BALTIMORE--With less than a year before competitive bidding is scheduled to begin, CMS has realeased the names of 11 organizations approved to accredit DMEPOS suppliers.
The list includes all of the industry's established accrediting bodies, as well as some specialty accreditors, such as those that focus on orthotics suppliers.
The following have been given "deeming authority" by CMS to accredit suppliers as meeting Medicare-issued quality standards:
- Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
- Community Health Accreditation Program
- Healthcare Quality Association on Accreditation
- National Board of Accreditation for Orthotic Suppliers
- Board of Certification in Pedorthics
- Accreditation Commission for Healthcare
- Board for Orthotist/Prosthetist Certification
- National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
- Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
- American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics
- The Compliance Team
All suppliers who plan on participating in Medicare DME competitive bidding, which will begin in 10 to-be-named cities in October next year, must be accredited. In a recent CMS Open Door session, agency officials suggested those companies should be accredited by early 2007.
Because of the short timeframe, CMS has asked the accreditation organizations to give preference to providers in the competitive bidding areas that are chosen. But as mandated under the Medicare Modernization Act, at some future point the accreditation requirement will extend to all Part B suppliers who bill the Medicare program.
Although there has been a flurry of accreditation activity over the past year, one industry source estimates the number of unaccredited companies remaining could be "thousands and thousands." In a HomeCare magazine survey conducted last month, 52 percent of participating HME providers said they are currently accredited, while 48 percent said they are not.
According to a release issued by CMS, the agency hopes to minimize the burden on suppliers by allowing accreditors to consider previous accreditation, Medicare certification and licensure that would indicate its quality standards are being met. Most of the approved organizations will be able to accredit national, local and mail-order suppliers, and some said they have been gearing up for the DME accreditation mandate by streamlining procedures and adding new surveyors.
CMS has scheduled a meeting with the newly approved accreditors for Dec. 18, where several said they expect to discuss timeframes, details of exactly what the agency expects of suppliers who are already accredited and other questions.
To gain approval, all of the organizations had to mesh their standards with those issued by CMS in August (see HomeCare Monday, Aug. 21). But some accreditors also have retained portions of their previous requirements along with the new CMS-based programs.
According to Sherry Hedrick, director of clinical compliance and accreditation for ACHC, the accreditor's program closely follows the CMS standards but also includes some standards that mainly come from state requirements.
"There were a handful of standards that we did keep that were a step above the quality standards that CMS released, but we do not think that will cause any problems for providers," she said. "Even in the past, most of the providers we were accrediting were meeting those standards anyway because they were good business practices."
Maryann Popovich, executive director, home care accredition program, said JCAHO has more extensive standards in a number of areas, including emergency preparedness, infection control and patient safety.
"We have some other policies and procedures and requirements for our medical equipment organizations that we wanted to stay as requirements for our accreditation which will distinguish our organization from simply meeting the CMS quality standards," she said.
For contacts and information about what each organization is
approved to accredit, visit www.cms.hhs.gov/CompetitiveAcqforDMEPOS.