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April 12, 2018

Physicians! Your Medical Records Play a Vital Role in Ordering and Providing DMEPOS to Your Patients!

For any Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic, Orthotic and Supply (DMEPOS) item to be covered by Medicare, the patient's medical record must contain sufficient information about the patient's medical condition to substantiate the necessity for the type of equipment or supply, quantity and/or frequency of use or replacement, if applicable.

Medical documentation to support medical necessity should include pertinent and relevant information such as:

  • Patient's diagnosis
  • Duration of the patient's condition
  • Clinical course (worsening or improvement)
  • Prognosis, nature and extent of any functional limitation(s)
  • Other therapeutic interventions and results, past experience with related items, etc.

For selected claims, various auditing entities may request this information from the DME supplier. These DME suppliers are your partners in caring for your patients. When questions arise about Medicare's coverage criteria for an item, reach out to them for verification. They will not receive payment from Medicare for the items that are ordered if you do not provide information from your medical records when it is requested. In addition, when thorough medical records cannot be obtained by the DME supplier an Advance Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage (ABN) may be the only resolution which will result in your patients having to pay for the items out of pocket.

DMEPOS Jurisdictions

Jurisdiction AExternal Website – CT, DE, MA, ME, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, Washington D.C.

Jurisdiction B – IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, OH, WI

Jurisdiction C – AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, LA, MS, NM, NC, OK, Puerto Rico, SC, TN, TX, USVI, VA, WV

Jurisdiction DExternal Website – Am. Samoa, Guam, N. Mariana Is., AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, IA, KS, MO, MT, NE, NV, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY

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