Accreditors, CMS Hash Out Standards Issues; Organizations to Be Approved in November

RALEIGH, N.C.–Though the agency requested that specifics be
kept under wraps for now, CMS discussed concerns about its final
supplier quality standards in a two-hour conference call Thursday
with representatives from eight accrediting organizations, several
of whom called the session productive.

“Among all the accreditors we came up with more than 40
questions that we sent to CMS,” said Tom Cesar, president of the
Accreditation Commission for Health Care, which organized and
hosted the call. “[CMS] responded to all of them, and the session
was very helpful.”

Cesar added that the agency has asked for time to review the
call, but then will make the Q&A session available to the
public on its Web site.

MaryAnn Popovich, executive director of home care accreditation
services for JCAHO, also said she felt the call led to a “very
positive discussion and was very productive.” And, she said, CMS
reiterated that its Oct. 2 deadline for applications from
accreditors seeking “deeming authority” to apply the standards is
firm because the agency “is very committed” to processing those
applications within one month “and making decisions by Nov 2.”

According to a recent HomeCare provider survey, 54
percent of unaccredited HME providers say they are waiting to begin
the process until CMS names its approved accrediting bodies.

Mandated by the Medicare Modernization Act, all DMEPOS suppliers
must meet the quality standards and become accredited to
participate in Medicare competitive bidding and, at some point, to
continue as Medicare providers. CMS issued its final quality
standards in mid-August–whittled down from 104 draft pages to only
14. While some in the industry welcomed the scaled-down standards,
others said that they lack “enough meat” to raise the bar, pointing
out that some accreditors’ current standards are much tougher.

But Mary Nicholas, executive director of HQAA, said CMS
confirmed that providers would have to meet only its final
standards as issued.

“With the CMS standards, we are not going to lose quality in the
industry but we are going to gain quality because so many more
providers will be stepping into that arena. This is a great
opportunity to continue to raise the bar,” Nicholas said. “It’s
time for [HME providers] to lose that Rodney Dangerfield
persona.”

Said Cesar, “This has been an anxious time for all of us. Now
the pressure is on the accreditors.”