Noteworthy

President Proposes Nationwide Competitive Bidding: President Bush's 2003 budget, released on Feb. 4, calls for a nationwide competitive bidding system for durable medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics. Despite the fact that similar proposals have appeared in Presidential budgets since 1999, Alexandria, Va.-based AAHomecare is taking President Bush's proposal very seriously, especially in light of current economic trends. In a Feb. 7 press release, Tom Connaughton, AAHomecare's president and chief executive officer said, “AAHomecare has a number of concerns with the budget proposal … Besides the fact that the numbers cited and the extrapolations from those numbers are extremely questionable, the administration has failed to recognize that administering a competitive bidding program on a national basis isn't possible if it truly wants to ensure a choice of providers for beneficiaries.”

JCAHO Approves Disease-Specific Care Standards: The Oakbrook, Ill-based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has approved standards for its new Disease-Specific Care Certification program, which certifies disease-specific programs provided in a variety of organizational settings. Effective Feb. 8, the DSC Certification standards focus on the delivery or facilitation of clinical care, clinical information systems performance measurement and improvement, and self-management. The first DSC certification review took place on Feb. 14.

HHS Awards Grants for Family Caregivers: The Washington-based U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $128 million in grants for states to run programs supporting family caregivers. Services earmarked for the grants include information and assistance, counseling, support groups and training, and respite services.

AdminaStar Reiterates Correct Address: Those who correspond with AdminaStar Federal, the Region B durable medical equipment regional carrier, may want to check their address books. According to a statement on the company's Web site, www.adminastar.com, DMERC suppliers have been sending mail to two incorrect addresses: 6802 Hillsdale Court and 2307 Directors Row, both in Indianapolis. The DMERC said it is not responsible for mail sent to an incorrect address. The correct address for the Region B DMERC is AdminaStar Federal, DMERC Operations, P.O. Box 7078, Indianapolis, Ind., 46207.

Regulatory:

CMS Extends Extrapolation Rule: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Baltimore has extended for another year the statistical sampling guidelines used by carriers for post-payment audits in the Medicare program. The present guidelines will remain in effect until Feb. 9, 2003.

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