Home Health & Hospice Week

Expecting a rush of applicants, accreditors get a trickle.

Suppliers of durable medical equipment who bill Medicare will soon be faced with a new playing field--but they don't want to jump into the game until the feds set the rules.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expects to issue "soon" a final rule launching Medicare's new competitive acquisition (competitive bidding) program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS).

But that's too late to suit many suppliers who called in to the Jan. 30 Home Health, Hospice & DME Open Door Forum with questions about accreditation as it relates to competitive bidding.

Basics: To enter into a contract under the new program, which CMS will launch this year and phase in quickly over the coming years, suppliers must secure accreditation from one of 10 recently approved accrediting organizations. Accreditation will show that suppliers are living up to CMS' new quality standards for DMEPOS suppliers, which the agency unveiled Aug. 16, 2006.

CMS named the accrediting organizations on Dec. 7, 2006, amid concerns that the groups might struggle to keep up with the demand of suppliers seeking accreditation.

"We expected a flow, but we're seeing what amounts to a trickle," said CMS' Joel Kaiser. He called the low number of suppliers applying for accreditation "alarming." Look For The Green Flag Many suppliers contend that they won't rush to secure accreditation until they hear CMS' final word on how competitive bidding will take shape--particularly which 10 metropolitan areas will be involved in Phase One of the program and what DMEPOS products will be included in the first round of bidding.

The agency issued a proposed rule on DME competitive bidding on May 1, 2006--and suppliers have been pressing for a move to a final rule ever since.

"It's long overdue," Eric Sokol of the Power Mobility Coalition tells Eli.

Some callers to the Open Door Forum echoed that sentiment.

"It's surprising that you are so surprised" that suppliers aren't lining up for accreditation, said one caller from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. "There's a lot of concern among suppliers" that CMS has yet to define the competitive bidding program more fully, the caller reported. 

Note: Check regularly for updates on competitive bidding at www.cms.hhs.gov/CompetitiveAcqforDMEPOS/.