Cut CRT cycle time with AI
poppy is software for complex rehab technology (CRT) suppliers. AI reads the therapist’s evaluation, drafts the letter of medical necessity (LMN) and checks the case against the payer’s list. People approve every step. Fewer waiting days means earlier delivery and earlier billing.
Twenty minutes with the two founders. We are not selling anything yet.
Where do your days go?
Much of a case's time may be waiting, not work. Set one typical case, from evaluation to the payer's decision. Ordering, build and delivery come after that, and are not counted here. Medicare’s standard prior authorization review is up to 7 calendar days, so the last wait starts at 7. Other payers differ. Each wait is one petal, and the petal grows with its days. The three orange petals are waits before the payer sees the case. The green petal is the payer’s review. These are example numbers.
What is a case worth to you?
Every day a case waits, the revenue on it waits too. Revenue waiting is cases a month, times what one case is worth, times the days, divided by 30.
Example numbers. Use your own.
What if the first three waits got shorter?
poppy goes after the first three waits, the orange petals. The payer still takes the time it takes. This is a what-if, not a promise. Fewer waiting days means earlier delivery and earlier billing. We quote no number until we have measured cycle time and dollars against your own baseline.
Missing pages cost you days
A prior authorization request needs several documents at once. When one is missing, the request goes back and the wait starts again.
- What Medicare asks for
- For a power mobility device, the request includes the face-to-face evaluation, a specialty evaluation with no financial tie to the supplier, documentation from a RESNA-certified ATP, and the written order prior to delivery (WOPD). The WOPD must be done within six months of the face-to-face.
- How long the payer takes
- Medicare’s standard review is up to 7 calendar days, since January 1, 2025. Expedited review is 2 business days. Other payers set their own times.
- What a gap does
- A request that is not affirmed can be fixed and sent again as many times as needed. Each new submission is a new review. An affirmed decision carries a tracking number that goes on the claim.
- Where gaps happen
- A 2011 federal review (OIG) sampled 375 power wheelchair claims from early 2007. For complex rehab chairs, 32% lacked enough documentation to judge medical necessity, and 24% were judged not medically necessary. The data is old and the rules have changed. We cite it to show where the paperwork breaks, not as a rate for today.
Sources: CMS, DMEPOS prior authorization, Noridian, prior authorization for power mobility devices, HHS OIG report OEI-04-09-00260. Check your own payer’s current rules.
How poppy would do it
poppy is not built yet. This is our plan, and we want you to correct it.
- 1. Take in the case
- Staff upload the therapist’s evaluation, the order and the quote. We can start without connecting to your order or billing system. Whether to connect later is a question for you.
- 2. AI reads the evaluation
- A language model reads the evaluation text and pulls out the findings a payer looks for: mobility limits, seating and positioning needs, measurements and trial results. It keeps the page number of each finding.
- 3. Rules check the case
- People write the payer’s checklist from its policy, such as the Medicare local coverage determination (LCD) for power mobility devices. The checklist is plain rules, not AI. It shows what is missing.
- 4. AI drafts, people approve
- AI drafts the LMN and one message for each person who can fix a gap. Every line cites its source. The ATP approves the letter, your staff approve each message, and the physician signs.
- 5. Record every wait
- poppy stamps the date each step starts and ends. That gives your cycle time by stage: evaluation to letter, letter to signature, submission to decision. We measure your baseline before we change anything.
- What AI does not do
- It does not decide coverage, sign for anyone, or send anything without a person’s approval.
One shared case.
Evaluation, order, quote and notes sit in one case. The therapist, ATP, physician and your staff each see their part. poppy dates every step, so you can see where days go.
Cannot self-propel a manual chair to do daily tasks at home.Eval p.2
Tilt-in-space is needed for pressure relief.Eval p.4
A lower seat-to-floor height is needed for safe transfers.Eval p.3
ATP: review and approveReview the letter. Each line points to the evaluation page it came from.
We want to learn from you
poppy is an early idea. Before we build more, we want 20 minutes with people who work these cases. You get a say in what we build first, and a summary of what we learn from other suppliers.
- Supplier owners, billing and funding staff
- What does one denied authorization cost you? We want your honest numbers: rework hours, delayed equipment, and what you have already tried.
- ATPs
- How long does one letter take? Walk us through your last one, what you pulled together, and where it stalled.
- PTs and OTs
- How much of an eval is paperwork? Tell us what a supplier asks you to add, and how often it comes back for more detail.
- Physicians and their offices
- Why do you sign or send a letter back? Tell us how these letters reach you, and what makes one easy or hard to sign.
Open at first light
A California poppy opens when the sun reaches it and folds when the light goes. A case should move the same way: the day the evaluation is done, not the day someone has time.
Questions
What is poppy? An idea for software that helps CRT suppliers cut the days from evaluation to delivery. It gives the therapist, ATP, physician and your staff one shared case. AI drafts the letter of medical necessity from the evaluation. Your staff approve every message and every letter.
Who is behind it? Two co-founders with about 10 years combined building healthcare software, mostly in revenue cycle. We are talking with people in CRT first, because we want to build what you need.
How would you measure cycle time? Against your own baseline, measured before we change anything. We would count the days between evaluation done, letter ready, physician signed, and payer decision. We do not quote a number until we have measured it with you.
What does the AI actually do? A language model reads the evaluation and drafts text: the letter and the messages. Fixed rules, written by people from the payer’s policy, check the case. The AI never decides coverage.
Does the AI make the decisions? No. AI reads the evaluation and drafts the letter. It points each line to the page it came from. Your ATP edits and approves the letter. Your staff approve every message before it goes out.
Do I need to connect my software? We do not know yet. That is one of the things we want to ask you. Tell us what you use today and what you wish talked to each other.
What about HIPAA? We would build for HIPAA from the start. This page uses made-up patients only. We will not accept real patient data until a signed business associate agreement (BAA) is in place with you, and with the vendors we use.
Which payers does it cover? Not decided. Each payer has its own rules, and we are still learning which ones cause the most trouble. Tell us which payers are the worst for you.
How is this different from my billing system? We believe billing and order systems track the order and the claim. poppy would work earlier, on the evaluation, the letter and the back-and-forth between people. We are still learning what your current tools cover, so tell us.
Where is poppy going? The goal is more CRT cases delivered and paid, with less staff time on each. Today: check each case and send one request to each person. Next: follow each case from evaluation to delivery. Then: show owners what delay costs in dollars, from their own numbers. A person on your staff always approves what leaves the building.
Is it ready to use? No. It is an idea, and the screens on this page are sketches with made-up patients. Your answers shape what we build first.
Let's talk LMNs
We will write one short note to set up a 20-minute call. We are not selling anything. Please send no patient information.