Errors: From missing signatures to incomplete documentation, around 50% of fax-based HME orders are incomplete when first submitted. This can create problems with payors, leading to missed reimbursements if documentation requirements are not met. Meanwhile, the process of fixing errors can involve up to 16 calls with the ordering clinician.

  • Patient Experience: The inefficiency of fax-based orders negatively impacts patients. Delays in fulfillment increase readmission risks by 30%, with nearly 68% of hospitals postponing patient discharge due to a lack of timely access to HME. This reflects poorly on HME providers, who can lose up to 20 points from their Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a result of delays.

These problems result in fewer complete orders, a higher risk of missed reimbursements, and a suboptimal patient experience that is less likely to generate loyalty or future referrals. 

That’s why AI intake has become so popular among HME providers. These solutions follow a few common steps:

  1. Scan and convert faxes into discrete data
  2. Read the form and flag missing information based on the payor requirements
  3. Integrate with ERP and billing systems to accelerate processing and improve documentation

However, HME providers have quickly started to see the limitations of this as a standalone point solution.

Digitizing Fax-Based DME Orders is a Band-Aid Solution

AI intake helps reduce the burden of processing HME orders, but it does not fix the underlying problem. Fax-based orders may be digitized, but what happens when the providers identify missing signatures or documentation? The corrections are still undertaken via fax

This means clinicians are still losing time and effort; communication to fix errors is still often fax-based, or via phone calls that may be hard to schedule; and the overall process is far from optimal. It is a band-aid solution that may actually lead providers and clinicians to never address the root cause.

Our data shows that digitizing fax still only leads to a 50% clean order rate and saves $20 per order in labor costs. The key to truly efficient HME ordering and processing is to create a complete digital ecosystem.

Closing the Loop with ePrescribing and AI Intake

AI intake does half of the work, wrangling fax-based orders and supporting quick qualification. But when more documentation is required, only a complete digital ecosystem enables providers to request documentation digitally and encourage referrals to ePrescribe (and save even more time) on the next order. 

There are multiple benefits to ePrescribing, including:

  • Fewer Order Errors: The digital system can flag missing information, evaluate specific payors’ documentation requirements, and avoid issues such as form legibility. This significantly reduces errors, allowing more orders to be processed after their initial submission.

  • Increased Visibility: Everyone in the digital ecosystem—including the patient—gains transparency of the order status, making it easier to track fulfillment and reduce uncertainty.

  • Improve Patient Experience: Both patients and clinicians can access transparent tracking information, allowing them to monitor the order and gain clarity about when it will be delivered. They can also use digital chat to contact providers directly and request additional information.

The takeaway is simple: HME providers must not only leverage AI intake but also encourage their referrals to adopt an ePrescribing platform that will create a closed “digital loop” for HME ordering and management. 

Parachute Health is the only company that can deliver this complete digital ecosystem. We combine the nation’s largest ePrescribing network with best-in-class AI Intake to help HME providers achieve:

  • 10x faster order processing
  • 80% less manual work for suppliers
  • 90% faster time-to-revenue

The net result? Parachute Platform users generate 98% clean order rates, speed up fulfillment and payment, and save far more time than with an AI point solution alone.

Want to start reclaiming lost revenue and deliver a referrable patient experience for every order?

1 https://www.beckerspayer.com/leadership/hidden-costs-unveiled-the-financial-impact-of-dmepos-mismanagement
2 Parachute stat
3 https://www.beckerspayer.com/leadership/hidden-costs-unveiled-the-financial-impact-of-dmepos-mismanagement
4 https://www.beckerspayer.com/leadership/hidden-costs-unveiled-the-financial-impact-of-dmepos-mismanagement
5 https://calhospital.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-CHA-DME-Survey-Update.pdf
6 https://www.beckerspayer.com/leadership/hidden-costs-unveiled-the-financial-impact-of-dmepos-mismanagement