Baltimore DMERC Region B Medical Director Dr. Adrian Oleck is relocating to Region C in March, a CMS spokeswoman has confirmed. The announcement comes

Baltimore

DMERC Region B Medical Director Dr. Adrian Oleck is relocating to Region C in March, a CMS spokeswoman has confirmed.

The announcement comes as CMS prepares to transition from Durable Medical Equipment Regional Carriers into a new DME Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) system.

Instead of a single contractor handling all claims processing for a region, the functions of each of the four DME regions will be split under the new system: Program safeguard contractors (PSCs) will be responsible for benefit integrity, medical review and medical policy, and affiliated contractors (ACs) will be responsible for claims processing.

The model is similar to one already used in DMERC Region A, which splits its workload between two contractors — PSC HealthNow New York and AC TriCenturion. The Medicare Modernization Act mandated that CMS put all fee-for-service claims processing business up for bid.

TrustSolutions won the bid to become Region C's PSC in November, and, according to CMS, has hired Oleck as its new medical director to begin March 1.

Dr. Mark Pilley was recently named medical director of Region D, with PSC duties to be handled by EDS and subcontractor IntegriGuard. TriCenturion will be the PSC for regions A and B, with Dr. Paul Hughes to serve as medical director over both regions.

The new DME MAC transition is expected to be completed by July 1.