Open Door Call Shuts Out HME Questions

BALTIMORE — Home medical equipment providers looking for
answers on everything from CERT audits to PECOS problems came up
empty-handed at CMS’ Open Door Forum March 10.

The regularly scheduled conference call focused solely on home
health agencies and hospice. Still, HME stakeholders sought answers
to troubling questions during the question-and-answer portion of
the call.

Bruce Levinson from the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, a
regulatory watchdog organization, wanted to know about financial
standards for providers participating in the DMEPOS competitive bidding
project.

“When will [the Department of Health and Human Services] be
specifying those standards?” he asked.

“If you could submit an email, that would be great,” a CMS
representative replied.

Two other callers asked for clarification about new oxygen
maintenance and service requirements and got the same response.

Another caller requested information on how long patient records
must be kept to satisfy a Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT)
audit.

Send an email, that caller was told.

“I have emailed and have never gotten a response,” the caller
said.

Three other callers wondered about the use of Advance
Beneficiary Notices when physicians refused to update their
information in the PECOS (Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership
System), which, beginning in January 2011, will invalidate a
Medicare claim.

“I can’t get a claim through the front door when the beneficiary
wants the claim submitted when these doctors just aren’t going to
do it,” said one.

A CMS representative offered to phone each of the three callers
to discuss the issue.

The next Open Door call is scheduled for Wednesday, April
14.