Navigating the DME Maze: Vendor-Flexible Management Benefits for Hospices

Do you spend much time auditing your monthly durable medical equipment (DME) invoice for billing integrity, feel the DME isn't always fresh and new, or are concerned about late deliveries and pickups? If your answer was an emphatic yes to any of these questions, your DME management approach might be the problem. Using a single-vendor DME solution makes your hospice susceptible to these challenges. In contrast, opting for a vendor-flexible one can enable you to overcome these issues. 

Unlike single-vendor solutions, vendor-flexible ones won't tie you to a specific supplier, allowing you to utilize the DME provider best suited for your hospice's needs and budget. And, since vendor quality can change over time, the answer is to have a platform that accommodates vendor choice.  

What Is Vendor-Flexible DME Management?

Vendor-flexible DME management refers to an approach where a hospice partners with a company that doesn't depend on a single supplier. This approach allows you to acquire DME from multiple vendors based on your particular needs rather than restricting you to one.

The Challenge: Limited DME Vendor Options

Using a single-vendor DME approach can tie you to a provider that limits your organization's ability to choose the most competitive supplier(s). With DME management flexibility, you can avoid this issue. It's no wonder nine out of ten organizations use multiple suppliers.

Key Benefits for Hospices

From lowering equipment costs to preventing delays, vendor flexibility offers many benefits. While we mention the term vendor-flexibility includes being vendor agnostic, a core aspect of having vendor choice is creating true vendor partnerships with those best positioned at any given time to represent your hospice in the manner you desire. 

Bearing that in mind, here are three reasons why your hospice should adopt the strategy. 

Greater Control and Flexibility

Adopting a vendor-flexible approach allows you to choose suppliers that best fit your hospice's and patients' DME needs—for instance, having the right DME provider technicians that represent your hospice well. 

Faster Access to Equipment

Using a single-vendor DME strategy can make your hospice susceptible to delayed deliveries and pick-ups. If your DME provider has financial constraints, quality control issues, or production challenges, you might not receive your medical equipment on time.

Furthermore, if a DME provider knows you do not have flexibility of choice and are stuck, your hospice may be on the bottom end of their priority list.

For instance, labor shortages are a huge production challenge affecting many DME providers and hospices. In fact, nearly four out of ten hospices and DME providers report experiencing high workforce shortages, resulting in hindered services.

Improved Patient and Caregiver Satisfaction

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey asks caregivers to evaluate their experiences with a hospice. About half of the survey focuses on DME service and quality. This means your DME provider can significantly impact your CAHPS scores, which are publicly reported as part of Care Compare on the Medicare website (including Medicare-approved DME vendors).

Low CAHPS scores taint your hospice's reputation and cause patients and caregivers to choose another hospice. 

Working with a vendor-flexible DME partner like Qualis can significantly enhance patient and caregiver satisfaction. Let us show you how! 

How To Evaluate a Vendor-Flexible DME Partner

Consider these key factors when choosing a DME provider:

• Network size: Choose a DME management company that not only has a vast network of providers, but more importantly, true partnerships with all providers in their network. This partnership is the result of a shared focus on providing outstanding patient care, education to patients and caregivers, and support to our hospice clients.
• Experience: Select a partner with a proven track record of successfully supporting hospices with their DME needs. At Qualis, our team has provided hospices with quality DME management services and support for nearly two decades.
• System integration: Your partner's systems should integrate with your existing infrastructure. Our proprietary technology integrates seamlessly with various EMRs, allowing hospice teams to focus on patient care instead of worrying about complex integrations.
• Customer care: When issues occur, you'll want a partner that's responsive to your issues and quick to address them. We have a dedicated team of DME experts readily available to answer queries and offer support. We are responsive and ready to serve! Equally important, we work with our DME provider partners to reduce the recurrence of issues.

Empower Your Hospice with Flexibility and Choice

Selecting the right DME management partner is vital to the success of your hospice. With the right partner, you retain greater control over your operations, improve equipment quality, access equipment deliveries and pickups faster, and improve patient and caregiver satisfaction.

Partner with Qualis and see for yourself. But don't take our word for it. Check out our testimonials and case studies to see how our solutions helped hospices streamline operations. 

Ready to improve patient care? Contact us to learn how Qualis can provide flexibility in vendor-flexible DME management.