Parachute Health’s Role in DME Navigator

DME Navigator is a program that health plans use to manage digital ordering and authorization for durable medical equipment. Parachute Health provides the technology that connects clinicians, HME providers, and health plans in a single digital workflow.

Optum created DME Navigator to help health plans manage durable medical equipment benefits more efficiently. CareCentrix and Optum jointly manage the program; Parachute Health provides the technology that connects clinicians, providers, and health plans within it.

No, this is an industry shift. Nearly a decade ago, ePrescribing helped providers get paid faster by improving order quality and structure. Authorization and utilization workflows are the next phase of that same digital transformation, and it’s happening across payors and benefit managers industry-wide, not just through Parachute Health.

Optum, through CareCentrix, manages the DME Navigator program and its network terms, and uses Parachute Health’s technology to power digital ordering and authorization within it.

No. Parachute Health does not set reimbursement rates in DME Navigator. That decision sits with the health plan and its benefit managers, Optum and CareCentrix, who determine network terms and rates. Parachute Health’s role is purely in the technology layer: connecting clinicians, providers, and health plans so that orders and authorizations move through a single digital workflow.

Our direct partnership is with Optum. Optum works with CareCentrix and other benefit managers to manage DME Navigator’s network terms and reimbursement policy. Parachute Health doesn’t negotiate payor rates or contracts. Our role is the technology layer, connecting clinicians, providers, and health plans in one digital workflow.

Nearly a decade ago, ePrescribing helped providers get paid faster by making sure clinicians submitted clean, structured orders. Our role in DME Navigator is the same principle applied further down the order lifecycle: getting patients their equipment faster, giving providers a clearer path to payment, and giving health plans accurate, timely information.

No. Network design are made by health plans and benefit managers, not Parachute Health. Our focus is on ensuring the workflow is transparent and trackable, so providers can operate efficiently and patients are served faster.

Clinicians can send an order to any DME provider, whether or not that provider subscribes to Parachute.

Once a health plan goes live on DME Navigator, new start-of-care and continuation-of-care orders for that plan’s members must be submitted digitally through Parachute Health, either directly or by converting a faxed order via AI Intake.

Yes. Faxed orders can be converted into digital orders through AI Intake or an HME provider can input the order directly into Parachute. This works, but it takes longer than a digital order from the start, since faxed orders are missing information more often. We recommend digital ordering wherever possible.

Clinicians on Parachute Health see in-network providers for each patient’s health plan automatically. If a preferred provider isn’t in network, clinicians can select an out-of-network option, though that provider may not be able to accept the order.

No. In-network providers can use Parachute Health’s Introductory tier to receive orders and manage authorization for that health plan at no cost. Providers who want additional features, like ERP integrations or AI-powered fax intake, can upgrade to our Standard tier. Providers on the Standard tier find Parachute to be an efficient platform to manage and grow their business outside of just health plans on DME Navigator.

Fragmented, manual processes disproportionately hurt smaller providers because they have fewer administrative resources. A unified digital workflow can level the playing field by reducing duplicate entry, documentation errors, and time spent tracking status across systems.

Many solutions address a single step, like a portal for authorization or a tool for document capture. Parachute Health’s focus is an order management workflow that connects those steps together, so providers aren’t managing multiple disconnected systems for the same order.

Those questions go directly to the health plan or its benefit manager. Parachute Health can’t speak to rate or network decisions, but we’re glad to help with anything related to the Parachute Health platform itself.

BCBSTN, CareOregon, Molina (specific states)

Health plans typically communicate new authorization or ordering requirements directly to their network first. Once a partnership goes live, we reinforce that communication and make sure providers have the resources they need to get started.

If you’re already on Parachute Health, that health plan’s orders and authorization requirements automatically appear in your existing workflow starting on the go-live date with no separate setup required. If you’re not yet on Parachute Health, our onboarding team reaches out in the weeks leading up to launch to get you set up; you’re also welcome to contact us ahead of that.