rtNOW connects dots with HME On-Call 

MINNEAPOLIS – rtNOW, which has offered tele-respiratory solutions to hospitals since 2016, has now launched HME On-Call to help HME providers better manage RT shortages that have only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With HME On-Call, providers can outsource everything from after-hours staffing to equipment setup on a per-call basis, plus an initial implementation fee. 

“We’re seeing an incredible amount of RT burnout,” said Justin Hawley, chief communications officer for rtNow. “With HME companies, in particular, we try to provide a pressure-release valve, so they don’t have RTs up and leaving. It’s a real fear.” 

In addition to tele-respiratory, rtNow also offers more than 1,100 “boots on the ground” to providers across the country through its parent company, CORE Staffing. 

Right now, rtNOW has two customers for HME On-Call: a manufacturer that has contracted with the company to review data captured from its wearable devices and to initiate phone calls when that data is outside of certain thresholds; and a national provider that has contracted with it to remotely set up HME, leveraging rtNow’s HIPAA-compliant proprietary software. 

“We hear people talking about remote setups and they’re using Facebook,” said Curt Merriman, chief sales officer for rtNOW and an RRT.  “Under the current emergency situation, some requirements are being waived, but when the emergency is over, HIPAA is going to be at the forefront again. Are they going to be prepared?” 

In most cases, HME providers will use HME On-Call as a “first line of defense” for stretched-thin RT staff, Hawley says. 

“They’ve been out to enough homes to find out it was just, the machine wasn’t plugged in,” he said. “That’s something that could easily be solved with tele-respiratory.” 

The pandemic has not only intensified the need for RTs and telehealth but also accelerated the importance of the home, putting HME On-Call and their HME customers in the middle of a perfect storm of opportunity, Hawley says. 

“We believe HME has been a neglected part of health care and that’s going to change,” he said. “HME providers have that in-the-home relationship with a patient and that’s becoming more and more important. Monitoring the home and accessing the home is going to help connect a lot of dots (in health care).”