CPAP Repair: Three Strategies To Ease the Hassle for HME Providers

Originally appeared in HME News - click for full article

With the current CPAP shortage, every day that a unit is out for repair is a day of lost revenue for you and a disruption in treatment for your patients. That makes it more important than ever to have a full fleet of devices at the ready to meet growing patient demand.

“With the current CPAP shortage, every day that a unit is out for repair is a day of lost revenue for you and a disruption in treatment for your patients. That makes it more important than ever to have a full fleet of devices at the ready to meet growing patient demand.”

Then there’s the added challenge of serving patients with malfunctioning devices that are out-of-warranty and patient-owned: helping them access repairs is time-consuming and can result in extra expense that isn’t reimbursable.

The good news is that CPAP repair doesn’t have to be such a hassle. Here are three strategies to help keep your CPAP devices in good repair and in patients’ homes where they belong:

Utilize a manufacturer-authorized repair center. Many HME providers reflexively send CPAP devices to the manufacturer when they break down. Remember the days when they would simply send you a new one? Thanks to the surge in demand and shortage of devices, those days are over. Rather than sending your broken CPAPs to the manufacturer, send them to a manufacturer-authorized repair center like Repair Authority instead. You’ll get faster turnaround times and reliable repairs using only OEM diagnostic tools and parts.

Here’s an example – once you retrieve the device from the patient, send it to the manufacturer, wait for an estimate, send it to insurance, wait for payer approval, wait for the repair, then return it to the patient, the unit can be out of commission for 60 days or more. Since most payers only cover one month of a short-term rental (assuming you even have extra devices in stock), you’re left to eat the cost – or charge the patient – for that extra month or two.

In contrast, a CPAP repair from Repair Authority typically cuts that turnaround time in half including estimate, insurance approval, repair and shipping. Devices are fixed and back out in the field more quickly, your patients experience less disruption to their therapy, and you ensure reimbursement for your short-term rentals.

Refer your patients to CPAP Medic for patient-owned repairs. With a short capped rental period and often-long course of therapy, CPAP patients often need a repair after their unit is out-of-warranty and patient-owned. Assisting a patient with such repairs costs you non-reimbursable time.

CPAP Medic is a direct-to-patient retail repair option with convenient online ordering, turnaround times as quick as one to two days, and free return shipping. Making a referral to CPAP Medic allows you to be helpful to your patient while avoiding the time, cost and hassle of facilitating a patient-owned repair. Your patients get the same reliable repairs using OEM diagnostic tools and parts with a one-year warranty. Plus, the cost is usually comparable to the patient’s deductible and they are often willing to pay out-of-pocket for a quicker turnaround and better consumer experience.

To make it easy to refer your patients, we can provide point-of-purchase materials for your office or showroom including signage and display racks.

Turn your devices faster with a between-patient clean-and-check. To make it fast and easy to get previously used devices ready for the next patient, Repair Authority offers a Clean-and-Check service that gives the unit a thorough interior and exterior cleaning, new filters and seals, firmware update if needed and a diagnostic test to make sure it's operating properly. It’s a way to feel confident that you are deploying a unit "like new" to your next patient.

To learn more, contact Jenny Meske at jmeske@repairauthority.com.

For direct-to-patient repairs, point your patients toward CPAP Medic at www.cpapmedic.com. They can reach us by email at info@cpapmedic.com or by phone at 877.310.0343.