|
If your
practice already sends patients home with a month's worth
of dressings, or provides complicated wound care supplies,
you could be losing out. If your practice enrolled as a
durable medical equipment provider, you could bill Medicare
for those supplies.
One
multi-specialty group looked into enrolling either its podiatry
practice or its ambulatory surgery center as a DME supplier,
says Wendy Ross, vice president of operations with the Medical
Technology Group in Bradenton, FL. The group decided not
to pursue DME licensure, even though Ross believes the group
loses over $200,000 per year in potential DME revenue.
"They
lose money every month because they cannot bill for DME,"
Ross says of the group. "If you are providing the supply
and it is reimbursable," you should make "every
effort" to obtain DME licensure, she insists.
Becoming
a durable medical equipment provider involves submitting
an application to Medicare's National Supplier Clearinghouse,
passing a site inspection and complying with a list of supplier
standards. Also, your state may require you to obtain a
license and comply with local requirements.
|
