Archive for January, 2009
Surety Bonds and You
Right at the end of the year, CMS announced final surety bond requirements for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies suppliers (DMEPOS). CMS has focused on DMEs, apparently with good reason:
The 2007 Medicare error rate report found approximately $1 billion in improper payments for medical equipment and supplies.
We’ve had a couple of customers ask about the implications of this for healthcare providers. For now, our understanding is that healthcare providers do not need to collect surety bond information directly from DMEPOS. Rather, the healthcare provider only needs to be sure any DMEPOS they may contract with is not on any CMS or state agency sanction list.
And how many DMEPOS might be on such a list. Well, the same CMS press release noted:
CMS has revoked billing privileges of 1,139 DMEPOS suppliers as part of the DMEPOS High-Risk Suppliers Demonstration.
Ouch.
Add comment January 23, 2009
HCCA Survey: Ethics & Compliance Risks in the Recession
Happy New Year? I always like to start a new year optimistically. But it’s a little more difficult this year, now that I read this report.
Just out from the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) and the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) are the discouraging results of a survey of health care compliance professionals. In the survey, more than 8 of 10 compliance professionals believe “the current economy greatly or somewhat increases the risk of compliance and ethics failure.”
If you have policies in place, now is the time to reinforce them with your vendors and your staff. If you don’t, now is the time to put them in place — before temptation pulls someone off course.
Add comment January 9, 2009
