The Medicare Monthly Review, MMR-2011-01, January 2011 - CGS

• Cardiac Electrophysiology – 21; and• Sports Medicine – 23.You should ensure that your billing staffs are aware of these new physician specialty codes.Additional InformationYou can find CR 7209, located at http://www.cms.gov/Transmittals/downloads/R2098CP.pdf on the CMSWeb site. If you have any questions, please contact your carrier or A/B MAC at their toll-free number,which may be found at http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/CallCenterTollNumDirectory.zipon the CMS website.News Flash - Each Office Visit is an Opportunity. Medicare patients give many reasons for not gettingtheir annual flu vaccination, but the fact is that there are 36,000 flu-related deaths in the United Stateseach year, on average. More than 90 percent of these deaths occur in people 65 years of age and older.Please talk with your Medicare patients about the importance of getting their annual flu vaccination. ThisMedicare-covered preventive service will protect them for the entire flu season. And remember,vaccination is important for health care workers too, who may spread the flu to high risk patients. Don’tforget to immunize yourself and your staff. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself.Get Your Flu Vaccine - Not the Flu.Remember – Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenzavaccine is not a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare’s coverage of the influenza vaccineand its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and theirstaff, please visit http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/Flu_Products.pdf andhttp://www.cms.gov/AdultImmunizations on the CMS Web site.DisclaimerThis article was prepared as a service to the public and is not intended to grant rights or impose obligations. This article may contain references or links tostatutes, regulations, or other policy materials. The information provided is only intended to be a general summary. It is not intended to take the place of eitherthe written law or regulations. We encourage readers to review the specific statutes, regulations and other interpretive materials for a full and accurate statementof their contents.Edits on the Ordering/Referring Providers in Medicare Part B Claims(Change Requests 6417, 6421, and 6696)MLN Matters Number: SE1011 RevisedRelated Change Request (CR) #: 6421, 6417, and 6696Related CR Release Date: N/AEffective Date: N/ARelated CR Transmittal #: R642OTN, R643OTN, and R328PIImplementation Date: N/A*Note: This article was revised on November 26, 2010 to include the following statement: The Centers forMedicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) previously announced that, beginning January 3, 2011, if certainPart B billed items and services require an ordering/referring provider and the ordering/referringprovider is not in the claim, is not of a profession that is permitted to order/refer, or does not have anenrollment record in the Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS), theclaim will not be paid. The automated edits will not be turned on effective January 3, 2011. We areworking diligently to resolve enrollment backlogs and other system issues and will provide ampleadvanced notice to the provider and beneficiary communities before we begin any automaticnonpayment actions.CPT codes and descriptors are only copyright 2010 American Medical Association (or such other date publication of CPT)The Medicare Monthly Review 88 MMR 2011-01, January 2011