Accreditation
Accreditation continues to play a vital role in the home medical equipment industry. In addition to needing to establish or renew accreditation in order to bill Medicare, providers have a number of reasons why accreditation plays a regular role in their daily lives.
Medicare accreditation compounds a provider’s reputation with referral partners and satisfaction from patients. It shows accredited HME providers are a partner in patient care and optimizing outcomes, and having an accrediting organization confirm that a provider meets Medicare’s standards in that regard gives the provider a competitive edge.
Ultimately, Medicare accreditation has morphed into a bit of a Gold Standard. Now even private payer insurers and health plans seek out HME providers that have Medicare accreditation. Bearing that in mind, accrediting organizations are working to increase accreditation’s market cachet.
Also, accrediting organizations are starting to offer specialized accreditation designations to further help HME providers demonstrate to referral partners and patients that they are an expert in their community when it comes to medical equipment and that they possess deep product knowledge as it pertains to their care.
These specialized accreditation distinctions take the Medicare accreditation for a specific category and “turn it up to eleven.” The standards for these programs are robust and put providers through their paces, but once a specialized accreditation is achieved, the recipient can use it to say it is the best of the best. If accreditation is a Gold Standard, then specialized accreditation would be the Platinum Standard. Let’s look at some current accreditation services available to providers:
Accreditation Commission for Health Care
Mail-Order Pharmacies Program
Mail-order pharmacies can gain accreditation through new program
Responding to a growing
trend in the pharmacy
industry, the Accreditation
Commission for Health
Care has introduced a new
accreditation service for
mail-order pharmacies. The
program helps organizations
address standards concerning pharmacy licensure,
patient records, shipping methodology and more
before earning recognition for their quality control
systems. In addition, the accreditation will also help
pharmacies meet the requirements of payers.
Board of Certification/Accreditation International (BOC)
Expedited Accreditation Option
Faster program helps providers save time, money
- This service provides a CMS-compliant opportunity to begin serving Medicare patients sooner while ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements.
- Expedited service guarantees a visit from a surveyor within 10 business days.
- BOC’s customer service ensures providers receive step-by-step, expert guidance throughout the entire process.
Accreditation Commission for Health Care
Transition Program
Through transition program, organizations can transfer accreditation to ACHC
Through the ACHC Transition Program, organizations
have the chance to transfer their accreditation to the
Accreditation Commission for Health Care. Earning
accreditation involves a simple four-step transition
process and does not require any annual fees. Those
steps include submitting a registration and $500 deposit,
undergoing a review of accreditation documents, learning about policy and
procedures with a clinical educator and earning approval.
Compliance Team
Patient-Centered Respiratory Home
Program helps respiratory providers differentiate
- Designation highlights the role of respiratory HME as the “go to” provider for respiratory care management.
- The program enhances patient management practices through concise measures that cover care planning, provider coordination and communication between respiratory specialists and prescribers.
- The only designation that recognizes respiratory HMEs for their expertise in care coordination for the medical community.
HealthCare Quality Association on Accreditation
DMEPOS Accreditation
- Web-based process is intuitive and individualized, with each customer is assigned an accreditation coach to ensure that no one walks through the process alone.
- Limited DMEPOS and full-line DMEPOS accreditation program is tailored specifically to client needs.
- Once accredited, customers are provided with tools to ensure that they stay informed about changes in requirements.
The Joint Commission
Accreditation for DMEPOS
Helping HMEs make themselves the 'partner of choice'
- Process-oriented standards focus on operational areas that critically impact the safety and quality of DMEPOS services.
- Proactively manages critical risks and enhances operational consistency.
- Helps gain access to managed care contracting opportunities.
Accreditation Commission for Health Care
HealthTrainU
Accreditation Commission for Health Care reinvents program
- Learning management system improves the education experience for healthcare providers, as they prepare for and maintain their accreditation and licensure.
- Enhancements will be made over the next few months to better serve other healthcare professionals.
- Formally known as MED U.
Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP)
CHAP Accreditation
Flexible Standards and Experienced Site Inspectors
- CHAP has created accreditation Standards of Excellence for HME which reflect state and federal laws, as well as best practices in the industry.
- CHAP standards provide guidance and structure, and are flexible to accommodate many business models.
- The standards detail all the necessary requirements and components of policies and procedures.
Compliance Team
Patient-Centered Respiratory Home
Accreditation specifically for home respiratory care providers
The first accreditation program specifically designed to help advanced respiratory care providers perform at the top of their license to better serve their “critical needs” patients The Compliance Team’s operations-based Exemplary Provider accreditation program for Patient-Centered Respiratory Home enhances patient management practices through concise measures the cover access issues, provider coordination, and communication between respiratory specialists and prescribers.
Board of Certification/Accreditation International (BOC)
Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC)
Accreditation and certification services for HME providers
Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC) will showcase its certification and accreditation for the DME and HME industry. The difference between the two? Certification is an assurance to patients of professional competency, quality care and safety, while accreditation helps suppliers meet CMS billing standards and demonstrates sound business practices and compliance with all applicable laws. A key highlight at the booth will be BOC’s recent Certified DME Specialist (CDME) certification and DMEPOS accreditation.