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Wheelchair repairs fuel growth for Roadrunner

Wheelchair repairs fuel growth for Roadrunner

DALLAS - Many HME providers shun wheelchair repairs because it's hard to get paid, but at Roadrunner Mobility, they've made repairs their focus, and business continues to boom. The company, which accepts Medicare assignment, now repairs wheelchairs nationwide through its network of more than 500 field service technicians. "We get a lot of referrals from dealers," said Daryl Royer, vice president of Roadrunner. "Dealers want to bill for sales, but they don't want to bill for service. Why? It's expensive, and a lot of administration time goes into collections." Roadrunner has specialized in wheelchair repairs since 1993. In the early days, it dabbled with selling chairs, too, but Roadrunner quickly learned its management team, which has 100 years of service experience combined, was better suited to repairs. Today, the company processes, on average, more than 400 wheelchair repair claims each month, Royer said. Roadrunner's success boils down to this: Because it specializes in wheelchair repairs, and because it maintains a substantial billing department, Roadrunner has mastered the complicated dance that is getting reimbursed for wheelchair repairs--or more so than the average HME provider, Royer said. "Unfortunately, for repairs, we use a lot of miscellaneous codes," he said. That means a number of Roadrunner's claims are selected for review, and a portion go to hearings. Still, in 99% of cases, Roadrunner gets paid eventually, said CEO Alan Gragg. This ability to maintain a healthy cash flow in the face of reimbursement challenges fuels Roadrunner's growth, company officials said.

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