BALTIMORE — Registration is now open for the Program Advisory and Oversight Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 5. Discussion topics will include the status of the Round 1 rebid, Round 2 competitive bidding timeline and product categories and a segment on mail-order diabetic supplies.
The meeting will be held at the CMS Central Office at 7500 Security Blvd., Baltimore, Md. 21244.
BALTIMORE — CMS has issued an MLN Matters article (MM7350) that explains new enrollment screening categories for DMEPOS suppliers along with application fees, payment suspension based on allegations of fraud and its authority to impose a temporary moratorium on the enrollment of new Medicare providers and suppliers of a particular type in a geographic area.
BALTIMORE — CMS said it needs help identifying beneficiaries who may have difficulty accessing Medicare home health services.
"We would like to hear about your experiences serving hard to reach populations, as well as the challenges certain beneficiaries may experience in accessing Medicare home health services," according to an agency notice.
HINGHAM, Mass. — The Jurisdiction A DME MAC has tallied a 67.2 percent charge denial rate in a complex prepayment review of claims for nebulizers with compressors — HCPCS code E0570 — NHIC said March 24. The review centered on 294 claims submitted by 183 providers for the period from November 2010 through February.
SUWANEE, Ga. — Nearly 4.4 million viewers of Dish network channels ranging from Hallmark and diy Network to ESPN and Discovery began seeing advertisements for UroMed, a urological supply company based in Suwanee, Ga., last week.
The 60-second spots, scheduled to air for a month, feature people from all stages of life who might be dealing with urological or incontinence issues and conditions like spinal cord injury, spina bifida, transverse myelitis or multiple sclerosis.
ROCKY HILL, Conn. — ATG Rehab announced yesterday it has acquired the complex rehab segment of Warwick, R.I.-based Vanguard Home Medical Equipment, a subsidiary of Landauer Metropolitan, and Peak Wheelchairs of Colorado with offices in Lafayette (Denver) and Windsor.
BALTIMORE — CMS said this week it has delayed the deadline for "Form C," which Round 1 contract suppliers must fill out listing the products they furnished to Medicare beneficiaries during the previous quarter.
Updated: March 28, 2011
DETROIT — People intent on defrauding Medicare and Medicaid will find their prospects "a lot gloomier" under fraud-prevention provisions of the health reform law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius predicted earlier this month.
ORLANDO — Continuing its previously announced refinancing plan, Rotech said Friday that it has raised $290 million in a sale of senior second lien notes in the 144a private placement market.
WASHINGTON — More than 250 HME providers and other advocates called on members of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 1041 during the American Association for Homecare's Legislative Conference last week, and their efforts paid off. As of Friday, 20 representatives from both sides of the aisle had signed on to the bill.
WASHINGTON — After years of being tarred with the black brush of fraud, HME and other health care providers got a bit of redemption last week when two top health care officials testified before a House subcommittee that most improper health care payments were the result of errors, not fraud.
BALTIMORE — CMS will hold three national listening sessions this week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. ET. Called the Provider Compliance Group Outreach Calls, the sessions will focus on several Office of Inspector General reports "to educate providers and suppliers on specific vulnerabilities that exist in DME, Part A, Part B and home health and hospice related to the reports," a CMS notice said.
FARGO, N.D. — Noridian will continue its widespread complex review of oxygen claims, the Jurisdiction D DME MAC said March 14.
Its third quarter review of claims for HCPCS E1390 and E0431 resulted in an overall error rate of 66 percent, an increase from 54 percent during the first quarter and a decrease from 67 percent in the second quarter of the review. However, because the error rate remains high, the review will continue.
RICHMOND, Va. — At its winter meeting March 9, the Virginia Association of Durable Medical Equipment Companies elected new officers including: President, Tina Godfrey of Advanced Home Care in High Point, N.C.; Vice President, Tom Inman of Virginia Home Medical in Newport News; Treasurer, Robin Powers of Friendship HME in Wise; Secretary, Stephanie Hess of Community Home Care Services in Richlands; and Immediate Past President, Angie Fishel, Valley Home Care of Winchester.
STENKULLEN, Sweden — The Braun Corp. has acquired "a substantial ownership position" in Swedish company Autoadapt from Bruno Independent Living Aids, according to a March 14 release.
The majority of Autoadapt shares are now owned in equal parts by Bruno and Braun. A smaller number of shares are held by Autoadapt founders Peter Wahlsten and Hakan Sandberg, who will continue to run the company.
LONDON — Otto Bock, with U.S. headquarters in Minneapolis, has announced that the company will once again provide repairs at the upcoming 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
The 88-member Otto Bock team includes 76 technicians who will offer their services in nine locations at various venues for 26 days before, during and following the Games, which run Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, 2012. More than 2,000 work orders are expected, the company said.
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — Royal Philips Electronics partnered with the World Association of Sleep Medicine as official sponsor of the fourth annual World Sleep Day 2011, which was held across the globe on Friday.
WASHINGTON — Most oxygen providers are still trying to cope with effects of the 36-month rental cap, which took effect in 2009. But according to an OIG report released yesterday, CMS should work with Congress to further reduce the rental period for oxygen.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Glenn 'GT' Thompson, a Republican, and Jason Altmire, a Democrat, began a bipartisan push for newly introduced H.R. 1041 yesterday.
SAN DIEGO — DJO Global announced March 15 that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase therapeutic footwear maker Dr. Comfort for $254.6 million in cash.
