The discharge planner has an equipment order and two suppliers that can take it. Do not compare company names. Compare the handoff you will have to manage after your parent gets home.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Ask each supplier the same questions. Write the answers beside the name. You are looking for a complete chain: order received, coverage checked, item selected, delivery confirmed, instruction provided, and repair calls answered.

Day 0, still in the bed: get the exact order

Start with the equipment order, not the supplier list. Ask the discharge planner to read you the exact item, accessories, settings, and expected length of use. Ask whether the order is complete or still waiting for documentation from a clinician.

MedlinePlus tells patients and caregivers to ask before discharge whether special equipment or supplies will be needed. CMS discharge guidance says necessary medical information should travel to the supplier responsible for the follow-up service. That matters because a supplier cannot resolve an incomplete order by guessing.

Write down four things: what was ordered, who ordered it, which supplier received it, and who at the hospital will correct the paperwork if the supplier rejects it.

Then call both suppliers. Ask, “Do you have the complete order in your system?” A yes means they can identify the patient, the ordered item, and anything still missing. “We received a fax” is not the same answer.

Compare the Medicare position before comparing delivery times

If your parent has Original Medicare, check that the supplier is enrolled in Medicare. Then ask whether it accepts assignment for this item. Medicare says an enrolled supplier and acceptance of assignment are separate questions. A participating supplier must accept assignment. A nonparticipating supplier may decide whether to accept it for a particular claim.

If the item will be rented, ask whether the supplier will accept assignment for every rental month. Ask what amount could be billed to your parent, what could change later, and whether any part of the order is treated as noncovered. Do not settle for “Medicare usually pays.” Ask for the answer tied to this order.

If your parent has a Medicare Advantage plan or other coverage, call the plan using the number on the card. Ask whether each supplier is in network, whether authorization is required, and whether the authorization covers the item and its accessories. Record the representative’s name and the reference number.

Medicare’s Supplier Directory can confirm Medicare enrollment and help identify alternatives. It does not tell you how a particular delivery or repair call will go. Use it as an eligibility check, not as the whole comparison.

Compare the delivery as a handoff

Ask each supplier for a delivery window and the name of the person who will confirm it. Then ask:

Will the equipment arrive before your parent, with your parent, or later? Who must be present? Will the delivery person bring it into the room where it will be used? Will that person assemble or adjust it? What must be checked before the delivery person leaves?

Ask whether the supplier will obtain a signature or other proof of delivery. Under 42 CFR 424.57(c), a Medicare DMEPOS supplier is responsible for delivery, must keep proof of delivery, and must document that necessary information and instructions were provided for safe and effective use.

That rule gives you a useful comparison question: “Who will show us how to use this item, and how will the supplier document that the instruction happened?”

Do not sign a delivery record until you compare the record with what arrived. Check the item, accessories, model information, condition, and quantities. Keep a copy or take a clear photo.

Day 1, the car pulls in: test the contact path

Before your parent uses the equipment without the delivery person present, find the supplier label. It should give you a business name and telephone number. Put that number in your phone and on the working discharge papers.

Call it once during posted business hours. Ask what number to use after hours. Ask what counts as an urgent equipment problem and what the supplier can actually do at night or on a weekend.

Federal supplier standards require a Medicare DMEPOS supplier to maintain an operating primary business telephone and to answer questions and respond to complaints about covered items. The standards also require complaint records. Ask how the supplier opens and tracks a service ticket.

If the equipment is rented, ask for the repair and replacement process in plain language. Under 42 CFR 424.57(c), the supplier must maintain and replace or repair Medicare-covered rented equipment at no charge so that it functions as intended after repair or replacement.

Do not assume this means a replacement will appear immediately. Ask what the company does while the item is being repaired. Ask whether it keeps loaners, who approves one, and how delivery is arranged.

Day 2 to Day 3, the first full days: compare the paperwork with the equipment

Put the order, delivery record, supplier instructions, warranty information, and coverage notes together. Check that the company name on the paperwork matches the company answering the service line.

Look for language describing purchase, rental, or rent-to-own treatment. Medicare notes that coverage arrangements differ by equipment type. Ask the supplier which arrangement applies here and what happens if the order changes, the item is no longer needed, or your parent moves.

For a purchased assistive device, ask for the written warranty and identify who performs covered repairs. Missouri Revised Statutes sections 407.950 through 407.970 apply to defined assistive devices, including devices that enable a person with a disability to communicate, see, hear, or maneuver. Not every piece of home equipment fits that definition. Ask the seller whether the statute applies to this item, then keep the warranty and sales documents together.

If an item does not fit, is damaged, or is unsuitable when delivered, report that promptly. The federal supplier standards require Medicare DMEPOS suppliers to accept returns of substandard or unsuitable items described by the rule. Give the supplier the model or serial number, describe the problem, and ask for a ticket number.

Day 3 to Day 7, the week: judge the supplier by the first closed loop

By the end of the first week, one small question has usually tested the system. It may concern an accessory, a billing notice, an adjustment, or a missing instruction page.

Judge the supplier by what happened next. Did one person own the question? Did the supplier contact the prescriber when the order needed clarification? Did someone give you a time for the next call? Did the answer appear in writing?

Keep a short contact log. Record the issue, the number called, the person who answered, the promised action, and whether it happened. This is not busywork. Federal standards require suppliers to document beneficiary questions and complaints and to maintain a complaint-resolution process.

If the supplier cannot close the loop, ask for the complaint contact named in its written supplier standards. If the problem is an Original Medicare claim or supplier-enrollment question, use Medicare’s published help channels. If the unresolved problem concerns the hospital’s discharge process rather than the supplier’s bill, return to the hospital’s patient advocate or case-management office. Missouri DHSS accepts complaints about hospitals but states that it does not handle billing or payment disputes.

Use five lines to make the choice

Put each supplier on one side of a page. Compare only these five lines:

Order: Does the supplier have a complete, usable order?

Coverage: Is it enrolled, in network when required, and clear about assignment and possible patient responsibility?

Delivery: Is there a confirmed window, a named contact, and a plan for instruction?

Service: Is there a working daytime and after-hours path, with a stated repair or replacement process?

Record: Will you receive the delivery record, instructions, warranty information, and service-ticket numbers?

A supplier that answers all five may be the better handoff even if another company called first. Give the discharge planner your selection and ask for confirmation that the referral was sent to that supplier. Keep the other name until the equipment has arrived and the first call path works.

The source documents behind these checks are collected on the Sources page.

The Equipment Order Is Ready. Compare the Supplier Before the Referral Is Sent.