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Case Study: Apria Healthcare

Paperless billing saves money, lowers compliance risk and accelerates cash flow. 

Apria Healthcare logo.
 
 

Challenge

 

Challenge

 
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Apria Healthcare was drowning in paper. Patient files, which included prescriptions, work orders, insurance forms and delivery and receipt information, averaged 45 pages. Apria's 17 regional billing centers were staffed by 130 full-time employees who processed each document required for reimbursement. Unfortunately, the processing time of approximately three weeks per file slowed down cash flow and customer service. 
 
 

"Ricoh was phenomenal. They improved on our suggested schedules, even though the volume of documents far exceeded our original estimate. They did a great job for us." 

Paul Heuvel 
Vice President of Billing Center Operations 
Apria Healthcare

 
 
 

Solution

 

Solution

 
 

After implementing a successful proof of concept at one site, we went ahead with an enterprise version that enabled Apria to consolidate 17 billing centers to three.

 
 

In addition to our Managed Print Services for installation, training and support, our solution included:

 

  • Scanners
  • Document capture and indexing software
  • Content management platform

We also included optical character recognition (OCR) software, which automatically detects the different types of documents in a patient file, separates them, and sends them to the correct location within the content management system (CMS).

 

After the solution was implemented, using our Business Process Outsourcing Services we completed a backfile conversion of existing patient files (50 million images) in just six months by using 26 of our U.S. imaging centers.

 

About Apria Healthcare

Apria Healthcare is a leading provider of home respiratory services and medical equipment, including oxygen and inhalation therapies. The company owns and operates more than 375 offices throughout the U.S. 
 
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Result

Aside from government accounts and other third-party payers that are outside of Apria's control, all billing processes are now paperless. By eliminating the flood of paper, Apria has:

  • Consolidated billing centers and reduced labor hours, saving $300,000 monthly.
  • Cut billing process time from three weeks to one week or less.
  • Reduced days sales outstanding (DSO) and accelerated cash flow.
  • Lowered compliance risk with easy-to-locate files and faster document retrieval during audits.
  • Implemented an efficient document retention program, in which fewer paper files need to be kept after scanning.

While the number of billing centers increased slightly after an acquisition, the solution continues to deliver the promised efficiencies. As Apria says, "...scanning is a no brainer."