Resupply: Stay in touch

A. If you do not have a proactive resupply program, odds are you will lose your CPAP patient. A resupply program is most successful when implemented with a patient at the very beginning. Depending on compliance regulations, especially when a Medicare patient is involved, there is a certain amount of initial follow-up that you and the physician must do (usage downloads, face-to-face, etc.), but the success or failure rate of a PAP patient long-term is greatly in your hands. It is in the best interest of your patients, and in the best interest of your bottom line, that they are successful with their PAP therapy and continue it.

A successful Medicare PAP patient being resupplied monthly with clean product in agreement with Medicare guidelines generates in Oklahoma, for example, between $1,497-$1,834 in annual accounts receivables depending on what mask type they use and where they are located. That kind of potential recurring revenue, and the duty of the provider to keep patients in clean product to protect their respiratory health, should prompt you to a resupply solution.

You must speak with your PAP patient regularly to learn if he is struggling with usage. Automation does not accomplish this. When we look at an HME client's two-year history of PAP patients and attempted contact, we have not had  one to date achieve better that a 50% failure rate, and many are much higher. Often the reason is that the contact information for the patient is no longer current.

There is always going to be a failure rate associated with some patients who simply cannot adjust to using a CPAP mask, but that should be your only failure rate. hme

Russell Parker is COO at Revsuppliance. Reach him at [email protected].