Alexandria, Va.

Using evidence from its own oximetry-testing report as a foundation, the American Association for Homecare is asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and its four durable medical equipment regional carriers to “proceed with caution” before implementing the new oxygen testing requirements.

“This report confirms the concerns our members and Medicare beneficiaries have voiced about the difficulty in obtaining oximetry tests,” said Tom Connaughton, president and chief executive officer of AAHomecare. “We hope that CMS and the DMERCs will reconsider the draft oxygen policy in response to the report's conclusions.”

The report asserts that reimbursement for oximetry testing is too low. AAHomecare surveyed 1,000 independent testing facilities and found that 90 percent of the facilities didn't offer oximetry testing because, given the costs of equipment and trained technicians needed to perform the tests, reimbursement was inadequate. In Florida, which has one of the nation's largest Medicare patient populations, the report found only 10 percent of testing facilities performed oximetry tests for Medicare beneficiaries.

Requiring retesting of all oxygen patients between the 61st and 90th day of therapy is only going to exacerbate the situation, AAHomecare claims. “The new rigid-deadlined requirement in the DMERC oxygen policy gives rise to serious concerns about the clinical underpinnings of the policy and its potential impact on Medicare beneficiaries,” AAHomecare says in the report.

To remedy the problem, AAHomecare is suggesting that CMS increase reimbursement for oximetry testing so it is a financially viable procedure for testing facilities, and restore payment for diagnostic oximetry in physician offices and hospital outpatient facilities. The association also suggests that CMS loosen its definition of what constitutes an independent testing facility, thus expanding the number of those who could perform oximetry tests without being classified as an independent testing facility.

For a full copy of the report, Access to Oximetry Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries, go to www.aahomecare.org/govrelations.oximetry-report.pdf.

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