USCC Joins Other Groups in Support of the “Four Pillars of Oxygen Reform”

For too long, patients who require supplemental oxygen have not had access to oxygen appropriate for their medical and quality of life needs, especially individuals who require liquid oxygen.

Led by the American Thoracic Society’s Oxygen Workgroup, chaired by Susan Jacobs, RN, MS, FGAAN, a pulmonary research nurse at Stanford University, the US COPD Coalition, the American Association for Respiratory Care, the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, the COPD Foundation, Allergy & Asthma Association, and many other organizations have come together to urge Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to change their policies to ensure anyone who requires supplemental oxygen can access the most appropriate type of oxygen for their needs. Below are our consensus principles, which will form the basis for efforts for legislative reform.

Four Pillars for Oxygen Reform

1. Ensure supplemental oxygen is patient-centric:

• “Home oxygen” to “supplemental oxygen” to ensure people requiring oxygen can live full lives outside their primary residence
• Create a patients bill of rights to ensure care is focused on patient needs

2. Ensure access to liquid oxygen for patients for whom it is medically necessary

3. Create a statutory service element to provide adequate reimbursement for respiratory therapists to ensure patients have access to their expertise

4. To ensure predictable and adequate reimbursement and to protect against fraud and abuse, establish national standardized documentation requirements that rely upon a template rather than prescriber medical records to support claims for supplemental oxygen suppliers

Click the image below to view/download the Four Pillars Consensus Principles.