Apria launches 'TurboTax' for e-ordering

LAKE FOREST, Calif. - Nearly two years after purchasing DMEhub, Apria is ready to reintroduce the newly retooled e-ordering platform, which uses “if/then” logic to gather documentation, to a wider market.

"It's like Turbo Tax for DME," said Ian Worden, vice president of product development at Apria. "You don't have to know all the rules, but you'll be prompted to answer things based on your responses. It will direct you through to make sure the right information supports the order."

Since acquiring the e-prescribing platform in 2016, Apria has been mining its users for feedback and reworked everything from the rules engine to the user interface to the workflow for referral sources.

The goal? To improve order accuracy and compliance, particularly on Medicare orders, says Worden, which rarely have the accompanying documentation required to support reimbursement the first time around.

“There is often a delay in rework which can take hours to days to resolve," he said. "E-ordering solves this by guiding the user on the front end, taking out the time and labor associated with reworking that order multiple times, which is the standard today.”

While DMEhub doesn't require integration, users have the option to integrate the application with virtually any EHR system.

Although Apria is in a soft launch period right now�—hand picking suppliers and referral sources—with more than 400 branches and a large sales force at its disposal, the provider has no shortage of avenues to get the word out about the platform and its cost saving benefits, which are open to all DME prescribers and providers.

“We bear the burden and the cost of having to service these orders in a market where DME reimbursement rates are declining,” said Worden. “So when orders come in at a higher quality, Apria, like all suppliers, benefits from lower-cost processing.”