Accreditors See Flurry of Applications before CMS’ Soft Deadline

ATLANTA — Accreditors reported an influx of DMEPOS
providers striving to meet CMS’ soft Jan. 31 application date, but
whether there will be enough companies accredited by the Sept. 30
mandatory date to serve Medicare beneficiaries is anyone’s
guess.

“I’m not sure what enough would be, but I think the biggest fear
is that when it’s all said and done, the Medicare beneficiary has
enough options or even some options when it comes to their home
medical needs decisions,” said Mary K. Nicholas, MHA, executive
director of the Healthcare Quality Association on
Accreditation in Waterloo, Iowa.

CMS had advised the Jan. 31 deadline for providers to submit
applications for accreditation. After that date, the agency said,
accrediting organizations could not guarantee that providers would
be able to get through the process in time to meet its mandatory
deadline. But even with the recent rise in applications,
accreditors said there would not be a problem dealing with
them.

“We are currently processing each facility’s application and are
confident that we can handle the workload,” said Katie Schaefer,
spokesperson for the American Board for Certification in
Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics in Alexandria, Va. “We
have been ramping up our infrastructure for several years in
anticipation of this demand.”

Her comment was echoed by HQAA and The Joint Commission. HQAA’s
Nicholas pointed out, however, that it wasn’t the accreditors being
able to meet the deadline that providers should worry about. “The
onus of responsibility is largely still upon the provider to ensure
that even through the time constraints, they can handle it all,”
she said.

The accrediting organizations must have time to process the
applications and conduct unannounced site surveys. In addition,
providers need time to become “survey-ready” and, after the survey,
address any problems.

In order to meet the Sept. 30 deadline, said Debra Zak, Ph.D.,
RN, L. Ac., executive director of home care accreditation for The
Joint Commission in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., “organizations need to
get surveyed in June and July, and then they will need to respond
to any requirements for improvement.”

Added Zak, “We are essentially telling organizations that in
order to help the process flow more efficiently and cut down on
their wait time, they need to clearly and accurately complete their
application by the end of February, give us a realistic ready date,
set aside documentation they know the surveyor will need to see and
be survey-ready and at their offices every morning.”

That latter is particularly important for small providers, many
of whom make deliveries and call on patients, Zak pointed out. “If
you’re not there to open the door at 8 a.m. [the day the surveyor
comes], you will have missed your survey,” she said.