A Beginners Guide to Abbreviations in the Durable and Home Medical Equipment Industry

Ok. So, you just landed a job at a company thatworld's largest weekly medical publication.
manufactures, distributes or sells durable medicalHCPCS Healthcare Common Procedure Coding
equipment, or DME. If this is your first time in this field,System
you have undoubtedly noticed the sea of new words,HCPCS is commonly pronounced as "hick-picks." It is a
abbreviations and acronyms. Treading your way fromset of health care procedural codes that, as described
day to day the first few weeks can beon Wikipedia, standardizes the coding system for
overwhelming...as if you were in a foreign country.describing the specific items and services provided in
Lucky for you, this article is your proverbial lifethe delivery of health care. It is based on the AMA's
preserver. So grab hold my friend. Soon you will becurrent procedural terminology (CMT) and is, as of
doing the equivalent of synchronized formations1996, mandatory. They help agencies such as
impressing your new boss, associates, colleagues,Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies efficiently
friends, family and maybe even your significant other.track and reimburse claims. Codes for durable medical
DME Durable Medical Equipmentequipment are considered level II and are alphanumeric.
DME is defined as any medical equipment or deviceCMS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
that is intended to be reusable or "durable." DME isThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a
almost exclusively prescribed by a doctor, physician,federal agency within the United States Department of
chiropractor or physical therapist and is primarily forHealth and Human Services (DHHS). Its purpose is to
home use. Therefore DME is often interchangeableadminister the Medicare program. It also works with
with HME.state governments to help administer Medicaid, the
HME Home Medical EquipmentState Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and
HME is defined as any medical equipment or devicehealth insurance portability standards. CMS was
for use in the home. It is almost always of the "durable"formerly called HCFA (Health Care Financing
nature. Thus HME is often interchangeable with DME. InAdministration).
fact many times when professionals reference suchMAC Medical Administrative Contractor
equipment they will use the term HME/DME or HMEThe abbreviation "MAC" is often used directly following
DMEPOS.DME. A DME MAC is a durable medical equipment
DMEPOS Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics,medical administrative contractor. Their sole function is
Orthotics and Suppliesto process medical claims for Medicare. There are
We have already covered DME. Prosthetics is thefour DME MACs jurisdictions in the US, each serving a
medical term for an artificial limb such as a leg or andifferent geographical region-Noridian Administrative
arm. Orthotics is the term to describe the medical fieldServices, CIGNA Government Services, National
that deals with the manufacture and application ofGovernment Services and NHIC (National Heritage
orthotic devices. It can also encompass the practice ofInsurance Company). These DME MACs are referred
working with the torso.to as durable medical equipment regional carriers, or
O&P Orthotics and ProstheticsDMERCs
Same as above abbreviated differently.Conclusion
AMA American Medical AssociationOf course there are many other words and
The American Medical Association is the nation'sabbreviations you will run into in this industry, but the
largest and most powerful association of physiciansones covered above will definitely get you going.
and medical students. It publishes the Journal ofFuture articles will tackle more intricate terms in the
American Medical Association (JAMA) which is theDME industry.