title: Durable medical equipment.
abstract: Recent changes in the interpretation of the Stark laws have made it legal and advantageous for physicians to dispense and bill directly for durable medical equipment (DME). Previously, physicians either gave small braces and splints to their patients as part of the services or wrote prescriptions for the larger and more expensive items. This resulted in inconvenience to the patient as they were required to travel to another location for the fitting of the brace or splint and there was often a significant expense to the patient or insurance company. More recently the "stock and bill" business arrangement became common. These arrangements were more convenient for the patient but did nothing to control costs. Since physicians may now dispense DME directly to the patient, DME becomes a part of the "complete services" that is becoming the model for patient-centered care. In addition, physicians have more control over the fitting of the devices and have an opportunity to control the pricing. This article provides instructions for the implementation of an office DME program that can be beneficial to both patient and physician.
authors.affiliation: Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. haralson@aaos.org
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Haralson
mesh_terms: D004389:Durable Medical Equipment / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006801:Humans; D009985:Orthopedics; D009989:Orthotic Devices / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'