AO, BAO, EU: Brush Up on Bidding ‘A-B-Es’

BALTIMORE — Make sure your email address is working and
get used to hearing the terms “AO,” “BAO” and “EU,” a CMS
contractor told providers on a competitive bidding registration
conference call Wednesday.

“I know that gets confusing,” said Cindy Dreher of the acronyms,
which stand for “Authorized Official,” “Backup Authorized Official”
and “End User” for CMS’ online bidding system. “I feel like I’m
singing a song like ‘Old MacDonald.’”

Nevertheless, said Dreher, content and policy lead for Palmetto
GBA, CMS’ Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor, “the
[bidding registration] process is very simple and should only take
you about 10 minutes.”

That is, as long as the information providers enter in CMS’ bid
registration program matches “exactly” what is on file with both
the National Supplier Clearinghouse and the Social Security
Administration. For example, the name providers use to register for
bidding must match the legal name on their Social Security cards,
which also must match the information that is on file with the
National Supplier Clearinghouse.

“If the information does not match exactly,” Dreher said, “then
your registration cannot be completed successfully.”

The AO’s role is important because that is the person who can
register in the IACS (Individuals Authorized Access to the CMS
Computer Services, the program CMS is using to register bidders),
add access for additional users (BAOs and EUs), approve bidding
Form A and certify Form B. For IACS registration, Dreher said,
there can be only one AO for a company.

For that reason, she continued, “it’s very important that you
have at least one BAO” — a person who can function in place
of the AO — to avoid disruptions in the bidding process in
case the AO leaves the company or is unavailable. An EU, Dreher
explained, has limited capabilities, such as entering bid data in
the online system.

Additional users cannot register, however, until the AO has
registered and received a user ID and password, which will be
mailed in two letters: the first with a user ID and the second with
an initial password. BAOs and EUs will get registration
confirmation in two emails.

“Make sure the email address you enter is correct and working at
the time of registration. This is important because you will be
sent emails during registration that contain critical information”
such as an email verification code that will be necessary to
complete the process, Dreyer added.

She noted the IACS system “will provide additional security to
protect your bid data.” Dreher cautioned against sharing user IDs
or passwords for the online DMEPOS bidding system, called “DBids,”
because the AO also “is accountable and responsible for the actions
of those he or she approves” to work on bids.

Registration opened Aug. 17 for the Round 1 rebid, and CMS is
advising all AOs to register no later than Sept. 14 and all BAOs to
register no later than Oct. 9.

When registration closes Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. ET, Dreher said, it
closes for good. No one can register for bidding and no bidding
system users can be added to any company’s profile after that
date.

As a reminder, the CBIC has put a “countdown clock” for
registration on its Web site. As of Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 19),
there were 77 days left till the registration deadline, 26 days
until the target registration date for AOs and 51 days left for
BAOs to meet CMS’ advised registration date.

Along with information that doesn’t match that on file at the
NSC/SSA, Dreher listed other reasons bid registration might
fail:

— A Social Security number is entered with dashes between
the numbers;
— A phone number is missing all 10 digits; and
— Name and/or date of birth is entered in an incorrect
format.

She advised the 742 listeners on the call to consult the IACS
Reference Guide, available on the CBIC Web
site, for instructions on bid registration, and to use
the site’s other resources for an understanding of the entire
bidding process. Dreher said CMS would complete “the intense
portion” of bidder education before bidding begins. According to a
CMS timeline, the bid window is currently set to open Oct.
21.

Wednesday’s conference call was the first in a series of

eight Special Open Door Forums the agency has scheduled
on the Round 1 rebid.

A replay of the Aug. 19 call will be available on CMS’ Special Open
Door Forum Web site beginning Thursday, Aug. 27.

For help with bid registration, providers can contact the
Competitive Bidding Program Customer Service Center at
877/577-5331. The help line is available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET
Monday through Friday.