How to Choose the Best DME/HME ERP for Your Business

Part 2 of a 3-Part Series

In our last article we presented key features found in the best rated DME/HME ERP software including patient intake, billing, revenue cycle management, and documentation management. In Part 2, we will cover the following four key features when choosing the most innovative, efficient, and margin-building ERP:

  • Supply chain
  • Inventory management
  • Delivery and live asset tracking
  • Order to cash processing

Supply Chain

Managing your supply chain is a delicate process and your ERP should use advanced inventory management and on-demand planning techniques to help you make the right decisions. Each location where you store inventory should be set up with unique replenishment parameters to deliver unprecedented control over your warehouse. Your ERP should give you the ability to see projected inventory along with any demand or supply in a way that makes it easy to identify potential issues. Key capabilities should include:

  • Actively monitor inventory, demand and supply levels
  • Purchase Order Management with EDI integration and approval workflows
  • Inter-store transfer management
  • Lot # and Serial # traceability
  • Live Asset tracking of high-valued inventory using IoT technology

Inventory Management

The platform should have operational intelligence built into the software so that you can track every item rented or sold. This data should be seamlessly exported to your General Ledger of choice so you can accurately know your margins on individual categories of business.

Having an electronic vendor interface allows your employees to easily submit purchase orders. You can set rules for each employee based on vendors, locations and maximum order value. Vendors can be pre-loaded, eliminating time-wasting steps and order entry. Products can then be drop-shipped in real-time from your vendors, eliminating costly overhead and increasing your ability to serve diverse patient needs.

The cost of all products should be automatically tracked so that there is never any question about the value of an item or margins associated with an item. Depreciation should be automatic and have a general ledger interface available to prevent double data entry.

All inventory should be digitally managed using scanners and barcodes, eliminating all paper checklists, which lead to costly mistakes. The ERP should be able to track your inventory down to the individual truck it’s sitting in.

Delivery and Live Asset Tracking

The delivery software should be user-friendly and smartphone-enabled with no additional devices needed to buy to be operational. Your delivery staff should be able to collect a digital time-stamped signature upon delivery. In today’s digital, cloud-based world there should be no waiting for 1-3 days for paperwork to be processed, no time wasted adjusting inventory item counts, and no double data entry.

Drivers should be able to automatically track the inventory in their trucks, and your billing team able to easily access delivery data in real-time and begin the billing process immediately upon delivery. All functions of the delivery process should be automated and fully integrated in real-time with the core platform. Additional capabilities such as optimized delivery routing, all electronic compliance documents needed, signature capture of delivery and accepting mobile credit card payments should be a part of the system.

Order to Cash Processing

Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) should have many checks and balances available to complete a patient order correctly. The ERP should streamline your order-to-cash processing by eliminating manual bottlenecks, preventing errors and establishing a smooth flow from order intake to delivery confirmation ensuring timely billing and payment. Integrated features should be available to guide CSRs through the workflow including: 

  • Compliance forms are needed per payor and per product (HCPCS)
  • Prior Authorization
  • Clinical Algorithm alerts
  • Delivery address verification
  • Optimized delivery routing to reduce fuel costs
  • Mobile patient payments collection
About Bonafide Medical Group

Founded in 1981, Bonafide Medical Group, a cloud-based healthcare information technology company, combines its powerful DME/HME ERP software with a healthcare facility portal and other products to serve the DME/HME, Acute Care, and Long-Term Care (LTC) healthcare settings. Bonafide’s DME/HME ERP is the best business workflow management available in the industry and the only software fully and seamlessly integrated into all your management decisions. Bonafide’s core technology allows DME/HME providers to maximize efficiency, productivity, and profitability. For more information or to schedule a complimentary demonstration, visit Bonafide.com.

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How to Choose the Best DME/HME ERP for Your Business