For a DME supplier, a referral is only potential revenue until equipment is delivered and the patient is set up. Between those points sit insurance verification, documentation collection, and authorization — and each is a place where referrals stall for days or fall out entirely. Documentation that never comes back and authorizations that never clear are the quiet killers of DME intake: the referral was real, the patient was willing, but the order died in the paperwork. This dashboard turns intake into a managed pipeline.
What this report answers
Where do referrals enter, where do they drop, and how much revenue do completed setups produce? The funnel page counts referrals through each stage — received, qualified, documentation complete, authorized, setup — as a funnel visual, with referral volume by source and a setup-conversion rate by source. The drop-off page ranks why referrals die (documentation not returned, auth denied/pending, patient declined, not eligible), shows setup yield by payer, and ties each referral source to its received count, setups, conversion, and revenue.
The metrics that matter
Setup conversion (setup ÷ received) is the bottom line — the share of referrals that became delivered, billable orders. The interior steps localize the leak: documentation complete ÷ qualified measures how well you collect CMNs and chart notes, and authorized ÷ documentation complete measures the auth process. Drop reasons turn the leak into an action list — "Documentation Not Returned" is a referral-follow-up fix; "Auth Denied/Pending" is an auth-team fix. Referral-to-setup revenue quantifies what the converted pipeline is worth.
Why the data is trapped
The referral log, the documentation queue, the authorization tracker, and the setup/delivery record live in separate parts of Brightree, NikoHealth, Bonafide, or TeamDME. A platform can show open referrals, but stitching them into a stage-by-stage funnel with drop reasons and conversion by source is exactly the modeling step most suppliers skip — so intake feels like a black box where some referrals become setups and others vanish without a traceable reason.
How to read it
Find the stage with the steepest drop. A big fall at documentation-complete points at referral follow-up and order entry; a fall at authorized points at the auth team or a specific payer. Then read drop reasons against sources: if one referral source consistently produces "Documentation Not Returned," that's a process conversation with that referrer. Setup yield by payer flags authorization-heavy payers. The revenue tie-out shows which sources are worth the intake effort. This sample uses synthetic referrals only — no PHI.
Metrics it tracks
| Metric | What it means |
|---|---|
| Referrals Received | Count of incoming referrals — rows where ReceivedFlag = 1. |
| Qualified | Referrals with insurance verified and medically appropriate — rows where QualifiedFlag = 1. |
| Documentation Complete | Referrals with CMN, Rx, and chart notes in hand — rows where DocCompleteFlag = 1. |
| Authorized | Referrals with payer authorization secured — rows where AuthorizedFlag = 1. |
| Setup Completed | Referrals delivered and set up at the patient — rows where SetupFlag = 1. |
| Referral-to-Setup Revenue | Revenue from completed setups — SUM(SetupRevenue). |
Used by: DME/HME owner; intake/referral coordinator
Frequently asked questions
Why do DME referrals fail to become setups?
The frequent reasons are documentation never returned (no CMN, Rx, or chart notes), authorization denied or stuck pending, the patient declining, and ineligibility. Documentation and authorization are the two biggest leaks — the referral and patient were real, but the order died in paperwork. Tracking drop reasons by stage shows which to fix.
How do I measure DME intake conversion?
Track the funnel from referral received through qualified, documentation complete, authorized, and setup completed, and read setup ÷ received as the overall conversion. The interior step ratios localize where referrals stall, and conversion by referral source shows which referrers send orders that actually close.
Which referral sources are worth prioritizing?
The ones with high setup conversion and revenue, not just high referral volume. A source that sends many referrals but few complete documentation or clear authorization may be costing more intake effort than it returns. Tying each source to conversion and revenue is how a supplier decides where to invest the relationship.
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