CMS is in the last stages of clearing its long-awaited final rule updating the requirements suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) must meet to establish and maintain Medicare billing privileges. The rule will finalize CMS’s January 25, 2008 proposed rule that most notably proposed prohibiting DMEPOS suppliers from sharing a practice location with another Medicare supplier, including a physician group. The proposed version of the rule also included new standards that suppliers generally be open to the public at least 30 hours per week, obtain oxygen from a state-licensed oxygen supplier if required by state law, and not have a tax delinquency. The proposed rule also called for revisions to existing requirements, including: clarifying that the DMEPOS supplier itself must be licensed to provide licensed services; establishing additional physical facility standards that suppliers must meet and specifying that “closed door” businesses (i.e., pharmacies/suppliers providing services only to beneficiaries residing in a nursing home) must comply with these standards; and excluding the use of cell phones and pagers for receiving public calls during business hours. The text of the rule, which is not available at this time, has been submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for final regulatory approval and could reach the Federal Register at any time.