Revsuppliance chases sleep dollars

OKLAHOMA CITY - Russell Parker was retired from a career in retail management when a distant relative who owned a sleep therapy company called and asked him for help with supply replenishment.

“He had all these sleep patients and yet his respiratory therapist didn't have the time or the tools to follow up with these folks,” said Parker, COO of Revsuppliance, which provides patient contact and follow-up solutions. “I analyzed his cost of goods and his reimbursement from Medicare and other payers, and estimated he was losing out on $10,000 to $20,000 a month in resupply revenue.”

So Parker developed a proprietary software system that tracks patients in two different ways. The first, Supply Trak, manages well-insured patients, i.e. Medicare, with monthly phone calls.

The second, Call Trak, manages patients who may have high-deductible health plans. Those patients receive calls every 30, 90, 180 or 360 days—whatever they prefer. About 90% of Call Trak patients opt to receive calls every 90 days, which is about the limit for using CPAP supplies, said Parker.

“That's where we say, 'You've exceeded the recommended sanitation guidelines and you shouldn't be breathing through it,'” he said. “'Do you want to replace the supplies?'”

The answer is usually yes, said Parker.

Revsuppliance handles the shipping, documentation and billing. The company charges the provider a one-time setup fee per patient, plus $2.50 per phone call. It also collects about 16 cents to 20 cents for every $1 of revenue it generates on behalf of the provider.

Revsuppliance now tracks 4,000 patients for 13 clients in four states, mostly for CPAP supplies, but also for other replenished supplies. Parker says the company is ready to bring the model to the national stage and is actively searching for large providers. It exhibited for the first time at Medtrade Spring in March.

“They can't go get that dollar as cheaply as I can get it for them,” said Parker. “A Medicare patient in a non-bid area, after the cost of goods, can be worth about $1,100 a year to a provider. If they are on sleep therapy for 20 years, that's a big chunk of change.”