Tag: CQRC
OIG assesses telehealth risks, CQRC responds
September 12, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – High-risk providers represent a small portion of all providers who billed for a telehealth service, but strong, targeted oversight of these services is still important, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General.
The OIG identified 1,714 providers out of about 742,000 whose billing for telehealth services during the first year of the pandemic posed a high risk to Medicare, representing a total of $127.7 million in Medicare fee-for-service payments for...
In brief: CMS opens NCD, Philips transitions leadership, ACU-Serve makes buy
August 19, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS has opened the National Coverage Determination for seat elevation systems used with power wheelchairs, but the agency is not reconsidering coverage for power standing systems at this time.
CMS said in May it would commit to re-opening the NCD, nearly two years after the ITEM Coalition submitted a formal request to reconsider the NCD for mobility assistive equipment to include coverage for these systems.
“Now is the time for Medicare – the largest...
CQRC: Contact CMS about paperwork requirements
January 3, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care is asking industry stakeholders to contact CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to standardize the paperwork requirements for home oxygen coverage.
The CQRC says requiring physicians to provide medical records could result in “the vast majority of claims being denied.”
“CMS has indicated that physicians will be required to provide their medical records instead of using a form with the information...
In brief: Philips update, vaccine mandate, premium increase
November 19, 2021HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration obtained additional information during an inspection of a Philips’ manufacturing facility that was not previously available to the agency that showed the silicone-based foam used in a singular, similar device marketed outside the U.S. failed one safety test for the release of volatile organic compounds.
Similar testing provided by Philips to the FDA on devices authorized for marketing in the U.S. had demonstrated acceptable results.
“The...
CQRC applauds telehealth proposal
November 18, 2021HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care has commended lawmakers in the House of Representatives for including an important provision in the newly introduced 21st Century Cures 2.0 Act to permanently extend the home as a site for telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries. The bill would also allow CMS to extend other telehealth flexibilities permanently to increase access to telehealth services. “Given the increasingly important role of home respiratory care in the treatment...
In brief: CQRC on CMN, McKesson’s exit in Europe, fraud under spotlight
July 16, 2021HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care in a statement today encouraged CMS to reconsider eliminating the CMN for home oxygen therapy.
The CQRC, a coalition of the nation’s largest respiratory providers and manufacturers, says doing that would replace “objective testing ordered by a patient’s physician for the subjective decision-making of Medicare contractors.”
“We are highly supportive of allowing acute patients to receive oxygen...
CQRC on CMN: ‘It has been an anchor’
July 15, 2021HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care in a statement today encouraged CMS to reconsider eliminating the CMN for home oxygen therapy.
The CQRC, a coalition of the nation’s largest respiratory providers and manufacturers, says doing that would replace “objective testing ordered by a patient’s physician for the subjective decision-making of Medicare contractors.”
“We are highly supportive of allowing acute patients to receive oxygen therapy outside...
Sheer will and goodwill
May 11, 2021Liz Beaulieu, Editor
Being the recipient of Google Alerts for “oxygen concentrator” is a scary and sad place to be right now.
I have these alerts set up for a number of key terms in the HME industry – think “sleep therapy” and “home infusion” and “AdaptHealth” and “Invacare.” They’re delivered to my email inbox every afternoon.
Recent alerts for “oxygen concentrator” have been almost exclusively related to...
At capacity: Pandemic exacerbates problems created by bid program
January 29, 2021Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – CMS’s competitive bidding program set the stage for a number of the difficulties that the HME industry is seeing as it tries to meet increased demand for oxygen therapy for COVID-19 patients, say the leaders of Apria Healthcare and Lincare and the Council of Quality Respiratory Care.
The agency may have dropped oxygen from Round 2021, its latest round of bidding, but 10 years since the program’s...
CQRC fights estimated 5% cut to stationary oxygen
December 16, 2020HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS’s “meager” 0.6% CPI-U adjustment escalates the need to pass H.R. 8158, says the Council for Quality Respiratory Care. The lack of a larger adjustment, combined with the budget neutrality requirement, means a reimbursement cut of about 5% for stationary oxygen in non-bid areas, though the impact varies by region, according to the council. “We remain hopeful that Congress will implement a technical fix to this issue through bipartisan end-of-year legislation,”...