Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC), a non-profit organization providing over $10 million annually in durable medical equipment (DME) and supplies to people with injuries and disabilities, today announced that Healthcare Quality Association on Accreditation (HQAA) has fully accredited the organization as a durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) provider. DMEPOS accreditation is required when working as a vendor with Medicare/Medicaid and many insurance carriers and their clients.

“The DMEPOS accreditation will help us continue to provide the best services but also open up more partnerships in healthcare,” said Chris Brand, CEO and president of FODAC. “We are seeing more growth in hospital partnerships, and a new contract with Georgia’s Department of Aging Services has enabled us to begin delivering DME to Area Agencies on Aging across the state. We are grateful to HQAA for helping us achieve this accreditation, and look forward to working with them to maintain our high standards in client care.”

The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act required that all DMEPOS suppliers must comply with established quality standards in order to receive Medicare Part B payments and to retain a supplier billing number. These standards are very strict and applying for accreditation is a rigorous and labor-intensive process. Some of the areas scrutinized during the accreditation process include:

• Organization and administration
• Program and service operations
• Financial stability
• Human resources
• Infection/safety control
• Quality monitoring and performance
• Billing and collections
• Delivery and set-up
• Complex rehabilitation
• Clinical respirators
• Mail order
• Custom orthotics
• Medications

At the end of a 24 month training and quality improvement process, the HQAA surveyor inspected FODAC’s entire facility, client charts and financial documents. Extensive interviews were conducted with staff and volunteers, as well as with clients and representatives from contracted entities and partners.

“The DMEPOS accreditation reflects our dedication to those we serve,” said Brand. “These high standards help us facilitate a higher level of performance and patient care, and bring us an honor of which we are very proud.”

About FODAC

Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) continues to help people with injuries and disabilities of all ages regain their mobility, independence and quality of life. The non-profit organization provides more than $10 million annually in refurbished home medical equipment (HME) and home modifications in Georgia and across the United States, all at little or no cost to the recipients. A pioneer in re-use, FODAC keeps 200 tons of materials out of landfills each year by refurbishing and reissuing over 400 HME items every month, and is recognized nationally for best practices. In 2014, FODAC was named to Charities Under 5% Overhead, an organization of charities that have operating overhead of five percent or less.

In 2013, Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) appointed FODAC to serve as the statewide distributor of HME and assistive technology in the event of a large population-affecting emergency situation. In this role, FODAC will warehouse the HME and other equipment, then, working with GEMA and the American Red Cross (ARC) of Georgia, will coordinate the delivery and distribution to emergency shelters around the state.

For more information on FODAC and its programs, visit www.fodac.org.

About HQAA

Healthcare Quality Association on Accreditation (HQAA) is an HME accreditation agency that is designed for maximum efficiency and has a pre-eminent proven record of success in combining proprietary software and personal coaching to simplify the accreditation experience. HQAA was developed by CEO Mary Nicholas, who sought a more simplified accreditation process following the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.