Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: We are an “applicable lab” for reporting lab test payment data to Medicare. What do we need to get started, and what is the time frame for reporting?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: To submit your lab’s test volume and payment data under section 216 of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA), you need to enroll in the data submission process through CMS’s Fee for Service Data Collection System (FFSDCS). You must identify two different individuals to act as data submitter and data certifier before you begin reporting. The data submitter must be registered in Medicare’s Provider Enrollment Chain andOwnership System (PECOS) as a User or Authorized User.

The first data collection period is between January 1 and June 10, 2016. You must file and report payment data between January 1 and March 31, 2017 if you’re an applicable lab. You can read more in Pathology/Lab Coding Alert Vol. 18 No. 1, “CLFS: Prep for January Data Reporting to CDLT Payment System.”