HQAA Blog

The OIG & DME

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Wed, Jan 19, 2022 @ 09:56 AM

Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of DME owners, managers, and staff more than the Office of the Inspector General (the “OIG”). The fear is perhaps deserved by an extremely small handful of industry people. The vast majority of our industry rank and file have nothing to fear from this sometimes maligned and misunderstood government agency.

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Topics: Billing, HQAA Accreditation, HME Accreditation Requirements, Compliance, Avoiding Deficiencies, CMS, Business Practices, OIG

Survey Process Post Covid

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Fri, Sep 11, 2020 @ 10:41 AM

As the world slowly but surely returns to normal, surveyors will take to the road once again to visit durable medical equipment organizations across the United States. For several months CMS suspended the accreditation process. On August 12, 2020, CMS gave the approval to resume surveys both onsite and virtual visits (with a follow up onsite visit), or a combination of onsite and virtual survey. With these new guidelines, CMS and the accrediting bodies are beginning to resume surveys with slightly revised procedures and protocols.

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Topics: Renewing Accreditation, Quality Standards, HQAA Accreditation, HME Accreditation Requirements, Compliance, CMS, Surveys

Infection Control Review In The Era of Covid-19

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Thu, Apr 02, 2020 @ 03:57 PM

Early last month, I started penning a blog article relating to Covid-19.   I modified it multiple times and finally scrapped the idea because it was too sensitive a topic, too important to cover in something as “casual” as a blog, and because the information was coming in and changing so fast that anything I wrote would be outdated by the time it was submitted.  My, how a couple weeks can change the world…

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Topics: CMS, Infection Control

DME Policy Manuals

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Thu, Nov 08, 2018 @ 10:28 AM

Many in the home medical equipment industry equate policy manuals to their accreditation inspections. And of course, these bulky tomes are certainly a large part of the accreditation and survey experience for every DME. Policy manuals serve as the road map for how work gets done within an organization, a set of rules for the organization, and the document that defines the structure, function, and philosophy of the organization. Let’s look at what a policy manual should contain and how it impacts not only accreditation, but also the overall day-to-day operation of an organization.

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Topics: Employee Training, HIPAA, Security, Personnel Files, Quality Improvement, Billing, Renewing Accreditation, Quality Standards, HQAA Accreditation, HME Accreditation Requirements, Patient File Requirements, Compliance, Patient Privacy, Clinical Practice Guidelines, Materials Management, Avoiding Deficiencies, CMS, Complaint Process, Quality Care, Showroom, Retail, Delivery, Clinical Respiratory Services, Oxygen, Warehouse, Safety Officer, Competence, Customer Service, Disaster Preparedness, Emergencies, Business Practices, Marketing

Are You ‘Any Willing Provider’?

Posted by Steve DeGenaro on Thu, Sep 13, 2018 @ 11:08 AM

In July 2018, CMS made a rather important announcement: that effective January 1, 2019, after the current bid schedule expires December 31st, 2018, any Medicare provider can supply durable medical equipment and supplies to Medicare patients/recipients.  This will likely continue until the next round of bidding takes place, which will be at least a calendar year later.  This rule revision, known in the industry as the “Any Willing Provider” provision, is something the industry has talked about since competitive bidding began. “Wouldn’t it be fair,” one provider I spoke with posited, “if they {CMS} settled on a bid amount and opened it up to any credentialed, accredited, licensed DME to provide equipment and services?”

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Topics: CMS, Retail, Marketing

CMS Clarifies Quality Standards and K0005 - Ultra Light Weight Wheelchairs

Posted by Mary Nicholas on Mon, Aug 20, 2012 @ 09:05 AM

On August 16th the Accreditation Organizations received the notice below from CMS and we were asked to share the information with all suppliers.

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Topics: Quality Standards, CMS