01/22/2015    Keith L. Gurnick, DPM

DME Signage Problem (Neil H Hecht, DPM)

My office is located in a hospital adjacent
medical building (all on the same campus) and
there are many covenants, conditions and
restrictions (commonly called CC&Rs) including
door signage written into my lease. The door
signage restrictions conflicted with the DME
requirements, so I too had a problem with this. I
resolved the problem as follows. Maybe this
technique will assist you.

First, I posted a paper sign indicating my days
and hours of operation and they promptly removed
it and sent me a letter that I can't do that.
Next I showed the property manager the door
signage requirements from the rules and
regulations of the DMERC carrier. They reviewed my
request and told me if I continued to put a paper
sign on my door, I would get a letter from their
attorney that I was not in compliance with the
lease and that they would charge me for any legal
fees incurred.

I then wrote them a letter requesting exactly what
was required. This letter basically stated the
same things as when I met with them, but in the
letter I stated that their failure to append the
signage or add a small additional sign and their
removal of my temporary paper signs has placed me
in a "non-compliant" situation with Medicare DMERC
and that if there were to be an unannounced office
inspection this could seriously impact and
jeopardize my DMERC contract and also my practice
income.

In addition if they did not allow the requested
and required signage, I stated that I would
consider withholding future rent payments
(another violation of my lease) and also I would
consider pursuing legal assistance to remedy the
problem. I made no threats. Two days later they
agreed to make the changes and one week later the
new sign was in place on my door and that was
that.

In the meantime, I might suggest that you place a
nicely constructed paper sign on the door, and be
prepared to replace the sign on a daily basis when
your property manager removes it, just as they did
with my sign. My advice is try to be nice first,
be polite at all times, but be firm in your
conviction. Persistence usually wins when you are
in the right.

PS: After you win, make certain you are 100%
specific on how the sign should read, including
the size of the lettering and the exact choice of
wording, and remember the location of the sign
must be in a visible location.

Keith L. Gurnick, DPM, Los Angeles, CA

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