Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Tired of getting conflicting advice from different intermediaries and carriers?

Instead of relying on various contractors to write up provider education articles on new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services instructions in the very short window of time after their issuances, CMS will now provide both the instruction and the education article at the same time, the agency says in a Feb. 5 one-time notification (change request 3129).

"CMS has decided to prepare consistent materials for contractor outreach for Medicare providers in a centralized fashion," available on CMS' Medlearn Web site (www.cms.hhs.gov/medlearn/matters). CMS aims to eliminate disparities due to differing interpretations or just confusing or inadequate educational language, it says. In other recent program transmittals, CMS: outlines payment changes for ambulatory surgical centers (CR 3082); instructs Medicare contractors to create Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant coordination of benefit files (CR 3101); and issues contractor instructions on program integrity management reporting procedures (CR 3113). To see the transmittals, go to www.cms.hhs.gov/manuals/transmittals/comm_date_dsc.asp.