May 1, 2009, Home Health & Hospice Medicare A Newsline - CGS
May 1, 2009, Home Health & Hospice Medicare A Newsline - CGS May 1, 2009, Home Health & Hospice Medicare A Newsline - CGS
Availability of the Provider Contact Center (PCC)Medicare is a continuously changing program, and it is important that we provide correct and accurateanswers to your questions. To better serve the provider community, the Centers for Medicare & MedicaidServices (CMS) allows the provider contact centers the opportunity to offer training to our customer servicerepresentatives (CSRs). Listed below is the date and time the home health and hospice PCC (1-877-299-4500 and 1-866-539-5592) will be closed for training. We will continue to notify you of future CSRtraining dates in the Home Health & Hospice Medicare A Newsline.CSR Training DateMay 21, 2009Time1:15—3:45 p.m. Central Time (CT)Stay Informed About Medicare InformationOne of Cahaba’s primary means of communication with our providers is through Cahaba’s E-mailNotification Service (Listserv). The Listserv is a free email notification service that provides you withprompt notification of Medicare news including policy, benefits, claims submission, claims processing andeducation events. Subscribing for this service means that you will receive information as soon as it isavailable, and plays a critical role in ensuring you are up-to-date on all Medicare information.When considering whether you should subscribe to Cahaba’s Listserv, remember the following: It’s free. There is no cost to subscribe or to receive information. You only need a valid e-mail address to subscribe. Multiple people/e-mail addresses from your facility can subscribe. We recommend that all staff(clinical, billing, and administrative) who interact with Medicare register individually. This willhelp to facilitate the internal distribution of critical information and eliminates delays in getting thenecessary information to the right person. This is Cahaba’s primary means of sharing important information with you in a timely manner.To subscribe to the Cahaba’s E-mail Notification Service, go tohttps://www.cahabagba.com/part_a/whats_new/email_service.htm and click on the ‘Subscribe Now’ link.After you complete the form and click on “Sign Up for News”, you will receive an email message from“cahaba_news Confirmation (from Lyris ListManager)”. You must reply to this message to confirm yoursubscription.Current Listserv SubscribersThe E-mail Notification Service Web page includes the option for current listserv subscribers to changetheir email address. This allows providers to keep their subscription to the listserv current and accurate. Tochange information about your organization or to update the Medicare A topics that you wish to receiveHome Health & Hospice May 1, 2009 25Medicare A Newsline Vol. 16, No. 8
news about, you need to unsubscribe and then re-subscribe to the E-mail Notification Service. Additionally,the listserv software product we use automatically quits mailing to email addresses that return as inactive orincorrect after five attempts.System Availability During the Memorial Day HolidayWhile we celebrate the Memorial Day holiday with our families, our offices will be closed on Monday, May25, 2009. Our data center has informed us that the Fiscal Intermediary Standard System (FISS) and accessto the ELGA and ELGH eligibility screens will not be available on May 25. In addition, the system will notcycle that night, which means that claims will not be sent to the Common Working File (CWF) on May 25,2009. Medicare Remittance Advices, Electronic Remittance Advices (ERAs), Medicare paper checks, andElectronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) will not be produced Monday night.News from Cahaba for Home Health ProvidersReminder of Physician Signature Requirements for Home Health ServicesCahaba’s Medical Review department has seen an increase in the use of stamped physician signatures onhome health plans of care and verbal orders. As a reminder to home health providers stamped signaturesare not acceptable on any medical record.Medicare will accept hand written, electronic signatures or facsimiles of original written or electronicsignatures. If using an electronic or facsimile, the home health provider is responsible for obtaining theoriginal signature of the physician, if an issue surfaces that would require verification. If using an electronicsignature, all such entries must be appropriately authenticated and dated.For additional information, refer to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare BenefitPolicy Manual (CMS Pub. 100-02) Ch. 7, §30.2.7 and §30.2.8 on the CMS Web site.Home Health & Hospice May 1, 2009 26Medicare A Newsline Vol. 16, No. 8
- Page 3 and 4: Medicare Payment Policy Publication
- Page 6 and 7: Provider Action NeededAll Medicare
- Page 8: Internet-Based Medicare Enrollment
- Page 11 and 12: Instructions on Utilizing 837 Insti
- Page 13 and 14: New Common Working File (CWF) Medic
- Page 15 and 16: issued as part of CRs 6297 and 6296
- Page 17 and 18: Provider Action NeededSTOP - Impact
- Page 19 and 20: • Clinical Nurse Specialists;•
- Page 21 and 22: 4. If I have just recently received
- Page 23 and 24: CMS Proposes Medicare Hospice Fisca
- Page 25: to the “Claims Corrections” sec
- Page 29 and 30: Cahaba Learning CornerMay 2009 Educ
news about, you need to unsubscribe and then re-subscribe to the E-mail Notification Service. Additionally,the listserv software product we use automatically quits mailing to email addresses that return as inactive orincorrect after five attempts.System Availability During the Memorial Day HolidayWhile we celebrate the Memorial Day holiday with our families, our offices will be closed on Monday, <strong>May</strong>25, <strong>2009</strong>. Our data center has informed us that the Fiscal Intermediary Standard System (FISS) and accessto the ELGA and ELGH eligibility screens will not be available on <strong>May</strong> 25. In addition, the system will notcycle that night, which means that claims will not be sent to the Common Working File (CWF) on <strong>May</strong> 25,<strong>2009</strong>. <strong>Medicare</strong> Remittance Advices, Electronic Remittance Advices (ERAs), <strong>Medicare</strong> paper checks, andElectronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) will not be produced Monday night.News from Cahaba for <strong>Home</strong> <strong>Health</strong> ProvidersReminder of Physician Signature Requirements for <strong>Home</strong> <strong>Health</strong> ServicesCahaba’s Medical Review department has seen an increase in the use of stamped physician signatures onhome health plans of care and verbal orders. As a reminder to home health providers stamped signaturesare not acceptable on any medical record.<strong>Medicare</strong> will accept hand written, electronic signatures or facsimiles of original written or electronicsignatures. If using an electronic or facsimile, the home health provider is responsible for obtaining theoriginal signature of the physician, if an issue surfaces that would require verification. If using an electronicsignature, all such entries must be appropriately authenticated and dated.For additional information, refer to the Centers for <strong>Medicare</strong> & Medicaid Services (CMS) <strong>Medicare</strong> BenefitPolicy Manual (CMS Pub. 100-02) Ch. 7, §30.2.7 and §30.2.8 on the CMS Web site.<strong>Home</strong> <strong>Health</strong> & <strong>Hospice</strong> <strong>May</strong> 1, <strong>2009</strong> 26<strong>Medicare</strong> A <strong>Newsline</strong> Vol. 16, No. 8
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