Home Health & Hospice Week

Physicians may be sending new patients your way.

If you're a supplier of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies, get ready for a shakeup in how you work with physicians, especially orthopedists.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is close to imposing competitive bidding on all suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics & supplies (DMEPOS), officials said at a Sept. 20 provider Town Hall meeting.

A forthcoming final rule would require all DMEPOS suppliers to bid for the right to supply Medicare patients. Separately, CMS has unveiled quality standards that all DMEPOS suppliers must follow, and soon suppliers must be accredited. These changes will be a disaster for doctors who now supply DMEPOS in their offices, Delray Beach, FL consultant Jean Acevedo told the meeting.

"This is going to be devastating for patients. They could literally not be able to walk out of the doctor's office with the crutches unless the doctor wants to give them away," which would be a kickback, Acevedo said.

In a recent letter, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission also told CMS to exempt physicians from competitive bidding in a recent letter. But CMS officials told the town hall that the Medicare Modernization Act gives them no leeway to exempt some DMEPOS suppliers. "We do understand the impact," one official said.