Accreditors Will Hold Providers to New Standards

“The new CMS supplier standards will have a significant impact
on accreditation standards, as all accrediting organizations must
incorporate them within their existing accreditation standards,”
said Tom Derrick, director, public relations, marketing and
professional discipline, for the American Board for Certification
in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics.

“This effectively establishes the CMS supplier standards as a
baseline set of minimum competency standards; all DMEPOS
organizations must meet these standards, regardless of which
accrediting organization they chose to work with,” Derrick
added.

During a Jan. 22 conference call on accreditation sponsored by
CMS–the first of four teleconferences planned on the subject–the
agency’s Sandra Bastinelli reiterated that each accrediting body
“must accredit based on our supplier standards.”

Bastinelli repeated upcoming accreditation deadlines: Jan. 1,
2009, for providers applying to the National Supplier Clearinghouse
before March 1, 2008; on or after March 1, 2008, those seeking
enrollment must be accredited prior to submitting an application;
and by Sept. 30, 2009, all providers must be accredited. The agency
has not released the date by which providers must be accredited for
round two of competitive bidding.

CMS is accepting comments on the proposed standards rule until
March 25. After that, what the final standards will look like–and
when they might take effect–is anybody’s guess.

“There’s a public comment period, and what is proposed at this
point in time may look very similar or it may not,” said Gwen
Franzgrote, director of HME services for the Community Health
Accreditation Program. “We are encouraging organizations to review
[the proposed standards] and be prepared for what may be
final.”

And what about those businesses that are already accredited?
Will accrediting organizations have to reassess them for compliance
with any new standards?

“That’s based on how [CMS] applies the new standards to the
already-accredited organizations,” said Franzgrote.

In other words, no one yet knows.

CMS has scheduled its next teleconference on accreditation April
17.

For a list of
CMS’ approved DMEPOS accrediting organizations.