Earlier this year, Medicare implemented a new policy on Comprehensive Care of Joint Replacement.  While positioned as a pilot test, all hospitals were forced to be involved.  Under this new program, hospitals are given financial incentives to reduce the total cost for hip and knee replacements.  If hospitals succeed in driving down the total costs, […]

The four Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MAC), recently released a joint correct coding bulletin reminding DMEPOS suppliers that it is each supplier’s responsibility to select the proper HCPCS codes for billing. To aid suppliers in their selection of the proper HCPCS code(s) the DME MACs provided the following tips: Check the PDAC […]

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have notified the four existing RAC contractors that as a result of the upcoming award of new RAC contracts, current RAC audit activity will be placed on hiatus to allow the RACs to complete their open audits prior to the completion of their contracts.  CMS has provided the […]

AOPA has recently received reports of increased RAC activity (details here) and has scheduled several educational webinars to help you prepare. The first webinar will cover the basics of what the renewed RAC audits mean for O&P providers and how to be prepared to respond to an audit request when it is received. The second webinar […]

AOPA members should be aware of proposed education standards by the Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) that could potentially encroach on the O&P profession. AOPA encourages members to make public comments about a proposed set of Assistive Technology education standards that are currently being advanced by the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North American (RESNA). The […]

As a result of the series of meetings during the Policy Forum involving Senator Kerrey and top members of the Senate and the Finance Committee, and particularly through AOPA Past President Tom Watson’s intercession with Senate Majority Leader McConnell, important language relating to the July 2015 draft LCD was inserted into the Committee report which […]

In 2013, AOPA, in conjunction with the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) and the Pedorthic Footcare Association (PFA), developed a joint statement on the interpretation of HCPCS codes L3000, L3010, L3020, and L3030.  The joint statement was presented to AOPA leadership at the time and was approved for publication.  On May 13, 2016 a follow […]

AOPA has recently received reports of increased Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) activity focusing on the provision of ankle foot orthoses, especially in Jurisdiction A and Jurisdiction D. While the existing RAC contractors have been authorized to begin new audits for some time now, pending the competition for and award of the single, national DMEPOS RAC […]