07-21-2021, 09:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-21-2021, 10:07 AM by Night Train.)
Medicare FACE-TO-FACE "Compliance" visit?
Does Medicare REQUIRE an in-face compliance visit of any type at about the 2-3 month point after placement of new CPAP equipment?
My sleep-study practice/DME equipment provider combo outfit tells me that they do, and set me up with a Zoom-like meeting with their NP. However, it was not Zoom-based, it was some phone-app based video conference system. First off, as previously asked, does Medicare require this visit to be in person, or at least face to face through some video conferencing platform? Since they told me that the meeting's purpose is solely to determine compliance, why am I even troubled with this? Isn't that compliance info available to them via 4G in real time, anytime they want to retrieve it? For the DME company to get paid by Medicare for the equipment do I have to do this meeting? Or is this something that their revenue enhancement officer identified as a source of additional revenue above the equipment rental revenue and that is the real reason they are requiring me to do this? And if it is indeed required by Medicare, is it Medicare's requirement to be face-to-face? Couldn't this be done by phone?
I have some problems with the whole process. First, why must I INSTALL AN APP in my phone to do the meeting, with all the Big Brother overreach that we know these apps contain? (And require me to agree to binding arbitration in their home county, half way across the country) Second, why must I put my credit card information on file with the company in order to be able to successfully install the phone app? I have Medicare and Aetna supp. I am old school: mail me a bill and if I think I owe you money (after Medicare and Aetna pays) I will write a check and lick a stamp. I don't want you to bill my credit card summarily, without my review. I want to be the gatekeeper of my healthcare provider's access to my pocketbook. Having my credit card info on file removes me from the management of my healthcare AND THE CONTROL OF ITS COSTS. I become simply a cog in the healthcare revenue-generating mission statement, not the focus of and reason for healthcare in the first place. That dog don't hunt: I uninstalled the half-installed app and told them NO MEETING until I have a chance to educate myself about this process. I know when I am being "handled".
So please reply and get me up to speed as far as Medicare's requirements on this: Do they only want the compliance info and no meeting is needed? Is my supplier playing loose with the facts and the meeting is superfluous and just another way to enhance their revenue? (Seems like if I had chosen to deal with a internet-based CPAP company I wouldn't be troubled with this.)
I'd like to know the facts before I speak with them again. They surely could have done more to make this whole process less cumbersome in my opinion. They do not hide their profit motive well, nor make much of an effort to do so.
My sleep-study practice/DME equipment provider combo outfit tells me that they do, and set me up with a Zoom-like meeting with their NP. However, it was not Zoom-based, it was some phone-app based video conference system. First off, as previously asked, does Medicare require this visit to be in person, or at least face to face through some video conferencing platform? Since they told me that the meeting's purpose is solely to determine compliance, why am I even troubled with this? Isn't that compliance info available to them via 4G in real time, anytime they want to retrieve it? For the DME company to get paid by Medicare for the equipment do I have to do this meeting? Or is this something that their revenue enhancement officer identified as a source of additional revenue above the equipment rental revenue and that is the real reason they are requiring me to do this? And if it is indeed required by Medicare, is it Medicare's requirement to be face-to-face? Couldn't this be done by phone?
I have some problems with the whole process. First, why must I INSTALL AN APP in my phone to do the meeting, with all the Big Brother overreach that we know these apps contain? (And require me to agree to binding arbitration in their home county, half way across the country) Second, why must I put my credit card information on file with the company in order to be able to successfully install the phone app? I have Medicare and Aetna supp. I am old school: mail me a bill and if I think I owe you money (after Medicare and Aetna pays) I will write a check and lick a stamp. I don't want you to bill my credit card summarily, without my review. I want to be the gatekeeper of my healthcare provider's access to my pocketbook. Having my credit card info on file removes me from the management of my healthcare AND THE CONTROL OF ITS COSTS. I become simply a cog in the healthcare revenue-generating mission statement, not the focus of and reason for healthcare in the first place. That dog don't hunt: I uninstalled the half-installed app and told them NO MEETING until I have a chance to educate myself about this process. I know when I am being "handled".
So please reply and get me up to speed as far as Medicare's requirements on this: Do they only want the compliance info and no meeting is needed? Is my supplier playing loose with the facts and the meeting is superfluous and just another way to enhance their revenue? (Seems like if I had chosen to deal with a internet-based CPAP company I wouldn't be troubled with this.)
I'd like to know the facts before I speak with them again. They surely could have done more to make this whole process less cumbersome in my opinion. They do not hide their profit motive well, nor make much of an effort to do so.
