Software Companies Offer a Banquet of Options to Hungry Providers

Not so long ago, most home medical equipment providers displayed little appetite for computer software beyond basic programs for accounts payable, payroll and general ledger entry. But innovation and the need to keep up with an increasingly technological business climate are creating in providers a hunger for more advanced software systems, vendors say.

Now they're ordering automation systems such as efficient intake, certificate of medical necessity tracking, electronic billing, claims processing tools and easy-to-use forms. Some are also using the Web for transferring certain claims, vendors report, while others are salivating for e-commerce.

"More and more people are starting to embrace technology, much more than they were probably a year ago. I think most people are saying, `I've got to do this now,'" says Neill McKinnon, McKesson HBOC's former vice president of home care.

Along with buying new systems, vendors say, HME providers are upgrading and adding application modules to their systems, particularly as they broaden their service offerings to include infusion therapy or pharmacy operations, or when they specialize in product segments such as wound care, wheelchairs or oxygen.

And vendors are working to supply the software tools required for those specific business segments. Management by Information, for example, offers an integrated HME and IV-infused pharmacy product. Other vendors such as Spectrum Software/TeamDME! have tools for specific business segments including custom wheelchairs, wound care, electronic filing of claims and retail point-of-sale.

"Out of the new sales we encounter, we're seeing more of the multidiscipline installations," notes Terry McCoy, marketing director of MCS.

WATCHING YOUR BACK

With any software installation, integration with current or other new programs is a key issue. "You need to have a strong back end so that you can connect the pieces. You don't want to have to re-key data," notes Heidi Thometz, director of marketing and sales for Computers Unlimited. "I don't think anyone wants to go out and have one system for oxygen and another for rehab and another to do inventory." She says she favors a system that can at least integrate the basics: inventory, billing and accounting.

Computer Applications Unlimited is another vendor advocating the integrated system approach. "The whole point is [to have] all of these little components that everybody buys separately and combine them into one product that you buy as a total system package," says Dave Kylen, president and chief executive officer.

OmniSys also sees providers going for more integrated solutions. "We try to develop the components of our system that are directly related to billing and receiving, inventory management and the core part of the customer business so that it is consistent, completely integrated and reliable," says Heather Benzi, sales and marketing manager.

NOT JUST ONE SYSTEM

For all this talk of integration, vendors admit they can't do everything - nor are they interested in reinventing the wheel. And indeed, with some new technology, it's no longer necessary to think of a single isolated system.

"I think what you are going to see is that there will not be just one system," says McKinnon. "More and more of the different systems that are out there will start to integrate with each other."

The reason for this trend, vendors say, is that as technologies proliferate, it becomes harder for any single vendor to have everything. "In the past, somebody would come to an MBI, a MestaMed, a FastTrack or some other company, and they would say, `We are looking for a system to run our company,'" says Rick Tanguay, president of Management by Information. "They would kind of look at us as the heart of everything,"

But in some cases, it now makes more sense to incorporate third-party software rather than develop a similar product in-house. "Maybe you as a software company aren't big enough to spend half a million dollars developing some specialty piece - job costing for doing repairs or tracking for customized wheelchairs, for example," says Thometz. "If there's somebody out there who already has got a piece, if you integrate it, then the customer can take this little add-on and plug it in."

While that theory is not so applicable to pieces that must operate based on business rules specific to home care, vendors say it makes sense for tools that are generic in nature, such as cash register or point-of-sale software.

"We're always looking at those different opportunities that are available to us from a technology standpoint to make [sure] our customers have the best possible systems available to them, whether it's something we develop ourselves or something we provide through an integrated solution," says Benzi.

Tanguay says that what providers want today is more like a nervous system of applications that connect seamlessly to each other. "Rather than asking, `MBI, what does your scheduling system do?' or `How can we communicate with our different staff?' the question is, `Can you work with my exchange server, with my Web site and with my Palm Pilot?'" he says.

And questions such as these inspire new technology - and a positive future for computerization of the HME industry.

ONE AREA in which many software vendors are partnering to offer integrated solutions is electronic commerce. That means pairing up with large distributors such as McKesson HBOC Redline and its Red-e-Net online ordering tool or with one of a number of rising health care dot-coms. These companies are taking a growing role in the online automation space with a variety of e-commerce ordering, support and configuration tools - and software manufacturers are taking advantage of the unique strengths these companies offer.

Several vendors, including Computer Applications Unlimited, Computers Unlimited and Spectrum Software/TeamDME!, are building such interfaces between their HME systems and the online commerce conduit bConnected.

"We are working with bConnected to allow our customers to generate a purchase order in our system and to send that electronically to Invacare, Sunrise and any of the other manufacturers," explains Rick Long, president of Spectrum Software/TeamDME!

Acknowledgments of receipt and invoices would then go right to the back end and be automatically reconciled for payment, he says.

Trying to assemble a best-of-breed collection of software applications for HME is troublesome on a number of fronts, as the following vendors point out.

Selection: "You can't just take any off-the-shelf receivables package and plug it into a program because [durable medical equipment] and HME receivables are very different in the way you have to track payments. The program needs to be very specific to your application." - Heather Benzi, OmniSys

Integration: "[Some software programs] may be able to access something like an accounts receivable application, but they don't integrate the data. That data has to be pulled out and put into the other module you are trying to use." - Terry McCoy, MCS

Operation: "You may end up with all of these different programs on your system that have been developed by all these different people, and they all work differently. It's almost a nightmare training people how to use it." - Jim Highsmith, SoftCare Software

Maintenance: "You have to be so careful in this industry because it's such a dynamic industry and systems need to be modified frequently. With applications in the home care industry and especially for providers with integrated products, every time there is a change, upgrade or enhancement, it can potentially affect many components of your system." - Heather Benzi, OmniSys