Home Health & Hospice Week

RHHIs score the best. Durable medical equipment suppliers are the least happy of all Medicare provider types with their contractors. That's according to the latest Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey (MCPSS) commissioned by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The survey conducted by MCPSS contractor Westat polled 35,000 randomly selected providers in its third year. Physician DME suppliers submitting DME claims report the lowest level of satisfaction at 4.22 on a 1 to 6 scale, while hospices had the highest level of satisfaction at 4.74, the report says. Of the four categories of contractors, Regional Home Health Intermediaries (RHHIs) received the highest average score -- 4.68, the re-port says. DME Medicare Administrative Contract-ors (DME MACs) received an average score of 4.41, which was higher than Carriers and Part B MACs with an average score of 4.35. Overall, contractors received a 4.51 score, which equals a 75 percent "C" average. That's down a bit from last year's 4.77 score. For RHHIs, the lowest overall score is 4.54 for National Government Services (formerly UGS) while the highest score is 4.86 for Cahaba GBA. "As in the previous two national administrations of the MCPSS, the RHHIs score high and all have scores above the national average," the report notes. Last year Palmetto GBA took the high-scoring honors. For DME MACs, the lowest overall score is 4.36 for CIGNA and the highest score is 4.45 for Noridian. "DME MACs tend to have lower scores than average; all four have scores below the national average," the report notes. More information including the survey results report is at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MCPSS. • It may seem really convenient for your patients to have all their health care providers in one building, but it could pose a major problem for you if you're the landlord. The HHS Office of Inspector General handed down an Aug. 26 advisory opinion concerning renting space to referring physicians and it was not favorable. According to the OIG report, a freestanding cancer clinic offers many services, including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), which is common in treating prostate cancer. Some urologists refer their patients to the cancer facility for their IMRT treatments. Therefore, the clinic suggested an arrangement where the urologists would lease space in its building and provide personnel and equipment, allowing the urologists to treat patients and provide IMRT. In exchange, the urology group would pay the cancer center rent and other expenses. The decision: The OIG determined that the arrangement "could potentially generate prohibited remuneration under the anti-kickback statute." The urologists' business in this case would be dependent on referrals from, or other business generated by, the urologist's existing patient base, says attorney Emily Kretchmer of Pierce and Mandell in Boston. [...]