You may have considered the possibility of sharing space with another business (also known as coworking) in order to extend your service area or reduce the cost of rent. Regardless of the reason, it’s important to keep in mind Medicare’s DMEPOS Supplier Standards when considering sharing physical space with another entity of any type.

Medicare Supplier Standards 18 and 29 provide guidelines for sharing spaces. Standard 18 states that the supplier may not allow another entity to use its billing number while Standard 29 prohibits the supplier from sharing a practice location with another Medicare provider/supplier. In other words, only one of the businesses in the shared space can be assigned a Medicare billing number, and that business alone is permitted to use it.

Medicare will recognize a space as a single physical location as long as the physical address of the location is recognized by the USPS. In this context, a physical location may be a free-standing building or an office suite within a building. In addition to these requirements, ABC accredited facility locations must also meet all relevant Supplier Standards. As you determine whether or not sharing space is the right choice for your business, be sure to take the time to review these requirements.

For more information on sharing a space, please visit the Palmetto GBA website. You may also contact Paolo Astorga, Accreditation Specialist, at pastorga@abcop.org for further assistance.