Rounds NEWS FROM AMERICA’S BEST MEDICAL SOCIETY Revalidate your Medicare enrollment
Physicians who signed up for the Medicare program before March 25, 2011, must revalidate their enrollment with TrailBlazer Health Enterprises over the next year- and-a-half. The health system reform bill Congress passed last year requires it to reduce Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse. Physicians who enrolled on or after Friday, March 25, 2011, do not need to revalidate. TrailBlazer will send notices to physicians between now and March 2013. Begin
the revalidation process as soon as you get the notice. You have 60 days to complete the enrollment forms, or Medicare may deactivate your billing privileges. Do not submit a revalidation application unless you’ve received a revalidation request letter from TrailBlazer. The easiest and quickest way to revalidate your enrollment infor- mation is by using the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS). Log on to
https://pecos.cms.hhs.gov/pecos/login.do. After updating PECOS, be sure to sign the certification statement and mail it to TrailBlazer. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began using new screen- ing criteria in the Medicare provider/supplier enrollment process on March 1. CMS places new and revalidating providers and suppliers in one of three screening cat- egories — limited, moderate, or high. CMS says each category represents the level of risk to the Medicare program for the particular category of provider/supplier, and the agency determines the degree of screening that TrailBlazer and other Medicare administrative contractors processing the enrollment applications will perform. Phy- sicians are in the “limited” risk category. The Texas Medical Association’s Payment Advocacy staff reminds physicians that they should keep their Medicare enrollment information up to date through PECOS. TMA will ask CMS officials for more information on the revalidation program when TMA staff meets with them in the fall. Texas Medicine will publish more information on the process when available. For more information about provider revalidation, review the Medicare Learning Network’s Special Edition Article #SE1126, titled “Further Details on the Revalida- tion of Provider Enrollment Information.” Log on to
www.cms.gov/MLNMattersAr ticles/downloads/SE1126.pdf.
Plan to attend TMA’s Fall Conference
TMA’s 2011 Fall Conference features thought leaders providing insight into how phy- sicians can prepare for upcoming challenges, take advantage of new opportunities, and avoid mistakes from the past. Join your colleagues from across the state as we move forward in this post-reform world. The tentative agenda is:
Friday, Oct. 21 7:30 am-10 pm
Business meetings at the Hyatt and the TMA building
5:30-6:30 pm Distinguished Service Award Reception honoring Bohn Allen, MD (open to all conference attendees and official guests)
Saturday, Oct. 22
Business meetings continue at the Hyatt before and after the General Session
7:30-8:30 am Networking Breakfast (open to all conference attendees and official guests)
8:45-11:45 am
General Session (continuing medical education)
Moderated by TMA President C. Bruce Malone, MD
Registration Free registration is one of the many benefits of your TMA membership. Nonmembers may attend for $125. Register online at
www.texmed.org/ Fall.
Onsite registration hours are:
Friday, Oct. 21 8 am-6:30 pm TMA Building
8 am-7 pm Hyatt
October 2011 TEXAS MEDICINE 11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68