Össur Launches AI-Based DME, Orthotics Workflow System

Össur has rolled out the EmpowerX—the first fully automated, artificial intelligence-integrated durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies’ practice and workflow management solution for U.S.-based orthopedic practices and hospital systems.

According to Össur, EmpowerX streamline workflows, reduce errors, and enhances patient care. Specifically, the system automates product procurement, purchase order management, inventory oversight, and the process of dispensing of bracing and supports.

Also, the system handles insurance verification, automatically conducts same-or-similar checks, and includes Medicare Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage requirements.

OTW asked Össur about the genesis of the system and Mark Tymchenko, Össur’s VP of Bracing & Supports and Business Development, explained, “We spent years gathering customer input to ensure our solution would effectively address their priorities. To create a system like EmpowerX, we made considerable investments of time and effort to develop an entirely new tool instead of just making incremental upgrades. Össur is committed to building a solution that would represent a new pinnacle in Durable Medical Equipment management.”

Integration With Electronic Medical Records

“EmpowerX enhances Orthopedic Durable Medical Equipment programs with its connection to electronic medical records systems,” said Tymchenko, “Its integration seamlessly passes the charge entry and patient documents and has been documented to save clinics up to five minutes per Durable Medical Equipment dispensed.”

“EmpowerX features ConneX, an innovative three-point data solution designed to automate workflows by integrating electronic medical records/electronic health records systems to reduce errors, provide greater flexibility, and enable easier navigation than other systems on the market.”

Insurance Verification and More

Regarding insurance verification and automatic same-or-similar checks, Tymchenko told OTW, “As a system, EmpowerX automatically and instantly checks behind the scenes, during its intuitive dispensing workflow.”

“It automatically checks same or similar and eligibility in the background while also verifying a patient’s insurance status, including whether their insurance is active. It determines their deductible and out-of-pocket maximums and remaining balances. It also identifies any co-insurance they may have and categorizes their Durable Medical Equipment benefits.”

“In our customer-focused research, we discovered all other Durable Medical Equipment platforms were disrupting the dispensing workflow. When we learned that clinics would rather have a system that was one step ahead in the process, we designed EmpowerX to ‘check so the clinician doesn’t have to.’”

Eliminate Inefficiencies From Manual Entry

“ConneX’s bi-directional integration provides a three-point data transfer between the electronic medical records system and the EmpowerX solution. These three-points include patient demographic from the electronic medical records, documents from EmpowerX, and claim level charges from EmpowerX to the electronic medical records. EmpowerX facilitates robust communication between systems, eliminating the need for workarounds and manual entry, while ensuring accuracy. By avoiding inefficiencies caused by manual entries, providers can focus on what matters most—delivering high-quality patient care—while ConneX handles the behind-the-scenes integration.”

Cut Provider Burnout

Provider burnout, EmpowerX even helps with that. According to Tymchenko, “Earlier this year, the National Academy of Medicine reported that poorly designed health IT can cause healthcare workers to experience frustration and errors in their work. The report specifically mentioned working with electronic health records as a frequent cause of health worker frustration and burnout, and that having inefficient workflows could cause interruptions and distractions that were associated with lower-quality and less safe care.

Supporting the Change Process

“During our market research, we learned that change management is one of the biggest challenges for clinics when they are taking on a new platform, and that some might resist changing platforms primarily to avoid the headaches associated with change. EmpowerX helps address these issues with its in-app training capabilities designed to assist with onboarding, and our dedicated team of Empower Xperts, who provide all clients with hands-on support in administration, reimbursement, billing and inventory management, so they can truly optimize their clinical operations. To date, EmpowerX is the only solution in the market offering this unique combination of support.”