Experts Say Round Two Deadlines Possible, but Start Accreditation Now
ATLANTA–Accrediting organizations are temporarily changing some
procedures, ramping up training workshops and posting volumes of
information on their Web sites in an attempt to help HME providers
meet an Oct. 31 accreditation deadline for for round two of
competitive bidding.
Earlier this month, CMS announced that suppliers who want to bid
in round two must be accredited or have applied for accreditation
by May 14. They must be accredited by Oct. 31 in order to be
awarded a contract, the agency said.
“Oct. 31 is great. It’s reasonable for anyone who
wants to bid,” said accreditation expert Mary Ellen Conway,
president of Capital Healthcare Group in Bethesda, Md. “But
they have to get started right now and plan to have their survey in
July so they have August and September to make changes if
needed.”
Accreditors echoed that advice.
“Sixty days is plenty of time to submit
applications,” said Bob Floro, MSL, RRT, director of the home
care accreditation program for the Joint Commission in Washington,
D.C. “If folks take this seriously and start this
accreditation process yesterday, then yes, the October deadline is
realistic.”
But providers have to meet the May deadline before they can
proceed, accreditors cautioned.
“If they don’t make the May 14 deadline, they are
going to miss the boat,” said Tom Caesar, president of the
Raleigh, N.C.-based Accreditation Commission for Health Care.
“Because a week after that deadline, we [accreditors] have to
give CMS reports on who has applied.”
Conway said meeting that May deadline could be tricky for some
providers, depending on the accrediting body they choose.
“Some of the organizations want your application only when
you are ready to be accredited. With some, you just apply; with
others, when you send in your application, it means that you are
ready to be surveyed.”
That latter is the procedure at ACHC, Caesar said. “When
you come to us with the application, you’re saying we can
come to [survey] you next week,” he said.
Because of the tight deadline, however, ACHS has temporarily
modified its policy to give providers more time. Those who apply by
May 14 will have until June 30 to get themselves in shape for a
survey.
“Then we have to get the surveys done five weeks before
Oct. 31,” Caesar said.
At the American Board for Certification in Orthotics &
Prosthetics in Alexandria, Va., time is also of the essence.
“We require that a complete and final application be
submitted to ABC prior to reporting that [providers] have applied
to CMS. The application must be complete and the patient care
business ready for survey when we notify CMS of their
application,” said Tom Derrick, director of public
relations.
“Right now,” he added, “the average time from
application to survey is three months. In some isolated rural
areas, it is up to four months.”
It may take another three months for a provider to hear whether
or not it is accredited, he said.
The Joint Commission is currently scheduling May and June
surveys, Floro said, and gives providers 45 days to fix whatever is
not in compliance.
“When an organization applies for Joint Commission
accreditation, they actually tell us which month they will be ready
for a survey,” he said. “So the organization predicts
when they are going to be ready. Of course, the survey is
unannounced, so we are not going to promise we are going to conduct
it that month, but we are not going to do it before that
month.”
All the accrediting bodies are gearing up for an influx of
providers seeking to become accredited in the 70 MSAs targeted for
round two.
“We have been planning for quite a while to take a lot of
companies in a short period of time. We can handle a large
volume,” said Caesar, noting that ACHC has more than 40
dedicated DME surveyors. “We did about 400 surveys in about a
three-month period last year. We don’t know [what to expect]
this time. You could have a number of companies coming through a
narrow funnel in a short period of time.”
Floro said the Joint Commission’s market research shows
that “there appear to be 34,000 plus or minus Medicare
provider numbers that are doing business in the 70 MSAs. According
to our market research, [there are] 2.48 Medicare provider numbers
per organization. So you’re actually dealing with 13,000
organizations.”
While Floro said he doesn’t know how many will come the
Joint Commission’s way, “we can deal with any number.
There’s a rumor that the Joint Commission is not accepting
applications … It is just not true. We can meet any demands
that come our way. We have the flexibility and the resources to do
it.”
Derrick, too, said his organization has ramped up both staffing
and technical capabilities. “We have a cadre of surveyors in
the field and others standing by,” he said.
To further help providers, most of the accrediting bodies are
posting their standards, offering checklists and providing critical
information, including about training workshops, on their Web
sites, they said.
ACHC also has increased the number of workshops it offers,
Caesar said. “If you go through one of the workshops,
they’re going to hand-hold you and get you through the
process,” he said.
Derrick encouraged providers to study the Web sites of all 10 of
CMS’ approved accrediting bodies to determine which
accreditor is best suited to their company.
Conway also said providers should “look at the standards
online and download them now. You need to find out who you want to
be accredited with and find out what their program is and get going
on it,” she said.
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