MetTel issued the following announcement on Dec. 13.
MetTel is helping Rotech Healthcare Inc. to drive better patient care and personalization at healthcare facilities and at home through an innovative mobile initiative that has raised Rotech's workforce productivity and doubled customer contact, both companies announced.
Rotech is a nationwide leader in home medical products including oxygen, ventilators, sleep apnea treatment and other home medical equipment. As such, the company needs to respond quickly and efficiently to market shifts in the healthcare industry, including those spurred by government cutbacks such as the trend toward remote patient monitoring or telehealth.
Healthcare spending in the US is projected by the U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to rise 5.3 percent in 2018, from $3.5 trillion in 2017. But healthcare providers are increasingly challenged to manage costs. According to the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program, Medicare can fine hospitals as much as 3% of total operating revenue for 30-day patient readmissions. Readmission penalties levied on US hospitals are estimated to increase over 20 percent to $564 million in 2018. While healthcare costs rise and reimbursements decline, a chief result is dramatically increased demand for home-based healthcare – spikes in demand that companies such as Rotech are challenged to meet.
Marketplace and Industry Challenges regarding Patient Access to Care
Meanwhile, a number of factors are hindering a patient's access to care and a provider's ability to deliver cost-effective, high-quality healthcare. These factors include a host of administrative, marketplace and regulatory developments; innumerable quality metrics reporting requirements; millions of new patients that have been introduced under the Affordable Care Act; and massive health system and hospital consolidation - all of which have impacted the amount of time providers are able to spend with their patients.
Given these implications, patients are left wondering what alternatives are being put into place to ensure that they are able to access quality care from their physician. That's where Rotech Healthcare comes in. Rotech helps to ensure that patients receive the necessary medical equipment and devices vital to support greater number of patient utilizing the most innovative, secure and cost-effective delivery systems.
Enterprise Mobility and Remote Patient Care
Together, MetTel and Rotech have deployed more than 700 customized Samsung tablets to field technicians, eliminating manual log sheets by going completely digital and generating increased scheduling efficiency and productivity. The Rotech technicians also have the ability to have more flexibility to adjust their schedules based on new patient or delivery data. With the support of MetTel, Rotech is able to bolster its mobile workforce by connecting field service technicians and sales representatives anytime from anywhere. With 325 branch locations and more than 3,000 employees across the U.S., the network effect of a more connected workforce can be substantial.
"Prior to our engagement with MetTel, we faced a number of challenges; paper-based processes, problematic legacy systems, inefficient back-end operations, a lack of interoperability, and delayed payments. Now, we are in the process of digitally transforming all aspects of our front-end and back office operations, which has served as a force multiplier for our business," said Mesha Sookdeo, CIO Rotech Healthcare. "We have been able to more than double the patients we see each day. We are in process of digitally standardizing processes across the board and integrating stringent security measures to protect our patients' healthcare data. The result has been an increase in productivity, better resource allocation and improved service to our patient and institutional customers."
"Rotech understood the importance of digitally transforming its workflow processes, systems and overall operations to drive a more connected, efficient, productive and mobile workforce," said Max Silber, Vice President, Mobility, MetTel. "As we continue to help Rotech on its digital transformation journey, it will see the measurable benefits and efficiency of enterprise mobility to transform and empower its employees – and most importantly improve the lives of the patients they care for."
Original source can be found here.
