Accreditation Is Hot Topic at Medtrade Spring

Las Vegas

HME providers and others with ties to home health care gathered at the Las Vegas Convention Center April 5-7 as the industry prepares for big changes, with competitive bidding and mandatory accreditation for Medicare suppliers on the horizon.

Accreditation was one of the most popular topics at Medtrade Spring, with show organizer VNU Expositions offering several sessions on the subject.

The majority of the nation’s HME providers remain unaccredited, according to most estimates. That’s a situation some fear could create major challenges for CMS, which plans to begin DME competitive bidding in 2007. Suppliers must meet government quality standards to bid, and eventually, all providers must be accredited to participate in the Medicare program.

Many show attendees said they are still waiting for information before moving forward.

“I don’t understand how I’m supposed to be accredited when CMS hasn’t told me who can accredit me and what the standards are,” said Jerry Jeanes, owner of Denton, Texas-based Choice Medical Equipment.

CMS is expected to finalize quality standards this summer and designate accrediting bodies to enforce them by the end of the year.

But time, observers say, is running out. John Gallagher, vice president of government relations for Waterloo, Iowa-based VGM, said that 40 percent of the buying group’s members are accredited. “The concern now,” Gallagher said, “is [whether] the accrediting bodies can take care of the remaining 60 percent.”

As of March 1, the National Supplier Clearinghouse put active DMEPOS supplier numbers at 113,801. According to consultant Bob Weir of Weir & Associates, Warner Springs, Calif., the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) estimate they have accredited 6,000 Part B suppliers. Those organizations have a total of about 200 surveyors, Weir said, and each performs an average of two projects a month. “Do the math,” he said. “To get the remaining suppliers accredited, it would take [more than 20 years].”