Drive Medical

Decrease the Total Cost of Bed Ownership

The financial pressures imposed by Medicare’s competitive bidding initiatives are being felt across the industry. DME providers and distributors that don’t manage their beds business carefully can easily find themselves losing money on every homecare or long-term care bed they provide. If you have not already seen our articles about maximizing your referrals, managing bed inventory, and reducing operational costs, you should. Each offers important perspectives that could make the difference between barely surviving and thriving as a business. Now we will address the most important business factor, which is bed lifecycle management.

Bed Lifecycle Management

The lifecycle of a DME bed will depend heavily on what percentage of your business is focused on Medicare-reimbursed homecare, hospice, long-term care or other markets. In all cases, most beds are recycled and used by multiple patients. Providers that focus on homecare might normally see rentals capped out after 3-4 patients, while those that sell to hospices may see far more usage of a bed.

Medicare expects a piece of equipment to last 5 years and will not usually pay for like or similar equipment within that time frame. The bed that you choose must be able to withstand repeated use.

Warranty and Replacement

Our recommendation is to choose a bed with a lifetime warranty on the frame and a 5-year warranty on the hand control and motor. In the event that the motor or hand control fails within the 5-year Medicare reimbursement period, the worst-case scenario is that you just get a new replacement bed. With any warranty period less than this, you risk covering replacement under your own expense.

What does a 5-year warranty tell you about the manufacturer? Obviously, the manufacturer stands behind the bed. You can feel confident that the bed will last much longer than the minimum 5 years, greatly offsetting any minor difference in the initial cost.