Tag: Oxygen NCD
In brief: Updated cost study, oxygen template, diabetes outcomes
July 22, 2022HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa – For every $1 CMS invests in DME and supplies to prevent pressure sores, it will see a return of $38.54 in reduced or avoided treatment costs, according to an updated study from VGM Government Relations and Leitten Consulting.
DME and supplies to prevent pressure sores was one of three new categories included in the study. The others: catheters and related urological supplies, and diabetic test strips and monitors.
“As CMS forced prices down and treatment...
CMS changes date for oxygen NCD implementation
May 26, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS has changed the implementation date of the new oxygen national coverage determination from Jun 14, 2022, to Jan. 3, 2023.
“This change only extends the implementation date to Jan. 1, 2023,” AAHomecare stated in a bulletin. “The new oxygen NCD coverage expansion will still be retroactively effective to claims with a date of service on or after Sept. 27, 2021.”
The new oxygen NCD, among other things, expands access for acute conditions...
Silos, recall and more
April 19, 2022Liz Beaulieu, Editor
The most read stories of the first quarter of 2022 point to a lot of changes in the HME industry right now.
Our No. 1 most read story, “Owens & Minor buys Apria, reaches deeper into home care,” points to an accelerating trend in the larger health care industry where vertical silos are disintegrating. Here, we see a global distributor and logistics company buy an HME provider (this follows its previous acquisition of Byram Healthcare). These kinds of deals have happened before,...
Stark on oxygen NCD’s ripple effects, gaps
January 7, 2022Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – Andrea Stark says the HME industry hasn’t experienced a coverage expansion like what’s in the new NCD for home oxygen therapy in recent history.
Stark, the head of reimbursement at MiraVista LLC, was a guest on a recent HME News in 10 podcast to talk about the ripple effects of the new NCD, which expands coverage to acute conditions and eliminates the CMN requirement, and how the DME MACs will interpret the new policy.
Caught by surprise
“CMS...
Stakeholders to CMS: Acknowledge our concerns
October 15, 2021Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – A coalition of respiratory stakeholders, including the Council for Quality Respiratory Care, are again asking CMS to ensure that objective standards for prescribing home oxygen therapy are put in place to prevent payment issues for HME providers and access issues for patients.
In an Oct. 4 letter, the CQRC and 11 other organizations, including AAHomecare and VGM & Associates, asked CMS to eliminate...
CMNs, COVID and the Dunkin’ run
August 20, 2021Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
From the moment I open my eyes in the morning, I have one goal: coffee. This is normal any day of the year, but on Cape Cod, getting coffee from Dunkin Donuts is a competitive sport that requires getting keys, wallet and shoes lined up the night before, getting up extra early to try and beat the lines, and dodging horrible drivers (hey, it’s Massachusetts) in the small parking lot, all for the magic elixir that keeps me going.
And I’ve needed that fuel to keep up with all the happenings...
Proposed oxygen changes: Overall, they're positive, providers say
July 30, 2021Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – Providers support proposed changes to the oxygen benefit that they say will ease paperwork burdens and expand access to therapy, but they’d like to see more details.
CMS in July issued a proposed national coverage determination for home oxygen therapy that, among other things, removes the CMN requirement and expands access for acute conditions.
“This would open it up for physicians being physicians and prescribing what they see as...
CMS updates: Hurricane relief, oxygen NCD
September 2, 2020HME News Staff
The Department of Health and Human Services last week declared public health emergencies in Louisiana and Texas due to Hurricane Laura, opening the door for CMS to then extend a number of waivers to health care providers. For medical equipment and supplies, CMS has suspended certain requirements necessary for Medicare beneficiaries who have lost or realized damage to their DME, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies as a result of the PHE…CMS has initiated a review of the national coverage determination...