Revised CMS Quality Standards

CMS Final Revised DMEPOS Quality Standards Posted

CMS has issued its revised quality standards. During a 4 1/2-hour phone conference last week CMS posted the new final revised Standards directed to DMEPOS providers that had not yet obtained accreditation. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) required all DMEPOS suppliers to meet quality standards for Medicare accreditation by September 30, 2009.

It was also stated by Medicare that those facilities who do not apply with one of the ten Accreditation Organizations by January 2009, there would be no way to guarantee success in becoming accredited by the September deadline.

All suppliers that furnish the following items or services must comply with the quality standards in order to receive Medicare Part B payments and to retain a supplier billing number.

The covered items include:

• DME
• Medical supplies
• Home dialysis supplies and equipment
• Therapeutic shoes
• Parenteral and enteral nutrient, equipment and supplies
• Prosthetic devices, prosthetics, and orthotics
• Transfusion medicine

Sandra Bastinelli from CMS offered advice and answered several questions on meeting the standards During the Tuesday conference. Bastinelli commented that the October 2008 final standards contain minimal changes from the February 2008 draft proposal.