The pandemic exacerbated supply chain issues across the board, and medical devices and rehabilitation equipment did not escape the delays. Enter Middleton, Wisconsin-based RehabPulse — the company gets patients the medical equipment they need at lower prices and handles the insurance reimbursement for the patient to boot.
The company hosts an online marketplace so patients can procure the rehabilitation devices their doctors prescribe. The patients can do this from the convenience of their homes, a key benefit for disabled patients.
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Usually, when patients need rehab equipment, they have to go to a brick and mortar durable medical equipment (DME) store to buy the item. As a result, patients are limited by what the store had in stock, rather than being able to see items from all stores in one place. Further, patients in rural areas may not have a DME store local to them, making it difficult to procure equipment.
“Insurance reimbursable DME is generally purchased in local DME dealer’s brick and mortar shops, requiring potentially disabled consumers to travel to a location multiple times before they can receive their product,” said Gaurav Mishra, president and CEO of RehabPulse in an email. “Most of these DME dealers are small shops, with only a few players operating at a national level. The patient is restricted to looking out for the dealers in their vicinity and many times there may be no such a location in the rural areas. RehabPulse has no such restrictions for patient and the technology platform allows it to serve patients across the entire US.”
Some online DME stores do exist, such as Spinlife, Rehabmart, and Scootaround. However, they do not process insurance claims. The patients have to buy the equipment and then work on the insurance reimbursement themselves, Mishra said.
RehabPulse addresses both needs: the company claims to have a thorough stock of rehabilitation equipment in an online market place and it handles insurance reimbursement so patients don’t have to.
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RehabPulse’s online marketplace offers equipment — wheelchairs, hinged braces, oxygen concentrators, breast pumps, button pull zipping aids, and other items. Further, it has a network of clinicians, home evaluators, and therapists to perform home assessments, white-glove delivery, device set-up, maintenance guidance, and training upon arrival of equipment.
“Amazon only sells non-custom DME products. For example, a custom wheelchairs that needs measurements and has number of parts configuration cannot be sold on Amazon,” Mishra said. “Amazon only sells non-custom preboxed products in DME. If the products are built on order, Amazon does not sell it.”
The company started with its e-commerce platform back in 2020. In the middle of 2021, it added the insurance claims component. In 12 months from launch, the business grew exponentially — 1400%, claimed Mishra. He said the company is expecting to hit the multi-million-dollar range in annual revenue, but declined to provide specific numbers citing the fact that the company is private.
“Dealers have historically charged high mark-ups on DME, causing both insurance companies and consumers to pay more for their rehabilitation equipment,” Mishra said. “RehabPulse e-commerce platform can disrupt the traditional brick and mortar model, offering a more affordable and convenient channel for purchasing DME. RehabPulse has further developed almost 85% nationwide coverage of contracted technicians and therapists to offer homecare services and look after these mobility challenged customers right at their home.”
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