Generally, a Certificate of Medical Necessity is a piece of paper required by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to substantiate the medical necessity of an item of durable medical equipment furnished to a Medicare beneficiary. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( CMS) previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration ( HCFA) is a federal agency within Medical necessity is a United States Legal doctrine, related to activities which may be justified as reasonable necessary and/or appropriate based on evidence-based Durable Medical equipment is a Term of art used to describe certain Medicare benefits that is whether Medicare may pay for the item This article refers to Medicare, a United States health insurance program It is essentially like a detailed prescription. ^[1]

A CMN generally contains 6 places where a date can be entered:

1. The "initial date" of the CMN
2. The "revised date" of the CMN
3. The "recertification" date (usually for oxygen)
4. The date the beneficiary signed it
5. The date the supplier signed it and
6. The date the physician signed it. ^[2].

References

1. ^ http://medicarelaw.info/wiki/CMN (registration required)
2. ^ See the CMS-standard CMNs, available here

See also

• medical device
• medical equipment

External links

• Physician's News Digest article on Certificates of Medical Necessity
• Statutory definition of a CMN at the SSA website
• Medicare manual that provides exhaustive information about the practical use of CMNs, particularly section 5. A medical device is an object which is useful for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes Medical equipment is designed to aid in the diagnosis monitoring or treatment of medical conditions 3. This is the official source of information for contractors administering the Medicare system about the use of CMNs.

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