In a healthcare system filled with complexity, few areas are as misunderstood — or as critical — as durable medical equipment (DME).
For millions of Americans, products like walkers, CPAP machines, oxygen, wheelchairs, and diabetes supplies are the bridge between hospital and home. They determine whether a patient can live independently, manage a chronic condition, or maintain dignity in their final years.
Synapse Health is on a mission to transform the DME industry, and for our Chief Operating Officer, Shaw Rietkerk, this mission is deeply personal.
A career inspired by family and service
Shaw has spent 30 years in healthcare, first in clinical documentation and later in home medical equipment. But his passion for DME was born at home. In the final chapters of his grandparents’ lives, he saw firsthand how the right equipment — oxygen, hospital beds, mobility devices — meant they could remain where they were most comfortable: in their homes, surrounded by family.
The experience opened his eyes not just to the power of DME, but to its flaws. Despite its life-changing potential, obtaining this equipment can be a frustrating, time-consuming, and opaque process.
Shaw’s leadership philosophy is also shaped by his partner of 22 years, a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant, whose values of service, accountability, and doing things the right way, inspire how he approaches healthcare operations today. As Shaw puts it, “I’m an operator, a behind-the-scenes guy. I’m personally driven by knowing the work that happens behind the scenes makes a difference.”
An industry built on outdated tools
DME is essential, yet the industry remains deeply fragmented. Thousands of small, independent providers exist alongside national players, each with different product sets. A patient might get a walker from one company, a CPAP from another, and diabetes supplies from somewhere else. And despite the sophistication of modern EHRs and integrated digital workflows, the most common method of sending DME orders is still the archaic fax method.
With complex documentation requirements, chart notes, and even lab results for equipment as simple as a walker, it’s easy to see how burdensome and inefficient the care ecosystem can be for everyone:
- Patients, who face delays and confusion
- Clinicians, who must navigate redundant paperwork
- Payors, who absorb unnecessary utilization and waste
And because of these hurdles, many patients skip the process entirely and simply purchase equipment out of pocket.
Why Synapse Health built a new model
Shaw and the Synapse Health team saw an opportunity to transform the experience by addressing the root issues: fragmentation, complexity, and lack of standardization.
Their approach is radically simple: Synapse becomes the single point of contact for all DME needs within a payor’s network.
Through capitated agreements, payors direct their members to Synapse. From there, Synapse coordinates everything — the prescriber, the patient, and the provider network — to ensure the right equipment gets delivered as efficiently as possible. What makes this model different:
A national, unified DME network
Synapse integrates both local mom-and-pop providers and national organizations, allowing them to route patients to the highest-performing supplier in real time. If a provider is underperforming, Synapse can redirect orders to improve service and outcomes.
AI-powered order processing
Instead of fighting the fax machine, Synapse built technology to interpret it. AI reads incoming faxes, extracts order details, qualifies medical necessity against Medicare standards, and reduces manual review. It’s a pragmatic use of automation in one of healthcare’s most stubbornly analog environments.
A patient experience that mirrors eCommerce
Today’s seniors and caregivers expect an Amazon-like experience, and Synapse delivers it. Patients can reorder supplies through the digital portal, track shipments, request resupply every 90 days, or call a human and get service in under 15 seconds.
Lower waste, lower costs, better care
Traditional DME incentives often push unnecessary products into the home because payor contracts reward volume. Synapse reverses that approach, ensuring patients get only what they need, reducing waste, reducing copays, and reducing costs for payors without compromising care.
The regulatory reality… and the path forward
Despite progress, systemic challenges remain. Documentation requirements can be excessive. Prior authorizations continue to slow down care. And prescriber education varies widely.
Synapse works closely with providers, offering multiple ways to send orders, and advocates for policy changes to streamline outdated processes.
Shaw believes the future lies in meeting patients and clinicians where they are – whether that’s online, on the phone, or in a clinical workflow.
Reimagining what DME can be
At its core, Synapse Health is not just simplifying an industry: it’s restoring dignity to moments in life when people need it most. By unifying the ecosystem, modernizing workflows, and building a patient-first model, they’re showing what’s possible when innovation meets compassion.
As Shaw says, “What we do behind the scenes allows people to heal at home. That’s what drives me.”