AAHomecare Participates in CMS Provider Focus Group

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 25, 2018)—Last Friday, AAHomecare attended the first Provider Compliance Focus Group meeting held at CMS’s main campus in Baltimore. This was an opportunity for Medicare stakeholders to engage in a conversation with CMS on a variety of compliance related issues. AAHomecare and several Regulatory Council members spoke to CMS on:

• the inconsistencies of policy interpretations across the MACs;
• the issue of date stamp effective date of removal not being published;
• compliance difficulty related to proof of delivery with change in payer requirements; and
• the industry’s support to expand the QIC telephone demonstration.

In addition, CMS announced that they are working on a provider documentation manual, where all payment requirements for providers can be found in one place. CMS is expecting the first chapter to be published by the end of the year, and it will likely be on oxygen.

This collaboration opportunity came from CMS’s new initiative, Patients Over Paperwork. The goal of this new initiative is to remove burdensome requirements to increase efficiency and patient experience. CMS will be hosting this meeting every quarter, and AAHomecare has requested Prior Authorization to be included in the next meeting. Suppliers can receive updates on the Patients Over Paperwork initiative by signing-up for the e-mail listserv here.

Kim Brummett, AAHomecare’s vice president of regulatory affairs notes that stronger industry participation in the HME Audit Key (deadline for current round is February 16) will help bolster our arguments and input in these settings.

“We are dedicated to attending and speaking on behalf of the DMEPOS industry at the Provider Focus Group meetings,” explains Brummett. “In order for us to argue for audit and appeal relief, we need industry data to support our recommendations. Please consider participating in the HME Audit Key to help us provide solid evidence of the issues.”

Visit aahomecare.org for more information.