Home Health & Hospice Week

Suppliers say CMS is listening to their concerns.

The third time's the charm - at least when it comes to the workings of the Program Advisory and Oversight Committee.

Durable medical equipment suppliers had expressed worries about how well the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was listening to them after the first two meetings in October and December. But after the third meeting in Baltimore from Feb. 28 through March 2, the committee's DME representatives came away praising the process.

"This was the best of the three meetings," says PAOC member Dave Kazynski, president of VGM's Homelink Division. "CMS was more responsive to questions than they had been at the previous two."

In addition, agency officials pressed committee members to support their positions during discussions, he notes, which created a more fruitful dialogue.

How the meetings work: CMS' contractor for the DME competitive bidding process is the Research Triangle Institute based in Research Triangle Park, NC. At the PAOC meetings, RTI staff members give PowerPoint presentations on the topics for which CMS is seeking the committee's input. Following those presentations comes a period of open discussion among committee members, with representatives of CMS there to provide further input.

"CMS is very in tune with listening to the PAOC members to try and get this right the first time," reports PAOC member Don Vliegenthart, medical director of Hoveround Corp. in Sarasota, FL.