The latest HME Newspoll reveals a critical challenge for healthcare businesses: nearly 90% of companies expect to hire in 2025, yet 96% anticipate major obstacles—from long hiring timelines to high turnover, particularly in billing departments. These issues create bottlenecks in order processing, customer service, and revenue cycles, stretching existing employees too thin.
Staffing shortages are nothing new, but the pressure is mounting. Businesses are now faced with a choice: continue battling inefficiencies and workforce gaps—or embrace AI to optimize operations.
As a former DME owner myself, I know these pain points firsthand, and I'm thrilled that there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. The Synthpop team has built AI-driven workflow automation solutions that help businesses scale without adding headcount. Rather than hiring to compensate for inefficiencies, Synthpop allows companies to do more with their existing teams—reducing burnout while increasing productivity.
The Persistent Challenge of Staffing Shortages
Healthcare businesses responding to the HME Newspoll identified several key hiring challenges:
- Time wasted on interview “no-shows” – Nearly 50% of candidates who schedule interviews fail to show up
- Lack of qualified candidates – 36% of businesses struggle to find experienced professionals
- Salary misalignment – 29% report that salary expectations don’t match budget constraints
- High turnover in billing departments – A major pain point driving businesses to look for AI-driven alternatives
We know that these hiring roadblocks increase operational inefficiencies. They also force existing employees to take on excessive workloads, and contribute to rising burnout levels. The reality? Teams are drowning in administrative work—not because they lack talent, but because manual processes bog them down.
Burnout leads to reduced productivity, errors, and high turnover, all of which slow down patient care and impact revenue. Businesses need a smarter approach.
Synthpop: AI-Powered Efficiency That Empowers Your Team
A major problem for DME businesses is that processing and delivering orders require extremely time-consuming tasks. These tasks are part of complex workflows that vary based on many factors, including the EHR/OMS being used.
Here's where Synthpop comes in: Our products integrate with the tools businesses already use to process orders faster and more accurately. This reduced administrative burdens and eliminating the need to constantly hire and train new team members. These include, but are not limited to, NikoHealth, Bonafide, Salesforce, and Brightree.
With Synthpop, healthcare businesses can:
- Automate manual intake, document categorization, and data entry
- Reduce billing errors and processing delays
- Enhance insurance verification without human intervention
- Handle payor and patient calls at scale—without additional staff
Rather than struggling through time-consuming hiring processes, companies can optimize their current workforce by integrating AI-driven workflows that support their teams.
An Expert Perspective: The Need for Voice Agents
A respondent shared, “We’re hoping to find a few qualified professionals and use AI to support their work.” This quote stood out to Drew Copeland of Synthpop. Drew is a healthcare industry veteran and leads product development and operations at Synthpop. His experience managing healthcare teams gives him a unique perspective on how AI can ease staffing burdens.
Drew said, “The struggle to hire, train, and retain staff is a constant battle for healthcare businesses. AI makes jobs more manageable, and allows teams to work more efficiently. Businesses that integrate AI see fewer errors and a healthier workforce.”
While AI can't replace physical roles like delivery technicians, it can support their jobs by providing consistent, clear documentation for the technician. Voice Agents by Synthpop can reduce the burden of patient education, FAQs, and resupply ordering. AI is undoubtedly transformative for billing and insurance departments as well, which experience high turnover. Synthpop Voice Agents handle thousands of payor calls daily, navigating IVR systems to check eligibility, claims status, and financial responsibility—all without human intervention.
A Smarter Path Forward: AI as a Workforce Multiplier
Healthcare businesses are at a crossroads—continue struggling with hiring difficulties or leverage AI to optimize operations. In order to succeed, many are choosing the latter.
AI is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity for businesses that want sustainable growth and workforce stability. Synthpop solutions are a workforce multiplier - enabling scalability, and ensuring that teams remain productive, engaged, and focused on delivering the best possible patient care.
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