See You in September?

That old song “Will I See You in September” by The Happenings just took on a whole new meaning to members of the DMEPOS industry. It now makes one provider think as they look at another, “Will I see you in September of 2009?”

In a special teleconference on Dec. 19, 2007, CMS identified Sept. 30, 2009, as the date by which all providers billing Medicare for identified Part B products and supplies must be accredited.

Will you be accredited by this date? Will you decide that you will continue to accept Medicare assignment, and the various requirements that participation now requires? Is this the only deadline you need to worry about?

Most accreditors state that it takes from four to six months to complete the accreditation process. Currently, the accreditation deadline for all providers is 21 months away. That might seem like a long time, but in reality, this deadline could be later than others you might be facing.

CMS' approved accreditation organizations have reported that, although they were very busy with accreditation requirements for the first round of competitive bidding, providers were generally not coming forward to apply if they were not facing a deadline of some sort. As an industry, HME's “wait-and-see” culture seems to be alive and well. CMS hopes that announcing its “drop dead” deadline will get providers to move forward and not wait to become accredited.

There were 753 participants who dialed in to the teleconference. During the one-and-a-half-hour call, only about 15 minutes were spent on the deadline announcement. The remainder of the time was spent answering (or not answering) questions posed by callers.

Certainly one of the most alarming aspects resulting from the questions posed was the number of callers who stated that due to the limited amount of products they provide to Medicare beneficiaries, they understood they would be exempt from the accreditation requirement.

This is another one of those “wishful-thinking” statements that providers have gravitated toward for the last three years, even though industry experts and CMS officials alike have been trying to convince them otherwise. CMS' Sandra Bastinelli, who is in charge of the agency's accreditation program, made no bones about it as she stated to these callers over and over: “No one is exempt” and “There are no exceptions.”