BALTIMORE--CMS has begun its third annual provider satisfaction survey of Medicare fee-for-service contractors, who process and pay more than $280 billion in Medicare claims each year.
The Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey, sent to 35,000 randomly selected providers, will ask those providers to grade their Medicare Administrative Contractors on provider inquiries, provider outreach and education, claims processing, provider enrollment, medical review and provider audit and reimbursement. All MACs will be required to achieve performance targets on the MCPSS as part of their contract requirements by 2009, CMS said.
For the survey, respondents will be asked to rate the MACs using a scale of 1 to 6, with "1" meaning "not at all satisfied" and "6" meaning "completely satisfied."
The results of last year's survey showed 85 percent of respondents rated their contractors between 4 and 6, with the provider inquiry function having the greatest influence on whether providers were satisfied with MAC service. Previously, the claims processing function was the strongest predictor of a provider's overall satisfaction.
"The shift from claims processing to provider inquiries as the top predictor of satisfaction is a perfect example of the type of trend data the MCPSS will reveal," CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems said in a press release about the survey. "Contractors are able to factor this insight into how they prioritize their provider-focused efforts."
Providers chosen to participate in the survey will be notified this month. CMS plans to make the survey results publicly available in July 2008.
For more information about the survey, visit www.cms.hhs.gov/MCPSS.