Appy Medical eyes competitive edge with new referral platform 

WEST JORDAN, Utah – Amid increased consolidation in the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) space, Appy Medical is positioning itself to stand on its own with a new platform that will benefit its manufacturer and referral partners. 

At press time, Appy Medical, a CGM-focused national provider with approximately two dozen employees, was preparing to launch its Referral Tracking Platform. The system will allow manufacturer representatives to access real-time insight into referral trends and track their sales pipeline and allow referral sources to track the status of patients, says Hector Mendoza, chief commercial officer. 

“I think they often just lose visibility of the patient once it goes into the referral process,” he said. “The tool we’re developing will give them another avenue to (track that patient), have less paperwork involved and, ultimately, (see) how adherent they are to the therapy.” 

Increased transparency 

Mendoza says the platform, which complements popular industry e-order systems, offers: 

• End-to-end visibility; 
• Real-time tracking of referrals and trends; 
• Documentation prompts at three, six and 12 months to reduce paperwork burdens; and 
• Visibility into Appy Medical’s performance 

“(We want) to make ourselves fully accountable to be a trusted partner,” he said. “We see that working with DMEs can be a black hole for information, so we are working to change that.” 

Competitive (bidding) edge 

In addition to increased transparency for manufacturer and referral partners, Mendoza believes the platform could give Appy Medical a competitive edge in competitive bidding. The Medicare program is poised to return and, in this round, include CGMs for the first time. 

“Competitive bidding is on everyone’s mind right now,” he said. “It needs to be done with caution. I want Appy Medical to be a winner in competitive bidding and, hopefully, this gives us an edge.” 

Scalable experience 

Mendoza has a long track record in the diabetes space, beginning with Solara Medical Supplies, which he helped grow into one of the nation’s leading CGM suppliers. Solara was acquired by AdaptHealth in 2020 and he followed the company there. Moving to Appy Medical now gives him the chance to get back to doing what he loves: building a business from the ground up. 

“I think one of the things today that’s been lost with CGMs and insulin pump delivery is that personal service at a patient level,” he said. “Appy is small enough to provide that white glove, boutique type of service, but (we’re) experienced enough to scale that.”