Tag: Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC)
In brief: Walgreens creates new pharmacy biz, CQRC contributes to hearing, OIG contacts CGM providers
May 1, 2024HME News Staff
DEERFIELD, Ill. – AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy will become Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy effective Aug.1, 2024, in a move that Walgreens says will expand care for patients with complex, chronic conditions.
Walgreens will now have nearly 300 community-based specialty pharmacies nationwide, with more than 1,500 specialty-trained pharmacists, 5,000 patient advocacy support team members and dedicated Specialty360 teams that support all specialty conditions and therapies.
“With...
CQRC pushes SOAR Act as part of hearing
April 29, 2024HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care submitted a statement highlighting the need for Medcare to standardize the process for determining medical necessity for home oxygen therapy as part of a recent congressional hearing on “Examining How Improper Payments Cost Taxpayers Billions and Weaken Medicare and Medicaid.”
In the statement, the CQRC recommends CMS require Medicare contractors to use the clinical data element templates already created by the agency...
CQRC leads way on oxygen reform
April 12, 2024Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – The fact that the HME industry, physician groups and patient groups are all in alignment on what needs to be done to fix the Medicare oxygen benefit should help to propel a new bill forward, says Dan Starck, interim chair of the Council for Quality Respiratory Care.
The Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) Act, introduced in late February in the Senate and in late March in the House of Representatives, has support from heavy hitters like the American Lung Association,...
In brief: HCD’s big buy, Brightree’s new leader, CQRC’s letter
October 18, 2023HME News Staff
RICHMOND, Va. – Home Care Delivered, a provider of diabetes, incontinence, wound, urological and ostomy supplies, has bought the DMEPOS supplier business unit of Medline Industries.
HCD says the strategic move will enhance its market presence, expand its geographical footprint and provide access to a broader customer base, while reinforcing its relationships with patients, health care plans and manufacturers.
"By integrating Medline's DMEPOS supplier assets, we are accelerating...
Groups push for standardized clinical data elements
October 16, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care recently joined five other respiratory care groups in sending a letter to CMS asking the agency to require Medicare contractors to use a standard clinical data element template for supplemental oxygen to ensure beneficiaries, prescribers and suppliers won’t be overburdened with audits.
While the groups say they appreciate that CMS has developed a pilot program for an e-clinical template for oxygen, the current focus on electronic...
Oxygen template: CQRC enlists Congress
September 12, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Fourteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter to CMS urging the agency to clarify Medicare documentation requirements for supplemental oxygen and adopt a standardized template for documenting patient need, according to the Council for Quality Respiratory Care.
“We write to request that auditors accept the standard written order (SWO) as the only necessary documentation to establish medical necessity when auditing claims of patients who...
CQRC calls for clear post-PHE transition
February 27, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – With a “massive” number of patients starting on home respiratory therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care is renewing its call for a transition period to ensure those patients don’t lose access when the public health emergency ends on May 11, says the Council for Quality Respiratory Care.
While providers are ready to move past the pandemic, much of that readiness depends on any guidance CMS provides, especially for...
In brief: PHE ends, CMS audits Medicare Advantage, CQRC calls for safeguards
February 3, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has announced that the public health emergency will end on May 11, 2023.
Under the last declaration in January, the PHE was set to end on April 11.
“The advance notice goes beyond HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s previous guidance to health care stakeholders that the agency would provide at least 60 days advance notice before ending the PHE,” AAHomecare noted in a bulletin.
Knowing when the PHE will end gives industry...
CQRC calls for safeguards to home respiratory access
February 2, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care, is calling on the federal government to implement policies to ensure patients do not experience barriers to maintaining access to home oxygen, sleep and non-invasive ventilator therapy due to new paperwork requirements that are set to take effect when the COVID-19 public health emergency ends on May 11.
“The public health emergency declaration went a long way towards ensuring the more than 1.5 million patients who rely on...
In brief: Audit update, CQRC comment, home infusion payment
November 11, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS plans to primarily focus MAC, RAC and SMRC medical reviews on claims with dates of service outside of the public health emergency, the agency stated in a recent clarification.
CMS stated:
“During the PHE, flexibilities were applied across claim types. For certain DME items, this included the non-enforcement of clinical indications for coverage. Since clinical indications for coverage were not enforced for certain DME items provided during the PHE, once...