BALTIMORE--Not using your National Provider Identification number? Then you will likely start seeing rejection of claims as early as this week, CMS officials said Wednesday during a CMS Open Door conference call.
HME providers were to start using the NPI number on their claims beginning Jan. 1, reminded Stewart Streimer, acting deputy director for the Center for Medicare Management. Providers can still use their legacy number along with the NPI in the primary fields only, but beginning May 23, only the NPI number will be acceptable in the primary fields, he said.
"If you are submitting claims without the NPI in the primary field, you are probably not seeing rejections yet. The bulk of those rejections will start coming early [this] week," Streimer warned. He urged providers to make sure their provider enrollment is current "so the NPI can work successfully."
He also suggested that providers who have successfully used the NPI number along with the legacy number start sending small batches of claims with the NPI number only to see if they will flow through the system without any problem.
While there was no new information for HME providers on this first call of the new year, Joel Kaiser, deputy director of DMEPOS policy for CMS, did address the dearth of information available when the second round of competitive bidding was announced last week.
With the first round, he said, the announcement included critical details such as HCPCS codes, ZIP codes and a timeline for bidding and implementation.
"At this point in time in Round Two, we aren't quite there yet," he said. "But the important thing is that we need to get suppliers started getting accredited and getting their businesses ready." He said the information about the products included in the bid and ZIP codes included in the bidding areas, as well as implementation details, will be released "in just a couple of months."
As for the Round Two timetable, Kaiser said, "We will have a detailed timeline when we are ready to have a detailed timeline."
CMS officials also clarified some accreditation deadlines for HME providers: Those applying for a provider number through the National Supplier Clearinghouse between now and Feb. 29 must be accredited by Jan. 1, 2009. Providers who apply for a provider number after March 1 must already be accredited. CMS has already announced that all providers who wish to continue billing Medicare must be accredited by Sept. 30, 2009.
Anticipating more questions about accreditation, CMS said it would hold quarterly conferences on the issue, with the first one scheduled for Jan. 22. Providers must register for the conference at http://www2.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/012208.
While much of the call was a reiteration of information that has been in CMS communications and in the press for months, it was still news to some providers, a point made clear in the question-and-answer segment of the Open Door session.
"What are the requirements to participate in competitive bidding?" a caller asked.
The question apparently took CMS officials aback, because the
response was a bit delayed. Finally it came: "You need to register
for a user ID. Other than that, I think you are
eligible."
