Running a hospice can be costly. From purchasing durable medical equipment (DME) to paying staff salaries, the expenses can quickly add up. Looking for ways to optimize your hospice spending? Keep reading to discover how to reduce DME costs while maintaining high-quality patient care standards.
Hospices are experiencing rising operational costs, particularly due to the escalating cost of medical supplies and equipment. Last year, hospices reported that the cost of medical equipment rentals and purchases increased by nearly 20% compared to the previous year due to inflation. These rising costs have put immense pressure on hospices looking to provide quality care while maintaining profitability.
However, while the rising costs of medical supplies and equipment have put a financial strain on hospices, many aren't capitalizing on DME cost-saving opportunities. That said, let's explore five practical ways to reduce DME costs for hospices.
Many hospices overspend on unnecessary equipment and non-formulary DME items. Non-formulary DME items aren't covered by Medicare Part B and require prior authorization requests (PAR) for approval.
Conducting frequent DME evaluations to review utilization versus industry averages and best practices allows you to assess the necessity and validity of DME requests. This can help you prevent spending on unnecessary DME or costly non-formulary items.
With Qualis DME management and utilization reviews, we'll ensure you only pay for equipment that patients use. We'll also help you save up to 25% on non-formulary DME items and over $50,000 yearly, freeing up precious funds needed for your hospice.
All hospices rely on DME vendors to provide DME items such as wheelchairs, walkers, and nebulizers. To get a good deal on DME, you must negotiate with vendors for better pricing. Here are strategies you can use to negotiate for better pricing and favorable contracts:
By partnering with Qualis, you won't have to dig through the intricacies of negotiating with DME vendors. We'll negotiate with them on your behalf and ensure you get the best DME cost savings with outstanding DME providers whom we consider partners, allowing you to focus on what matters most: providing quality patient care.
Vendor-agnostic DME managers won't tie you down to a single DME vendor. Instead, they'll allow you to purchase equipment from multiple accredited DME vendors. Here are some ways partnering with a vendor-agnostic DME manager can enhance hospice cost management:
At Qualis, we won't confine you to one DME vendor. We work with over 900 Medicare-approved DME vendors, allowing our clients to choose vendors within their budgets.
About two out of five invoices contain errors. These errors range from simple mistakes such as incorrect names to more serious ones like overbilling. If your accounts payable (AP) team doesn't scrutinize invoices, you might be paying substantially more for DME.
Implementing billing audits can allow you to ascertain the accuracy of invoices. On the other hand, usage tracking can enable you to monitor how teams access, use, and share information.
With our automated billing and usage tracking solutions, you won't have to worry about erroneous invoices causing financial losses or overpaying for undelivered equipment.
Poor procurement processes can cost your hospice up to 20% of its targeted savings and increase DME expenses. Teaching your hospice staff ordering best practices, such as the right time to order equipment, how to select appropriate vendors, and how to maintain proper records, can significantly reduce DME costs.
At Qualis, we offer hospice teams training to help them enhance ordering processes. And that's not all. With our innovative technology solutions, we'll relieve your team from the hassle of handling lengthy and complex ordering processes.
In just a few steps from desktop or mobile, teams can easily retrieve patient information from your EMR, select preferred DME vendors, and place equipment orders. And voila! DME vendors will receive orders promptly.
And best of all? Teams can track orders from order submission to delivery. No more endless back-and-forth calls or emails with vendors, allowing staff to focus on compassionate patient care.
DME expenses can rapidly escalate and negatively impact your bottom line. But they don't have to. With these five DME budgeting tips, you can reduce costs, maintain profitability, and offer quality patient care. Hear what others have to say about what they've achieved while working with Qualis.
Ready to cut DME expenses? Contact us to discover how we can help your hospice manage DME costs more effectively.