Page 8 - HME Business, January/February 2021

Business Solutions
GAME CHANGES:
Accreditation in 2021
This year marks a renewal cycle for DMEPOS accreditation, but COVID-19 had changed this typically routine process. Also, other developments might impact renewal choices in 2021. What do providers need to know to ensure a smooth, timely renewal? — By David Kopf
It’s 2021, and the New Year means an accreditation renewal cycle for most DMEPOS providers — but they might not recognize the process. The game has changed quite a bit.
Every three years, providers must renew their Medicare accreditation in order to continue billing for DMEPOS claims, but due to the COVID-19 public health emer- gency, the process has changed. More- over, there are other reasons — such as CMS’s decision to opt of issuing contracts for 13 Round 2021 categories, thus leaving those categories open — why a provider might want to add new lines of businesses and expand their accreditation.
So, bearing all that in mind, how should providers approach accreditation renewal this year?
FIRST, SOME BACKGROUND
Well, before we get into how’s accredita- tion has changed due to the PHE, let’s first review why we’re here. Why? Because there are a lot of new entrants to the market due to mergers and acquisition ac- tivity. Also, reviewing the renewal process will help underscore the changes.
For starters, let’s review the importance of accreditation. Any Medicare supplier wishing to file DMEPOS claims is required to have Medicare accreditation — by law.
“Going back to the Medicare Modern- ization Act of 2003, it was mandated that anybody that wanted to bill Medicare for DME items had to be accredited by one of the approved agencies,” says Sandra Canally, RN, the founder and CEO of ac- creditation organization The Compliance Team (thecomplianceteam.org).
The Act gave DMEPOS suppliers a deadline of 2009 to get accredited so that any provider that was going to bill Medicare Part B DMEPOS was required to get accredited by one of the approved agencies. Since then, every three years, providers must renew.
Since 2009, Medicare accreditation has taken on even more importance. Now, DMEPOS accreditation isn’t just for Medi- care; it has become a gold standard with other funding sources. Even if a provider doesn’t derive the majority of its revenue from Medicare funding, various payers and referral partners want to see that they are working with HME/DME providers that have secured that accreditation.
“Accreditation is not all about CMS,”
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