How does accreditation differ from licensure and certification?
Licensure is offered state by state. Officially there are 22 states with some sort of DME licensure laws, but really, within these 22, only about 10 have what you would call real licensure requirements that are specific to this business and require a site visit by a state inspector. The other states have requirements for things like occupancy permits, mattress re-use licenses and the like. Certification is awarded generally to an individual, such as a Certified Case Manager, who has passed a national competency exam, or one who receives a certification in a specialty. There is a DME Driver Certification Program in the industry as well as certification in billing expertise and others. Accreditation is a program your entire organization complies with. It has been voluntary, but is soon to become required starting this year.
