Accreditation Equipment Follow Ups
Posted 10-29-2009 at 04:03 PM by admin
You are not required to continue follow-up or provide routine maintenance
after the equipment is converted to purchase.
However, you are required to provide the patient with maintenance and
warranty information at the time of the conversion to purchase. You should
document that this has been done, and keep proof that you had provided this
information in the patient file (whether electronic or paper).
We provide our DME clients with a form to use for this purpose, and advise
them to mail it to the patient with the required warranty and maintenance
information, and keep a copy of the form with a “mailed” date stamp on it, in
the patient file.
While you may have had another payer in mind when asking your question, it
is worth keeping in mind that this is one of the few products where Medicare
actually still allows the patient to make a purchase or continue to rent
decision at the 10th month. If the patient elects to continue to rent you
would bill until the 15th month, then bill maintenance with the MS modifier
every 6 months. In that case, you would be required to show that the pump
had its required 12 month maintenance completed very year (again, I would
document this in the patient record, either paper, or electronically — most
DME software systems have a place to record this in the electronic record –
attached to the serial number record of the device).
Also keep in mind, in the above scenario, most pump manufacturers will rent
their pumps to the DME (for a very low cost if you buy their tubing and
supplies). In those instances, they will also complete the maintenance. Just
switch out the pump with a newly maintained pump, and send the pump that
is due for maintenance back to the manufacturer for re-furb, etc. Keep the
documentation from the manufacturer showing the pump had its maintenance
when it was due (so that you have the documentation for the next patient
that gets that pump), or simply record the maintenance in the serial number
record of your computer system, as noted above.
Best,
Roberta Domos, RRT
http://hmeconsulting.com
Phone: 425-882-2035
Fax: 425-636-8208
after the equipment is converted to purchase.
However, you are required to provide the patient with maintenance and
warranty information at the time of the conversion to purchase. You should
document that this has been done, and keep proof that you had provided this
information in the patient file (whether electronic or paper).
We provide our DME clients with a form to use for this purpose, and advise
them to mail it to the patient with the required warranty and maintenance
information, and keep a copy of the form with a “mailed” date stamp on it, in
the patient file.
While you may have had another payer in mind when asking your question, it
is worth keeping in mind that this is one of the few products where Medicare
actually still allows the patient to make a purchase or continue to rent
decision at the 10th month. If the patient elects to continue to rent you
would bill until the 15th month, then bill maintenance with the MS modifier
every 6 months. In that case, you would be required to show that the pump
had its required 12 month maintenance completed very year (again, I would
document this in the patient record, either paper, or electronically — most
DME software systems have a place to record this in the electronic record –
attached to the serial number record of the device).
Also keep in mind, in the above scenario, most pump manufacturers will rent
their pumps to the DME (for a very low cost if you buy their tubing and
supplies). In those instances, they will also complete the maintenance. Just
switch out the pump with a newly maintained pump, and send the pump that
is due for maintenance back to the manufacturer for re-furb, etc. Keep the
documentation from the manufacturer showing the pump had its maintenance
when it was due (so that you have the documentation for the next patient
that gets that pump), or simply record the maintenance in the serial number
record of your computer system, as noted above.
Best,
Roberta Domos, RRT
http://hmeconsulting.com
Phone: 425-882-2035
Fax: 425-636-8208
Total Comments 1
Comments
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With respect to "capped rental" DME items (vs DMEPOS equipment subject to the purchase option) that must have title transfered after 13 continuous months of rental...why is Medicare not simply satisfied with cesation of billing for rental...why must the actual device be transferred to the patient? Is there any creative but legitamate and ethical way to prevent a company giving away thousands of dollars per year in DME that a patient is unlikely to even want?Posted 01-25-2010 at 02:03 PM by Jackso_k
