BALTIMORE--CMS is conducting a supplier survey to satisfy a requirement of the Medicare Modernization Act that mandates an evaluation of the DMEPOS competitive bidding program.

Administered by CMS contractor Abt Associates and endorsed by the American Association for Respiratory Care, the survey is one of two currently underway. The second, CMS said, is a beneficiary survey.

"Basically, it's about make and model, more detail than we get on a claim," a research analyst at CMS' Office of Research, Development and Information said of the supplier survey.

The survey includes providers located both inside and outside the first 10 competitive bidding areas so the agency "can do stronger types of comparisons about isolating [the] impacts of competitive bidding," the analyst said, adding that not all 10 CBAs are being surveyed since that was "prohibitively expensive."

While the CMS analyst could not reveal further details about the survey, some industry observers suggest the agency is worried providers will offer lower-quality products to beneficiaries under competitive bidding. The survey will allow CMS to compare the results about equipment with a quarterly report required of suppliers within a CBA that includes make, model and part numbers for all products supplied to Medicare beneficiaries.

According to a letter accompanying the survey sent to an oxygen provider, CMS is randomly selecting 1,000 suppliers to receive the survey and will pay $75 for its completion, an industry source said.

AARC Director of Government Affairs Cheryl West said the association was approached by CMS staff--first in 2006, though the survey never went forward, then again this spring--asking for its support to encourage survey responses.

"With input from the leadership of the home care section, AARC decided that it was important that CMS gather this data," West said. "Therefore, with the caveat, which I personally made very clear to CMS staff, that as long as they did not infer in any way that we endorsed the competitive bid program, they could use our name to encourage people to complete the survey."

In May of 2006, CMS explained in a Paperwork Reduction Act document that it would fulfill the MMA's competitive bidding evaluation requirement with beneficiary and supplier surveys, focus groups involving suppliers and referral agents, and discussions with beneficiary groups, CMS officials and others.

In an article posted on its Web site, Waterloo, Iowa-based VGM Group said at least one medical equipment supplier association has been contacted by Abt. According to the posting, a written contact to the association president stated: "You are being asked [to] participate in a 45-minute interview about your perspective and experiences from (the association's) standpoint. We would be willing to come to your place of business. The interview will not be audio or video taped. The discussion will be confidential."

VGM said the notice continued: "Data collection will take place before competitive bidding begins and again one year after it is implemented. The aim of the interviews is to learn about the experiences and perspectives of durable medical equipment suppliers, health care professionals who order durable medical equipment for their Medicare patients, Medicare beneficiary advocates, and CMS/CBIC officials. The interviews will help CMS understand the affect of the program on suppliers, referral providers and Medicare beneficiaries."

Kelly Wolf, VGM vice president, key accounts, said the group is not overly concerned about the data being collected.

"At VGM we feel, though the surveys suggest future monitoring, the data collected will in no way impact our members' ability to choose which products they offer their customers. As the final rule states, providers must provide Medicare recipients the same products that are provided to other customers. As long as providers utilize the same products for all of their customers they retain their ability to change products as needed."

Abt Associates, Cambridge, Mass., is the contractor that developed the first draft of CMS' new supplier quality standards.

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