Do you have a prescription for durable medical equipment? Then be sure your physician has recently enrolled in the Medicare internet based PECOS system or Medicare will not pay for the items and instead you could be held financially liable.
- Your DMEPOS may not get paid for unless your provider is signed up with PECOS.
- DMEPOS includes catheters, nutritional supplies, walkers, wheelchairs, seating accessories
- You could be at financial risk if your prescriber is not enrolled in PECOS
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Click here to download the PECOS letter for your physician/provider (PDF).Starting April 5, 2010 physician and non-physician practitioners must be enrolled in the Medicare internet based PECOS system to order durable medical equipment prosthetics orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS). DMEPOS includes items such as catheters, nutritional supplies, walkers, wheelchairs, seating accessories etc.
For any DMEPOS item to be covered by Medicare, it must be ordered by a physician or nonphysician practitioner who is eligible to order such items. The providers who can order DMEPOS items include: doctor of medicine or osteopathy; dental medicine or dental surgery; podiatric medicine; and physician assistant, certified clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner and optometrist.
If your physician or non-physician practitioner is not enrolled in this system and orders DMEPOS Medicare will not pay the claim. This could result in you not receiving the item or being held financially liable. As educated consumers, we can assist in educating physician and non-physician practitioners regarding the eligibility requirements and PECOS requirements mandated by Medicare.
You can help your DMEPOS supplier to continue to provide quality service to you by asking your physician to quickly enroll in the PECOS system. Here’s how:
- Click here to download the PECOS letter (PDF).
- Print it out
- Bring it to your next medical appointment and ask if your provider has enrolled.
Laura J Cohen PT, PhD, ATP
Rehabilitation & Technology Consultants, LLC
The link goes to a White House press release on Employment. Confused about how the process works… Doctor write the prescription, supplier gets the order. Does both doctor and supplier have to be ‘authorized’ by Medicare?