Baltimore
CMS notified providers that they can deliver home oximetry tests to Medicare patients to help speed up the process of qualifying beneficiaries for home oxygen therapy.
According to a CMS program transmittal, effective Jan. 1, 2006, DME suppliers may deliver overnight pulse oximetry testing units to patients' homes — so patients can self-test — if they are ordered by a physician and performed under the direction and/or instruction of a Medicare-approved Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility.
Last year, CMS began allowing home oximetry testing, but questions about delivery and pick-up of the units, along with patient instruction, remained. CMS also had limited the testing to certain devices, such as the Power Ox, distributed by The Letco Companies, Decatur, Ala., and Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare Corp.'s Web Ox. But after the release of the transmittal, CMS told HomeCare that “this instruction is not limited to certain proprietary technology.”
For more information on the policy, see Washington Wit & Wisdom on page 56.
