Parachute Health helps build ‘digital rails’

NEW YORK – As payers look for ways to streamline ordering and reduce administrative burden, many are turning to DME Navigator, an EHR-integrated ordering platform developed by OptumInsight and CareCentrix. Big picture, the platform – which uses a framework built by Parachute Health – also helps DME providers move to where the puck is going, says the company’s CEO, David Gelbard.

Payers adopt DME Navigator

Molina Healthcare is among the newest payers to announce that it will use DME Navigator for all DME orders beginning June 1, 2026. The rollout will start in Illinois, Washington, South Carolina and Ohio, with expansion planned across 18 states.

For DME providers, however, the shift creates a dilemma: DME Navigator relies on CareCentrix’s DME provider network, which is restricted and, according to industry sources, associated with low reimbursement rates.

Gelbard emphasizes that Parachute Health’s relationship is directly with OptumInsight, which works broadly with health plans and benefits managers.

“Our role is less about the health plan or the benefits manager – they define the network and the rates,” he said. “Our role is purely on the technology. We’re connecting ordering and the authorization digitally.”

Tackling the authorization bottleneck

Today, authorizations often occur after an order is placed and outside the traditional workflow – resulting in delays, rework and uncertainty. Building on its e‑prescribing capabilities and AI-assisted intake, Parachute Health now enables providers to submit authorization requests digitally and link them directly to the originating order.

“We’re mission aligned on this – integrating authorization, submission and status updates into one order management platform, so providers don’t have to swivel chair,” Gelbard said. “That reduces their overhead and protects their margins.”

A more integrated process also gives providers greater confidence that they’ll, ultimately, be reimbursed.

“Historically, you wait to get an order, you have no way of knowing if the payer or benefits manager is going to pay, and there’s back and forth in the portal,” he said. “The legacy state is not only costly but also uncertain.”

Building digital rails for payers and providers

Gelbard sees both payers and providers “pushing each other” toward end‑to‑end digital workflows, but payers, in particular, are accelerating their move to what he calls “digital rails.”

Parachute Health aims to be the enabling partner that helps providers meet those expectations.

“The payer is trying to determine who’s going to be a good partner to them,” he said. “What we’ve been seeing is that the providers who are forward looking on technology are thinking, ‘How do I take those orders and connect them directly to the payer or the benefits manager?’ It’s not different than what we did with e-prescribing and health systems.”

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