HMEs and other healthcare providers who have a large patient-base using CPAP machines are well aware of the administrative burden associated with respiratory machine management. Patients who have gone home with a CPAP machine or other respiratory care device usually call the healthcare facility when it breaks down or needs servicing.
It is then up to the provider to get the machine serviced, deliver it back to the patient, and invoice the patient.
Quality Biomedical’s Patient Direct Program relieves providers of this administrative burden, saving valuable time and money. Instead of contacting the healthcare facility, patients with respiratory equipment are directed to myCPAPrepair.com. From there, our team works directly with the patients, handling pick-up, repair, delivery, and payment processing.
“This relieves the burden on the healthcare provider,” explains Jim Worrell, Quality Biomedical’s Chief Commercial Officer. “They no longer need to handle the numerous administrative tasks to keep patient respiratory equipment up-to-date and can rely entirely on us as the servicing arm so they don’t have to deal with the request at all.”
Robert Bovee at Sleep Data has been using Quality Biomedical’s Patient Direct Program since August 2023 and already they have experienced more efficient operations and are reducing administrative costs.
“Coordinating RMA replacements on CPAP machines and acting as the middleman between the patient and getting their machine repaired was a huge administrative burden for us. Quality Biomedical’s Patient Direct Program has relieved us of that burden, our patients enjoy using the program, and our productivity has improved,” Robert explained.
Typically, each time a patient has a defective CPAP machine, they must call the provider who then must arrange to receive the defective unit, handle administrative paperwork, ship the unit to the service center, get the unit back with associated administrative overhead, and then ship it back to the patient. Providers typically pay for the repair and then invoice the patient, and the administrative burden can cost between $100 and $200 per incident.
“The service relieves us of a huge administrative hassle for handling defective machines for patients. We make no money on this—it simply costs us money,” stated Robert at Sleep Data. “The Patient Direct Program with Quality Biomedical makes our entire operation run more efficiently and our patients enjoy using the service. It is saving us quite a bit of administrative overhead and our customer service has improved.”
Reduced administrative overhead is seen almost immediately in the streamlined RMA process and the sheer number of patients using the service. And getting set up with the patient direct CPAP program is a relatively easy process and the program can be set up in a matter of minutes. The provider must only educate their call center on how to send CPAP patients to the website.
Once the program is running, patients no longer have to call the call center for help. This frees up lines and staff time answering questions. The patient simply goes to www.myCPAPrepair.com, their request is taken care of, and they are advised of the best service center to ship their machine to. There is no administrative burden on the provider’s side at all.
“The turnaround time is much faster and patients get taken care of a lot quicker,” said Jim with Quality Biomedical. “Due to recent recalls and other problems in the CPAP industry, the OEMs have been flooded with machines and the typical turnaround time is 6-8 weeks. Using Quality Biomedical’s Patient Direct Program, turnaround time is approximately one week.”
As a result, companies involved in this program report that not only have productivity numbers improved, but patient satisfaction surveys also indicate the program is a success.
Another huge benefit is that Quality Biomedical provides an MSRP estimate for providers to send to patient’s insurance—another administrative relief with more accurate estimates that help providers generate more profit.
With Quality Biomedical’s Patient Direct Program, you can truly leave the heavy lifting to us. We’ll take care of your patients with fast and reliable service, while keeping you apprised of their progress. Give us a call if you’d like to learn more about how you can:
● Relieve your staff and patients of administrative burden
● Reduce administrative overhead and costs
● Streamline your RMA process
● Keep your patient’s devices operating in a timely manner
