DME In The Emergency Department

Quest ion:

For patients who are seen in the Emergency Department, are we allowed to provide them with DMEitems at no charge?For example, can we distribute items such as crutches, boots, neck collars, etc, if we do not have a DMElicense? Are we allowed to bill for for these items if we do not have a DMElicense?Does a DMEprovider actually have to be the one providing these items in order to bill?

Answ er:

The facility can dispense crutches to an ED patient without being a DMEprovider if the crutches are provided incident to other medically necessary outpatient services While they can be dispensed, the facility cannot bill for those crutches

A report pulled from the DMEselection under the Calculator tab of the PDEproduces a report that indicates the crutches are not billable by an OPPS facility. Whether the patient is under a plan of care established by a provider who practices at the same clinic

An OPPShospital is not required to enroll with Medicare as a DMEsupplier to obtain reimbursement for Prosthetics and Orthotics reported on outpatient claims. I have attached a paper that discusses billable DMEand how to bill for those items