Introducing the DMERT Group, Part 1: The Importance of Quality Standards for the CRT Industry

Published in Member Communities on June 04, 2018

U.S. Rehab has been working on a program for the last year that will grant more credibility to the CRT and DME industries. The Durable Medical Equipment Repair and Training (DMERT) Group is a new industry non-profit organization intended to provide proper certification to repair technicians in the DME and CRT arena. With this type of certification, we can increase the credibility of repair technicians. Establishing standards for repair technicians is a major step towards professionalizing the DME and CRT industry as a whole.

Providers know that we can and should repair the equipment we sell and that it is important for our businesses to be bonded and accredited within the industry. Bonding and accreditation are not cheap processes, yet they are required by Medicare and some private insurance companies to do business. However, we sometimes see that our equipment gets repaired by someone who is not as familiar with its design and function.

Individuals within the industry have spent years getting trained and have a vast understanding of the equipment. We understand that proper maintenance and repairs extends the life of the equipment, and this reduces the overall cost of the equipment in the long run. Technicians need to be highly trained to repair DME and CRT equipment. They should not have to compete with individuals that lack the expertise and knowledge to fix equipment. When unqualified people try to fix DME or CRT equipment, there is a risk of future issues with the equipment and/or the patient. There is also a risk to the repair technician profession as a whole without established, standard repair guidelines.

U.S. Rehab has heard from an uptick of individuals who are attempting to start repair companies because they see a need for it in their communities. In most cases, these individuals are attempting to do the right thing and follow standards; however, the standards are loosely defined and followed, at best. For example, an electrically or mechanically-inclined neighbor may try to help his friend fix their Group 3 power chair. But because he does not know what he is doing, he ends up potentially harming the end user or the equipment, just because he was trying to help. There isn’t a currently recognized certification stopping the neighbor from helping. That’s what the DMERT Group is creating. The DMERT Group helps technicians get qualified and receive a certification that proves they can complete a repair properly.

The DMERT Group’s aim is to establish standard training guidelines with a certificate program for all technicians to follow, thereby solidifying the credibility of DME and CRT repair technicians and professionalizing the DME and CRT industry as a whole.

For more information about the DMERT Group, you can visit https://www.dmertgroup.com/. Make sure to check out next month’s article that will diver deeper into the online training through the DMERT Group.