After release of its supplier quality standards in August 2006, CMS named 11 approved accrediting organizations late last year to enforce them. A merger in January between two of the organizations left 10 accreditors ready to deal with what many had expected to be an accreditation rush in the initial competitive bidding areas.
But, the rush never came. CMS's Sandra Bastinelli, charged with running the accreditation program, announced at an Oct. 11 meeting of the Program Advisory and Oversight Committee that a total 2,200 provider locations across the 10 CBAs had been accredited. About 100 more applications were pending before the Oct. 31 deadline.
Bill Popomaronis, R.Ph., NCPA vice president, home health and long term care pharmacy services, provides his thoughts and explanations on the latest DME information from CMS.
