BALTIMORE--Michael Tootell, director of health policy for the Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories, is the newest member of the government committee charged with advising CMS on implementing Medicare's DME competitive bidding program.

The Program Advisory and Oversight Committee recently lost two of its members. Dr. Ken Viste, who was medical director at the Physical Rehabilitation Unit at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center and staff physician at St. Agnes Hospital, passed away in August. Dan Waldmann, former director of federal affairs at Johnson & Johnson, recently accepted a new position at another company.

After a two-day meeting in September during which supplier quality standards were discussed, the committee is scheduled to meet again after the proposed rule on national competitive bidding is published. For more information on the PAOC, click here.