After that period HCFA will only provide DME funds at the rate of 0.5 FTE to the training hospital.
All osteopathic residencies require completion of an osteopathic internship.
HCFA acknowledges this and allows for 1.0 FTE payments for both the internship and residency training. If one considers that DME payments are much smaller relative to IME payments, it is clear that the training institution is still able be reimbursed at a substantial rate for residents who are only eligible for a 0.5 FTE portion of the DME payment. One of the important factors to remember is that HCFA will count years of training, even if a trainee has not received Medicare payment during that period. In other words, if an individual physician completes a residency program which Medicare did not support, then any training thereafter will be considered to be beyond the initial residency year period and the training institution offering such training can only claim 0.5 FTE for purposes of DME reimbursement. AOA Members, please e-mail the Member Service Center .