Home Heath

I am looking for suggestions on controlling supply costs. One issue in particular is the cost of wound care supplies as ordered by the main wound care clinic referral source we have. We are a small agency and the monthly supply costs for their patients is nearly half our budget, as they have numerous patients with very specific orders.

Has anyone been successful in asking the clinic to supply some of the more specialized dressings?

We are also in working on changing the process by which our nurses obtain their supplies. They are currently able to walk into the supply room and walk out with whatever they need, and I think we are going to need to decrease, or more closely monitor, the access to the supplies.

Thanks for the help,

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J Scott Lambert MPT, JD
Director
Washington Regional Home Health
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For an update, we just met with the Director of the wound care center, and she told us that other agencies in the area are utilizing DME companies to provide wound care supplies for some of their patients, and that we are the only one not doing that. I was under the impression that under bundled payments, we are solely responsible for providing the supplies our patients require and that we can't shift that elsewhere. I would love to hear that I'm wrong and that we can utilize DME to satisfy at least some of the supply needs.

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J Scott Lambert MPT, JD
Director
Washington Regional Home Health
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Scott, 

The agency is responsible for the bundled supplies for Medicare patients. Others are dependent on the terms of the contract. If you eliminate the supply room with unfettered access, you will undoubtedly save money. 

Agencies can contract with a DME for the supplies, but still have to cover the cost. There are large national/regional suppliers that provide this service and ship to the patient for a fee. You may find local DMEs willing to do this as well.

We have also worked with our wound care center to allow for equivalent supplies rather than name brand which is also a cost saver.

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Cheri Greenwell
Director of Clinical Operations
Aultman Health Care in Your Home
Canton OH
+1 (330) 479-4909
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-07-2025 09:58
From: Scott Lambert
Subject: Supply costs

For an update, we just met with the Director of the wound care center, and she told us that other agencies in the area are utilizing DME companies to provide wound care supplies for some of their patients, and that we are the only one not doing that. I was under the impression that under bundled payments, we are solely responsible for providing the supplies our patients require and that we can't shift that elsewhere. I would love to hear that I'm wrong and that we can utilize DME to satisfy at least some of the supply needs.

------------------------------
J Scott Lambert MPT, JD
Director
Washington Regional Home Health
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