BALTIMORE--On Tuesday, May 13, CMS will hold a National Provider Training Call to give an overview of Medicare's DMEPOS competitive bidding program.

According to a notice from the agency, the national education call, which will run from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET, is being conducted for Medicare fee-for-service providers and will address “some of the situations you may encounter as the program is implemented July 1, 2008.”

The Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) will make a presentation, and CMS subject matter experts will be available to answer questions. A PowerPoint presentation will be posted on the CMS Web site prior to the call.

To participate, you must register for the call at http://www2.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/051308.

Registration will close at 12:30 p.m. ET on May 12, or when available space has been filled. No exceptions will be made, so CMS advises that listeners register prior to this time.

A replay option will be available after the call from 2:30 p.m. ET May 13 until 11:59 p.m. ET May 17. For the replay, call 800/642-1687 and use passcode 45744159.

To review before the training call, CMS has issued three articles through the Medicare Learning Network that contain a substantial amount of information about the bidding program, including:

--MLN Matters Special Edition Article # SE0805, "Overview of New Medicare Competitive Bidding Program for Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS)," posted on the CMS Web site at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE0805.pdf;

--MLN Matters Special Edition Article # SE0806, "Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program: Grandfathering, Repair and Replacement, Mail Order Diabetic Supplies and Advanced Beneficiary Notices (ABNs),” posted at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE0806.pdf; and

--MLN Matters Special Edition Article # SE0807, "Important Exceptions and Special Circumstances that Occur Under the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program," posted at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE0807.pdf.

Immediately following the training call on May 13, CMS will hold a Home Health, Hospice and DME Open Door Forum at 2 p.m. ET.

To participate by phone, call 800/837-1935 and reference conference ID 41864430. To access the replay of the Open Door session, call 800/642-1687 and use the same conference ID number. The replay will be available beginning two hours after the session has ended and will expire after three business days.