May 5, 2008

Thomas E. Cesar
President
Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC)
(919) 785-1214

www.achc.org

Part 1 (11 min 09 sec)
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Tom Cesar is president of the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). The Raleigh, NC-based company is one of 10 deemed organizations for DMEPOS accreditation. Cesar and ACHC focus on continuous quality improvement activities, and carry the motto “by providers for providers.” Beyond merely qualifying for Medicare, Cesar sees accreditation as a means of improving all facets of a company, from patient care to revenue.

May 6, 2008

Mary K. Nicholas, MHA
Executive Director
Healthcare Quality Association on Accreditation (HQAA)
(866) 909-4722

www.hqaa.org

Part 2 (9 min 25 sec)
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As an optimist with a healthy dose of realism, Mary K. Nicholas believes in the old adage; hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. “So many media publications are talking about the efforts being made to discontinue competitive bidding, and I think there are a lot of folks out there who think that is going to happen,” says Nicholas, executive director of the Healthcare Quality Association on Accreditation (HQAA), Waterloo, Iowa. “If things change, they change—but to sit back and wait to see if it [competitive bidding] gets canceled—is dangerous.”

May 7, 2008

Sandra C. Canally, RN
President
The Compliance Team
215-654-9110

www.exemplaryprovider.com

Part 3 (11 min 44 sec)
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Sandy Canally, president of The Compliance Team, Spring House, Pa, works on the premise that accreditation can be more easily achieved by simplifying DMEPOS quality standards and streamlining implementation. While the Compliance Team can fast track providers under the competitive bidding crunch, Canally warns that providers not bound by the May 14 application deadline should also come forward to avoid backlogs down the road.

May 8, 2008

Beth Kolbe, PT
Resource Specialist
Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
(520) 325-1044

www.carf.org

Part 4 (12 min 06 sec)
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Beth Kolbe, PT, is a resource specialist for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), Tucson, Arizona. Long known for its work with rehab facilities, CARF is now accrediting for most DMEPOS product categories. In the absence of specific zip codes for the 70 MSAs in round two, Kolbe urges nearby providers to get the ball rolling. “If I were an HME provider within 100 miles of any of those cities listed [in the 70 MSAs],” says Kolbe, “I would have started my accreditation.”