• If you submit claims to Medicare fee-for-service, talk to your Medicare administrative contractor about its advance pay- ment policy. Ask about the format for a request, where to send a request, and timeframes for money distribution.
• Talk to your commercial payers to see if they have any ad- vance payment policies.
• Establish a line of credit with a financial institution. • Limit spending in the months before the compli- ance deadline to build up the practice’s cash reserves.
RECs can help
Dr. Moore encourages primary care physicians to take advan- tage of HIPAA 5010 services available from the regional exten- sion centers (RECs). “The RECs are a great resource with services that really can help physicians,” he said.
Indeed, Texas’ four RECs can provide technical consultants
to help meet deadlines and HIPAA 5010 transaction require- ments as part of their EHR consulting services. Consultants can explain the relationship between HIPAA 5010 and the subsequent migration to ICD-10. REC members will receive a workflow analysis and gap analysis that can help identify potential problems and determine readiness for HIPAA 5010 compliance dates. Physicians who enroll in REC services also will benefit from
their expertise in creating a testing strategy to ensure HIPAA 5010 compliance with health plans, clearinghouses, and soft- ware vendors. All four Texas RECs charge primary care physicians a $300
annual subscription fee for their services. In return, physicians receive services worth at least $5,000. Physicians who are spe- cialists but can attest to providing primary care also can re- ceive REC consulting at the subsidized rate. Other specialists can receive a quote for customized services. A list of the Texas
Questions to ask
Arm yourself with information for the Health Insurance Portability and Account- ability Act (HIPAA) 5010 conversion. Questions you should ask electronic health record and practice management system vendors include:
• Can my current system accommodate the data collection and transaction con- duction for 5010?
• Will you upgrade my current software? • Is there a charge for the upgrade? • When will the upgrade be available? • When will you complete the upgrade installation? • When may I send test transactions? • Will I need to purchase a new software system and/or hardware? • When will the installation to my system be complete?
The American Medical Association suggests asking clearinghouses, billing ser- vices, and payers these questions:
• Will you upgrade your systems to accommodate the 5010 transactions? • Will you increase your fees for the 5010 transactions? • When will you complete upgrades? • When can I send transactions to you to test that the system will work? • Will I need to renegotiate my contract or electronic data interchange agree- ment based on the move to the 5010 transactions?
16 TEXAS MEDICINE November 2011
RECs is on the TMA website at www.tex
med.org/rec. TMA staff can an-
swer your questions about REC services. Call TMA Health In- formation Technol- ogy Director Shan- non Moore at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1411, or (512) 370-1411, or email shannon .
moore@texmed.org; or HIT Marketing and Resource Coordina- tor Tyler Patterson at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1372, or (512) 370- 1372, or email tyler .patterson@texmed .org. n
Crystal Conde is associate editor of Texas Medicine. You can reach her by telephone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1385, or (512) 370-1385; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at crys
tal.conde@
texmed.org.
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