Tennr sees adoption accelerating

NEW YORK – Tennr believes more than half of DME orders will soon be processed using artificial intelligence. 

As part of a recent forecast that it conducted of the growth of its customer base, Tennr determined that 60% of all DME orders will be processed using AI by 2026. 

“This is not a pie-in-the-sky thing,” said Trey Holterman, co-founder and CEO.  

Here’s what Holterman had to say about why the uptake on automation is accelerating, how it solves a big problem for DME companies and who will come out on top in what’s becoming a tech race. 

‘Chaotic crumbs’ 

The uptake on Tennr’s intelligent automation platform stems from its ability to address a big problem for DME companies – what Holterman calls the “pre-visit patient processing problem.” 

“If you put up a for-business sign saying send us the documentation you have, you’re going to be receiving every document under the sun as it relates to the order,” he said. “And they’re all going to come in at different times, creating chaotic crumbs.” 

Digital workers 

The platform’s “digital workers” calm the chaos by pulling in the right information, as well as conducting clinical reviews and eligibility and benefit checks, so the human you still want in the loop has what Holterman says is the “simple experience” of approving the work that has been done. 

“They’re not jumping to 10 different portals,” he said. “All of that is in one place.”  

Fax friends 

While there’s an industry wide push to increase e-prescribing, Holterman is a firm believer the technology doesn’t fully address the “processing problem” and it doesn’t meet referral sources where they’re at – and, at the end of the day, they’re sending e-faxes. 

“We want to make sure the transfer of information is super seamless and for senders, in most cases, that’s through the e-fax via their EMR, which is super easy,” he said. “The fax is really only a problem for the recipient, the DME company, and what we're building eliminates the problem by reading every document automatically through a language mode. It’s why our customers now say the fax is faster for both parties.” 

• Related: Tennr’s deep dive into HME.