BALTIMORE--The HME industry will receive some long-awaited answers Dec. 19 when CMS hosts a Special Open Door Forum to announce accreditation deadlines.

During the conference call, scheduled from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST Dec.19, the agency said it will announce:

--The deadline by which all DMEPOS suppliers will need to be accredited.
--The deadline by which new suppliers must apply to the National Supplier Clearinghouse for a supplier number in order to qualify for a special accreditation grace period; and
--The deadline by which new DMEPOS suppliers who qualified for the accreditation grace period will need to be accredited.

According to CMS, the Forum "will be conducted as an adjunct to a meeting of the DMEPOS competitive bidding Program Advisory and Oversight Committee."

To dial in, call (800) 837-1935 and use conference I.D. 27829970.

An audio recording of the call will be posted to the Special Open Door Forum Web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/OpenDoorForums/05_ODF_SpecialODF.asp and will be accessible for downloading beginning Dec. 27.