Durable Medical Equipment (DME) can be used to treat a medical problem at home. This equipment provides therapeutic benefits to a patient. Before using this equipment, you need to submit all the required sets of documents accurately and follow other dme billing guidelines. In this blog we will discuss the 3 most important dme billing guidelines that you need to abide by.
Durable medical equipment that is inexpensive and used by the patient regularly can be purchased. These kinds of equipment include walkers, arm slings, and comfort rings. Purchasing this equipment may require a prescription and other such documents by a licensed doctor. Mostly, people only buy it if the equipment is needed for an extended period.
For example, blood glucose monitors are one of the most purchased DMEs since it is required regularly and is inexpensive. You also need to present the documents that show that renting the past equipment has benefited the health of the patient and provided various clinical benefits.
When renting DME, providers need to make sure the rental cost is not higher than purchasing cost. Also, it is mandatory to get the rental claim form filled. The form must have a section to define the dates and period of renting DME. After the patient no longer requires DME, it must be returned to the provider immediately. A patient can be charged rentals either on a daily or monthly basis. In case an equipment has not been rented to anyone in the past, and reaches the allowed amount, it can be owned by the patient.
Some DME requires additional maintenance costs. If there is any damage while using that equipment, then repair guidelines need to be followed. If the equipment cannot be repaired or brought back to its original condition, it needs to be replaced.
Rental fees may sometimes include repair, delivery, and maintenance charges. Depending on the type of DME, the maintenance period can vary from one month to six months. All these services will start from the very next day of delivering DME to the member.
Managing and taking care of the bills for each DME your purchase or rent is quite difficult. Apart from that, you also have to consider several rules for DME billing and remember all the dates of repayment without any failure. But if you outsource DME billing, your work is eased. A team will manage all those bills and give a gentle reminder about the repayment.
Outsourcing DME billing services will improve customer services. In case patients have a query regarding the medical expenses, then the billing team can answer their queries. This will take off the extra burden from the hospital staff. We have observed that rules for billing in the medical sectors are a bit complicated that keeps changing. You will not have to invest your worthy time in updating the DME billing if you have an outsourcing team for this purpose.
While these are the primary DME billing guidelines for purchasing, renting, and maintaining equipment, any problem or confusion can be avoided by thoroughly going through the common DME guideline book.