GPS — It’s not just for Fleet Management

Sales reps and clinicians also need to track their mileage for purposes of accurate reimbursement.

• By David Kopf
• Nov 01, 2010

Of course, delivery management is only one way that HME providers can leverage the benefit of GPS. There are other aspects of providing homecare services and DME that can be optimized through satellite technology. By the same token, sales reps and clinicians also need to keep track of their mileage for the purposes of mileage reimbursement.

So HMEGPS unveiled a sister product of its FleetTraks delivery management system called MileageTraks, which is intended for clinicians and sales reps. Since these HME industry professionals are often using their personal vehicles for company business, they need to account for the mileage. By using GPS, both the HME provider management and the clinician or salesperson can ensure accurate accounting for that mileage, as well as efficient route planning between appointments to ensure optimal travel time.

The basic unit combines GPS with cellular communications to send the data in real time. In instances when the employee is in the field, but doesn’t have coverage, the unit stores the information and sends it when it has coverage.

MileageTraks starts with a GPS unit that can be permanently installed into a vehicle, or, in most instances, it can be portable and powered through a dashboard charger. It also has a backup battery so that the unit can send data when the power is cut off to the cigarette lighter, such as when the car is parked. But the result is that there is constant data when the employee is on the job.

“It supplies live information when the employee is on-duty and affords privacy when the employee is off-duty,” says Bob Wagner, owner of HMEGPS. When the employee is on-duty and in the field, the provider can know where he or she is, how many reimbursable miles are being traveled, and that he or she is being productive.

As the employee travels, the MileageTraks unit calculates accurate miles that are then sent to HMEGPS’s main datacenter. The provider can then access that real-time GPS monitoring data through any computer connected to the Internet.

Once the salesperson or clinician starts his or her day and begins accumulating mileage, he or she can use a smart phone or web browser to logon to the system and activate their MileageTraks unit so that it starts reporting to the system. At that moment the employee’s car shows up on the provider’s live GPS monitoring screen, and the unit is now collecting data and mileage information.

“It’s accumulating very accurate miles,” Wagner says. “Not only do you have this global view that management gets, but you also have the ability for the individual to log in and get his or her information.”

That employee report encapsulates everything the clinician or sales needs to file his or her expense report. Plus, this provides definitive supporting documentation for tax purposes.

Pricing for the MileageTraks system is the same as for HMEGPS’s fl eet management systems and services, but there is no installation charge for the portable unit.

This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of HME Business.