Advanced computer technology has revolutionized how people do business, even in home health care. Dealer/Provider spoke with Jerry Knight, president and CEO of Fidelis Software, Duluth, Ga, about how his company’s Web-based information technology offers solutions for the HME industry.

Q How does Brightree benefit home health care providers?
A Brightree is a simple solution to one of the biggest problems facing home care providers: the effective management of inventory, billing, receivables, and reporting—leading to greater profitability. Brightree improves workflow and productivity of insurance billing, inventory management, and collections, thereby increasing the company’s profit margin at the same time.

Q How is Brightree different from other systems?
A With our approach to HME management technology, Brightree is accessible anywhere, anytime using a Web browser. There are no license fees, and no hardware to buy or software to install. Minimal training is required, and implementation can be completed in days. Our platform (Microsoft.Net) enables tools for customers and referral sources to access the system, manage day-to-day activity with personalized reports and reminders to individual home pages, and even reorder inventory automatically.

Q How have dealers and providers received the program?
A We are just completing our beta phase. We imagined early on that our business model (application over the Internet) might cause reservation or hesitation, but the response has been the opposite. We believe health care is an ideal environment to do business and share information over the Internet. Many of the customers we have talked to are excited about our Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN) tool, our Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) readiness, and the Virtual Private Network (VPN) we create for multiple branches at no additional expense to our customers.

Q What new technological advancements can our readers expect from Fidelis?
A Microsoft has bet the ranch on .Net, and we will be exploiting technology (much of which is already available in other industries) to add a level of sophistication to our industry. We are not challenged with data synchronization like our competitors, so remote and handheld devices will be a big part of our future. We are excited to bring Brightree to the industry at this time without the baggage of legacy products.

Q Will Internet-driven technology solutions for business management become necessary for dealers and providers?
A We refer to our customer relationship as a Business Solutions Partner (BSP). If Brightree is regarded only as a software vendor, then we have failed. Technology provides the only hope of providing real-time information to make decisions that enhance customer service and loyalty as well as assist owners in managing their assets on a daily basis.

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