tci Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement - 2004 Issue 35

Home Health: Why DMEPOS Rule Could Make Docs' Lives Harder

Physicians are required to see patients to prescribe supplies, but Medicare won't pay.A new Medicare requirement places physicians squarely between a rock and a hard place.As part of Operation Wheeler Dealer, the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to require physicians to see patients face-to-face when prescribing all items of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS). But Medicare won't pay for a physician visit if the sole purpose is prescribing DMEPOS.That means if a patient needs a new crutch, cane, hospital bed, wheelchair or oxygen concentrator at home, he or she will have...

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