Fleet management can be an
expensive headache for oxygen
providers, which have the difficult
task of keeping track of preventative
maintenance (PM) cycles for
hundreds if not thousands of portable
oxygen concentrators and ventilators.
Most ventilators are on two-year
and five-year PM cycles, and with
thousands of dollars on the line for
each machine, oxygen providers
are particularly concerned about
their maintenance. Portable and
stationary oxygen concentrators are
susceptible to the same types of issues
as vents, including insect, water
and smoke damage. Because of their
lower base price, providers often must
decide if it’s worth it to repair a POC
or scrap it for a new product.
With missed PM cycles becoming a
hot topic of news coverage during the
COVID-19 pandemic, it’s crucial that
providers know about the latest tools
available to avoid serious fines and,
most importantly, reduce patient risk
during a period of extreme demand
for life-saving oxygen equipment.
Recently developed software
platforms are reducing the number
of hoops that HME businesses must
jump through to obtain a return
merchandise authorization (RMA)
number or track the amount of
money they have spent on servicing
a concentrator or ventilator. Some
equipment servicing companies also
provide UPS tracking numbers or
delivery dates from their trucks.
These solutions answer central
questions about where equipment is
and when it was last serviced.
DAMAGE DONE
Seasoned oxygen equipment
providers are unfortunately familiar
with the type of damage that ventilators
and oxygen concentrators can
sustain over their life cycle. Patients
living in the home of a smoker, or
who smoke themselves, can permanently
destroy a POC, and warm
climates can lead to insect infestations,
especially in the southern
part of the U.S. Even pets can lead
to issues with oxygen equipment,
as dogs and cats may urinate or
defecate on a machine while an
owner isn’t looking.
The frequency of issues with
oxygen equipment means that a
major portion of providers spend
well over $1000,000 per year on
equipment service, with some larger
companies spending up to $500,000
or even $1 million each year.
Fleet management is not an
insignificant part of a provider’s cost
generation, including resources
spent on employees tasked with
tracking down service records and
managing a variety of vendors.
With each vendor manufacturing
a different machine with a specific
repair process, equipment management
can quickly become complex
and overwhelming.
But, despite clear room for innovation,
equipment servicing was not a
major area for business improvement
until recently. Now, companies are
beginning to realize the amount of
inefficiency that was inherent to the
equipment servicing process and
turning to new software solutions
and servicing options.
SOFTWARE SOLUTION
TO EQUIPMENT ISSUES
Cloud-based equipment management
platforms, while not quite an
industry standard yet, are becoming
more popular among providers who
want a self-serve option for a process
that used to take hours or even
days. Using technology like Quality
Biomedical’s Q-Connect platform (qualitybiomedical.com),
customers can click on a specific
concentrator or ventilatory and
request an RMA number that will be
delivered within seconds.
Service records are now maintained
online, with a provider able to click
on a serial number of a machine and
determine how much money was spent
on the asset and if it’s worth pouring
more funds and time into the oxygen
product. Shipping is also tracked
within the platform, showing a UPS
tracking number if available or a return
date if Quality Biomedical’s trucks are
taking it back to a provider warehouse.
The platform has since been
integrated into Brightree’s asset
management offerings, allowing
customers to perform maintenance
duties within the more comprehensive
HME software. Providers report
an increase in efficiency, visibility
and control over their own equipment
management process, especially
since HME businesses have
the ability to see the big picture of
their fleet’s PM cycles. There are also
options to dig deeper into the details
of where their oxygen products are
in the maintenance process.
Most importantly, as equipment
servicing becomes more efficient,
staff will no longer have to dread
fleet management and instead see
it as crucial to their operations.
Combined with remote monitoring
technology that is making it
possible to track down last machines,
employees are having to spend less
time on the nuisances of equipment
management and more time on
revenue-generating work.
NO ‘ONE SIZE FITS ALL’ APPROACH
Each oxygen business is unique – some companies operate their own
equipment trucks and some don’t.
Some have more warehouse staff
available to deal with concentrator or
ventilator issues; others have none.
This means that there is no one piece
of sage advice that can solve every
oxygen provider’s servicing issues,
no “one size fits all” solution.
But there are software platforms
that are lessening the burden on
HME providers and allowing them
to customize how they manage their
concentrator and ventilator fleets. It’s
ultimately up to each provider how
they choose to allocate their staff’s
time spent on fleet management,
and whether or not they will choose
to invest more funds into each
machine.
Speeding up turnaround time,
getting RMAs faster and getting
better utilization of existing
equipment is the chief goal of these
software solutions. Some equipment
servicing companies have indicated
a focus on replacing parts for a flat
rate in order to extend the lifecycle
of a machine, especially when it
comes to oxygen concentrators.
All of these innovations can lead to
lower costs for oxygen providers
and higher profit margins in the
long run.
As hospitals request more
ventilators from providers to meet
the demands of the COVID-19
pandemic, it’s become an even
larger imperative for businesses
to stay on top of their fleets and
ensure that patients have access to
the oxygen equipment they need.
Optimizing the servicing process
allows for providers to spend more
time on the logistical hurdles of the
coronavirus crisis.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Oxygen fleet management has historically been a
headache for providers due to long wait times for
return merchandise authorization (RMA) numbers
and the inability to track equipment servicing in
real-time. - The risks of damage to concentrators and
ventilators is well-documented, with equipment
suffering smoke, water and insect damage. - Recently developed software solutions are giving
providers more control over where their equipment
is sent and reducing the amount of time
employees spend on tracking down machines. - There is no “one size fits all” approach for
oxygen providers, which vary widely in offerings
and size. But customizable solutions simplify
seeing how much has been spent on a machine
and whether or not scrap it.
LEARN MORE
To learn more about recent developments
in remote monitoring technology, visit the HME
Business Oxygen Solutions Center.
