Where Are Accreditation Applications from Providers in 10 MSAs?

ATLANTA–Although the first round of competitive bidding is set
to begin later this month, several DMEPOS accreditors said they are
seeing fewer applications than anticipated from providers in the 10
MSAs where the program will roll out.

Mary Nicholas, executive director of the Healthcare Quality
Association on Accreditation said that while the organization was
fielding calls from providers in the designated competitive bidding
areas–mostly from the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington CBA–there had
not been as many as she had expected.

“When I saw Texas was really checking in, I said, ‘OK, we’re
going to see some of the other MSAs doing the same,” Nicholas said.
“But I haven’t.”

Although providers are asking more detailed questions, she said,
she didn’t “sense any urgency yet.”

Sandra Canally, president and founder of The Compliance Team,
said she is puzzled by the situation. “It’s just mind-boggling,”
she said. “We’ve got the MSAs, we’ve got the products, we’ve
certainly got an aggressive timeline as it relates to the bidding
… What are these people doing?”

Complicating the issue is the fact that CMS has not set a
definite deadline by which providers must be accredited. Canally
said CMS was supposed to be giving the accreditors a final date,
but hadn’t yet.

“I assume in the next week or so we should know a specific
date,” she said.

When CMS opened bidding registration last Monday, with a 60-day
bid window to open late this month, the agency stipulated that
suppliers must be accredited or be pending accreditation before
submitting a bid. CMS has also said bid contract winners must be
accredited, and that winners would be announced no later than
December.

But without a concrete deadline, accreditors said they don’t
know if that means providers have until winners are announced
(which some suspect could be even earlier than December), or until
April 2008, when the bidding program is scheduled to be
implemented. Regardless, they emphasized, unaccredited providers
who want to bid must submit applications as soon as possible.

If CMS does require that providers be accredited by December, do
they still have time to complete the process?

The answer is yes, according to Canally, who said her
organization has created an accelerated two-month program for
providers in the initial MSAs. Nicholas also said providers who are
focused on completing the process can get through it in time. And
Tim Safley, HME clinical advisor for the Accreditation Commission
for Health Care, said that, as of Friday, accreditation could be
completed within three to four months.

“Right now, we’re ok,” he said. But he added that inquiries are
“way up,” and if applications suddenly come flooding in, “that
could change.”

Nicholas also pointed out that providers waiting until the last
minute could find themselves even more pressed for time. For
example, a provider that fails an accreditation survey would have
to resubmit for review. At HQAA, she noted, the board of directors,
which meets quarterly, must approve such resubmissions, so a
company that didn’t pass a survey near the end of 2007 would have
to wait for the board’s January meeting.

The bottom line, said Canally, is that providers in the first 10
MSAs “all have to take action, and they all have to take action
now, or they’re going to be left behind.”

For a list of CMS’ 10 approved accreditation organizations,
click here.