12/29/2014    Paul Kesselman DPM

DMERC Questions (Debra Weinstock DPM)

When approaching any questions on your status as a
supplier I would suggest you take off your
"doctors" hat and put on a "store owners" hat. The
National Supplier Clearinghouse really wants to
know when your patient's can contact the store and
what they are telling you, is that the store owner
need not always be present. However, what the
customer service person did not tell you, is that
you indeed have that option.

You can instead of selecting hours of operation,
to instead check off by appointment. Selecting a
set of hours will obligate your office to be open
regardless of non-legal holidays, weather issues,
staff illness, coffee or bathroom breaks; or times
when you might select to close your office to
reduce payroll when you may be performing other
physician duties such as house calls, hospital or
nursing home appointments etc. It will leave you
vulnerable to having your supplier status revoked
if a surprise inspection is attempted and there is
no one to answer the door.

Instead, you do have the option of selecting by
appointment only as your "office hours". This will
make an inspection only possible by the NSC during
the same hours of operation as your office hours,
by an appointment. That is the inspector will
need to call your office and leave a message (if
no one is in, after all you told them it was by
appointment and give you the option to call back;
or if your office happens to be open when they
call, to schedule a time which is convenient for
you).

For most single practitioner offices, this is far
better, giving you the option of being in the
office during a scheduled inspection
rather than a surprise inspection.

As with any other Medicare application, yes, your
information needs to match all supportive
documentation; Any change needs to be done through
either the PECOS system or by paper with an 855S
application (for suppliers). Your address on the
application should match the legal address used by
the postal service. And again, if you elect a set
of hours on the application, you would be required
to submit an application notifying the NSC of a
change in your hours, should you choose to change
your office hours (another reason to choose
"by appointment only", on your application. While
there is a charge for suppliers to enroll (or
revalidate in Medicare), there is none for making
changes to your enrollment information.

While I understand the process thoroughly, I have
not the time nor the patience to file these
applications for my own practice or keep up
with the status of an enrollment or revalidation.
Even I outsource this task. There are several
excellent professionals, who know the application
process very well and who are far more qualified
to fill and review these applications then the
average physician, in-house biller or office
manager.

Currently, I am going through revalidation process
for Medicare Part B for both my offices and an NSC
revalidation for one (the other was done last
year). So, I am into this, just about as anyone
can be. Stay tuned!

Paul Kesselman, DPM, Woodside, NY

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