An HME patient, Helen, receives resupply equipment every month. Her HME provider hasn’t integrated digital applications or notifications into their delivery process. Helen knows her equipment is supposed to arrive on a certain day, but she’s not sure when, and so she waits at home knowing that she’ll need to sign for it. And waits. And waits, frustrated that she isn’t sure her package is even on its way.
Finally, a delivery truck pulls up, and a driver she doesn’t recognize approaches her door. His arms are full with her packages and a pile of paperwork that she’ll need to fill out before he can get on his way. After several awkward minutes in the doorway, shuffling packages and paperwork back and forth, she thinks she’s signed everything she needs to. The driver heads back to his truck, hands holding a stack of completed paperwork that he needs to file in order to make sure Helen’s delivery is appropriately documented. Helen worries that, if a form was forgotten or a signature was missed, she’ll need to repeat this process over again on another day.
Down the street, Martin is also expecting an HME resupply delivery. Since his delivery driver’s mobile delivery route is optimized, the driver arrives when expected and brings the package along with a tablet to the door. Martin signs just once on the tablet, and his driver is on his way. Martin’s paperwork is automatically filed electronically and goes straight to his provider. If he has any questions, he can contact his provider right away and feel confident they already have all the information about his resupply on hand.
Comparing these two experiences, what do we see? Helen was left frustrated and inconvenienced by her delivery. Martin’s delivery fit seamlessly into his day, and he hardly had to think twice about it. The difference? Martin’s HME provider used a paperless workflow.