Oxygen sign-on letter heads to CMS 

WASHINGTON – Twenty two members of the House of Representatives have asked CMS to streamline documentation for home oxygen therapy, AAHomecare reports. A sign-on letter spearheaded by Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., requests that CMS: “Use the opportunity of expanding the current National Coverage Determination for oxygen to establish a clear set of criteria to support medical necessity and instruct the contractors to rely solely on the Standard Written Order as they are doing during the pandemic or to include with that order a completed template to support medical necessity without having to review individual clinician’s medical records.” AAHomecare credited the Council for Quality Respiratory Care for leading the effort to develop the letter with Reps. Sewell and Bucshon. Industry stakeholders have argued that the new NCD, which eliminates the CMN requirement for home oxygen, provides an opening to revisit standardized clinical data elements.