Home Health & Hospice Week

Keep 30-day deadline in mind.

Get busy if you haven't filed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Form 855S lately.

Early in March, the federal agency issued another reminder that all suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) must notify the National Supplier Clearinghouse of any change to the information provided on the CMS 855S application form within 30 days of the change.

"This is especially important for suppliers who will be involved in the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program," said CMS in an e-mail.

Rationale: Suppliers must ensure the information listed on their supplier files is accurate to enable participation in competitive bidding, CMS says.

Ready or not: The American Association for Homecare expects CMS to issue the final bidding rule soon. The program will phase in starting this year. v

Note: Information and instructions on how to submit a change of information form are on the NSC Web site at www.palmettogba.com/nsc. Once you're at the Web site, follow this path: Supplier Enrollment/Change of Information/Change of Information Guide.

To stay current on developments with competitive bidding, go to www.cms.hhs.gov/CompetitiveAcq forDMEPOS.