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As of
Oct. 25, your doctors will have to see patients face-to-face
before they prescribe any power wheelchairs or scooters.
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implemented
the face-to-face requirement in an interim final rule on
Power Mobility Devices (PMDs) such as power wheelchairs
and scooters. Unlike an earlier rule, which would have applied
to all durable medical equipment, this requirement only
applies to PMDs, however.
Good
news: Your doctors will no longer have to fill out and
sign the certificate of medical necessity (CMNs) for PMDs.
Also, CMS is deleting the requirement that only specialists
in physical medicine, orthopedic surgery, neurology or rhematology
can prescribe power scooters.
Not-so-good
news: Physicians will have to provide written prescriptions
for PMDs, plus copies of any relevant documentation from
the patients' files, to wheelchair suppliers. The suppliers
must have that documentation in their files when they bill
Medicare.
New
code: CMS is creating a new add-on "G" code
for providing wheelchair documentation to suppliers, and
it'll reimburse around $21.60 in 2005.
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