WHY... DME air matress not approved for stage 4 coccyx wound?.

[CenterIce]

I have a patient with a stage four coccxy wound, regularly see's wound care specialist once a week (also has ulcers on foot), primary doctor wrote a script for air loss mattress but home health agency is saying it is being denied....why?! Please help my patient. The reason told why matress is being denied is because the wound has to be covering 25% of pt trunk. (Wound is 1cm wide). Thanks for any advice or explanation..

[homehealthWCN]

From my 7+ years of home health nursing, DME companies are responsible for knowing what the Medicare guidelines are for coverage of DME. It is not the home health nurses responsibility. A good DME company that wants business will request required information from the MD. I've had some DME companies say they only require a prescription for the DME & a diagnosis. I've had others that request office notes, home health notes, wound location, timeframe of the wound etc. The home health nurses at my agency bend over backwards to get the DME that's needed for our patients. Our nurses are far from lazy. I'm glad your patient got what he needed!