Durable medical equipment (DME) is, more often than not, tied to single-vendor models. However, as patients become more demanding and prices rise, flexibility becomes a top priority, and locking your operations to a single provider won’t cut it anymore.
Instead, modern care centers are shifting to a “vendor-neutral” mindset, meaning a curated roster of multiple vendors instead of a single one. This model prioritizes outcomes over exclusivity: If one vendor is short on a piece of equipment, another can fulfill the order.
In the end, it all comes down to avoiding disruptions in patient care — while also driving prices down and improving daily operations.
A single-vendor contract concentrates more operational risk than it might seem at first glance.
Any provider can face staffing shortages, inventory gaps, service-area constraints, or even a simple delay in their delivery chain. It’s a common and unavoidable part of business, but in single-vendor models, hospices have no contingency plans to deal with these issues.
This lack of choice means that delays and price fluctuations will snowball into frustrated experiences for clinicians and administrative teams. And, more importantly, it can make the difference between a patient who’s dignified and happy, and one who feels the strain of not having the equipment they need.
A multi-vendor hospice DME approach fixes these issues by following a simple premise: Orders aren’t locked to a specific provider.
Orders can be routed to the fastest and best-located partner, improving delivery times and eliminating backorders. Competitive pressure yields better pricing and conditions, strengthening your negotiating power. At the same time, a Robust DME Network expands access to niche equipment.
Vendor-neutral networks allow you to match each order to the ideal supplier, and not the other way around. Patient will receive the right equipment at the right time — and your financial bottom line will thank you for it.
Excellent DME management appears when results are measurable. Otherwise, you run the risk of implementing changes in the dark, without a clear direction on what to fix.
Tracking performance, ranging from order-to-delivery rates to cost-per-case, allows you to hold your daily operations to a specific standard. When working with a single vendor, these metrics can seem almost useless. But vendor-neutral models align vendors to quality and cost goals.
If a specific provider isn’t meeting your needs, orders can go to the best-performing partner. In the end, this holds vendors accountable while ensuring care is never interrupted by a missing piece of DME.
Shifting away from single-vendor DME models isn’t only about financial and health outcomes. Your staff deserves a lightened daily lift so they can focus on giving excellent care to the people who need it the most.
Vendor-neutral models increase operational efficiency by reducing chase calls and after-hours escalations. Faster deliveries translate to smoother admissions, meaning less paperwork for your administrative staff.
At the same time, patients and professionals will start trusting ETAs and care plans. The difference in responsiveness and reliability will be hard to ignore, and families will be happy to see their loved ones being taken care of.
Transformation is far from stopping after multi-vendor models become the norm. The future will be defined by interoperability and more advanced technologies.
It’s not hard to imagine that systems will become even more connected in the future. Imagine, for example, EHRs auto-populating orders through an AI-driven vendor selection that scores suppliers based on predicted ETAs and other factors.
Expanding networks will add even more niche equipment and remote coverage, improving hospice equipment flexibility across multiple locations. Predictive analytics will simultaneously surface trends and upcoming equipment shortages so you can react in time.
Advanced technology will never replace your staff, but their focus can shift toward what really matters: the patients.
Qualis combines national reach with a vast roster of vetted suppliers to give you true vendor choice in hospice. With 6,300 vendor touchpoints nationwide, we want to give you speed and redundancy for every order.
Our Centralized Reporting platform gives you clarity and a wide snapshot of what’s happening with your DME operations. But we understand that every hospice is different, which is why our solutions are customizable and tailored after a comprehensive DME Evaluation.
Vendor neutrality is undeniably becoming the standard in quality hospice care.
Multi-vendor solutions align your goals with your outcomes through faster deliveries, better pricing, happier staff, and more satisfied patients. If you’re ready to replace single-vendor bottlenecks, we’re here to help.
Contact Qualis today to explore how our vendor-neutral DME network can benefit your hospice.