Outsourced DME order intake: who checks the referral before the equipment goes out?
Every referral checked before anything leaves the warehouse.
A dedicated, full-time intake specialist from Neon Link costs $2,995 a month, month to month, or $2,895 a month on the 6-month plan, with no setup fee. Working remotely from the Philippines or India on your US business hours, they log every DME referral that comes in by fax, e-referral portal or email, check the order against what the item's coverage rules call for, verify benefits and start prior authorization, chase the prescriber's office for anything missing, and hand your team a file that is ready to schedule. It fits medical equipment suppliers whose referrals arrive faster than the office can work them, while clinical review and delivery stay with your team.
Rates come from our live rate card. Page updated .
See 3 candidate profiles for your role
Tell us the role. Within 48 hours our team emails you 3 anonymized profiles from people who applied for this kind of work with us: their experience, their region and the software they use.
What your Linker handles
- Log every referral as it arrives by fax, e-referral portal or email, with the patient, the item, the prescriber and the payer
- Check the order against the item's coverage rules: the written order, the prescriber's notes and any test results or forms the payer requires
- Verify eligibility and benefits, and the patient's share of the cost
- Start prior authorizations where the payer requires one, and track each to a decision
- Request missing documents from the prescriber's office by fax, portal and phone, and follow up until they arrive
- Call the patient or caregiver to confirm details, explain their estimated cost by your script and set up the delivery or first visit with your team
- Tell the referral source when an order is accepted, pending or declined, by your rules
- Send the intake manager a short daily list of referrals waiting on documents, benefits or a decision
We screen for the systems you run, such as Brightree or NikoHealth, the e-referral portals your prescribers use, such as Parachute Health, and payer portals such as Availity. If a finalist has not used yours, you'll know before they start.
How the work is measured
What your Linker is measured on. The targets are set with you in the first week, from your volumes and your hours, and written into your statement of work.
- Every referral logged with its status and next step, so nothing sits in the fax queue
- Missing documents requested promptly and followed up until they arrive or the order is declined
- Benefits and authorization status on every file before it goes to scheduling
- Referral sources told where their order stands, on the schedule you set
What a team costs
| Team | Month to month | 6-month plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Linker | $2,995 | $2,895 |
| 2 Linkers | $5,990 | $5,790 |
| 3 Linkers | $8,985 | $8,685 |
| 4 Linkers | $11,980 | $11,580 |
| 5 Linkers | $14,975 | $14,475 |
| 6 Linkers | $17,970 | $17,370 |
Per month. 40 hours a week per Linker. No setup fee. Prices from our live rate card.
How we vet your Linker
Our recruiting team in the Philippines runs a strict screening and review of every applicant, using a process built by our founder, Dan Betthauser, from twenty years running outsourced operations across the Philippines, Costa Rica and the United States. Every Linker goes through:
- A screen of the application against your role: the work, the software and the experience you need
- A recorded spoken English sample, reviewed by our team
- A practical skills test for your work, scored in our own system
- A live video interview with our recruiting team
- An ID check and a background check: NBI clearance in the Philippines, police clearance in India and Pakistan
- A workspace check before day one: a quiet, private room, wired internet, a backup connection and a plan for power outages
- A signed confidentiality agreement before they see any of your data
- Your own interview with the finalist: nobody starts until you say yes
How it starts
- Step 1Tell us the work: a 15 or 30 minute call with our team, or the sixty second scope on the homepage.
- Step 2Get a written quote at the published rate, held for 30 days.
- Step 3We recruit and screen for your work and your software, and you interview the finalist before they start.
- Step 4Your Linker works your queue on your hours. A Neon Link manager runs the account and answers when you need them.
- Step 5If the fit is wrong in the first 60 days, we swap them at no cost.
A good fit, and not a fit
- DME and HME suppliers whose referrals come in by fax faster than the office can check them
- Suppliers that lose referrals to faster competitors because orders sit waiting on documents
- Clinical review, such as a respiratory therapist's review of the order. Your Linker gathers the file; your clinicians review it
- Delivery, setup or patient training on the equipment
- Changing an order. Anything that needs a change goes back to the prescriber
- Suppliers whose state Medicaid program or payer contracts do not allow patient data to be handled offshore. Check yours before you start
Open roles behind this page
We recruit for this work now. These are the live postings we hire your Linker from:
See 3 candidate profiles for your role
Tell us the role. Within 48 hours our team emails you 3 anonymized profiles from people who applied for this kind of work with us: their experience, their region and the software they use.
Questions owners ask
How much does it cost to outsource DME order intake?
$2,995 a month for one dedicated, full-time person (40 hours a week), month to month, or $2,895 a month on the 6-month plan. There is no setup fee, and pay, equipment and management are inside that one number. For comparison, a US medical records specialist costs about $5,990 a month fully loaded, using the BLS median wage plus employer costs.
What does a complete DME order need?
It depends on the item and the payer. Most need a written order with the patient, the item, the date and the prescriber's signature, notes from the prescriber that support the need, and for some items a test result or a payer form. Your Linker checks each referral against the rules you and your payers set and asks the prescriber's office for anything missing before the file moves on.
How is patient information handled?
HIPAA requires a business associate agreement before an outside party handles patient information, so one is signed before your Linker sees any. Your Linker signs a confidentiality agreement, passes a background check, and works from a private space where patient information cannot be seen or overheard. We screen for people who understand the HIPAA minimum necessary rule and keep patient records off personal devices, and they work inside your systems with the access you give them. Some state Medicaid programs and payer contracts limit offshore access to patient data, so check yours before you start.
How is this different from hiring a virtual assistant?
You get one dedicated person who handles your work on your hours, inside your software, and a Neon Link manager runs the account: pay, equipment, replacement if it comes to that, and a phone that gets answered. You never run offshore payroll or manage a freelancer alone. It is not a ticket queue or a 24/7 answering line.
How fast can someone start?
We start recruiting when you say go. You interview the finalist before anyone starts, and the start date is set with you once you pick the person. We would rather take the time to find the right fit than hand you whoever is free.
What if the person is not the right fit?
If the fit is wrong in the first 60 days, we swap them at no cost. After that, if they leave, we recruit the replacement at no charge and manage the handover. Training on your process runs at the normal monthly rate.
Do we have to sign a long contract?
No. Month to month is available on every plan. The 6-month plan trades a longer commitment for a lower monthly rate. A written quote at the published rate is held for 30 days.
Related pages
- Medical Billing Companies: Claims follow-up, AR and denials, payer enrollment, the queues your team never gets to.
- Brightree billing specialist for DME suppliers: Documentation checks, rental and resupply billing, DME MAC claims, denials and AR in Brightree, for durable medical equipment suppliers.
- Prior authorization specialist: What a dedicated prior authorization and eligibility specialist costs a month, and the authorization work they take off your clinical team.
1 US medical records specialist, fully loaded: ~$5,990/mo How we calculate this
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