Medicare Updates for the Doctor and Staff

•    Maintaining Your Progress
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new infographic based on the Next Steps Toolkit to help you analyze your ICD-10 progress. By keeping your systems and resources updated, you can ensure that your practice continues to move forward. Click on the graphic below to explore how to maintain your progress.

ICD-10 updates take place annually on October 1, following the same timeline used for ICD-9 updates. Be sure to keep all your systems and coding tools up to date, and to review the ICD-10-CM General Coding Guidelines on a regular basis. With quality reporting and other requirements, it’s more important than ever that you update your coding resources at least annually.

•    2016 PQRS Reporting: Avoiding 2018 Negative Payment Adjustments Call - April 21 from 12 noon  to 1:30 pm PST

To Register: Visit MLN Connects Event Registration. Space may be limited, register early.

Provides an overview of the 2016 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and related resources, including guidance and instructions on how individual eligible professionals and PQRS group practices can get started, satisfactorily report/participate, and avoid the 2018 PQRS negative payment adjustment. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Click here for more information.

•    Basics of Medicare Series of Web-Based Training Courses — New

A series of three, free new Basics of Medicare Web-Based Training (WBT) courses that can aid in training of billing staff are available through the Learning Management and Product Ordering System:

• Part One: Purpose and history of the Medicare Program. Guidance on enrollment processes. Resources on compliance with laws, regulations, and Medicare policy.
• Part Two: Medicare billing, reimbursement, and appeals.
• Part Three: Medicare Claim Review Programs. Protecting the Medicare Trust Fund. Review of laws related to Medicare fraud and abuse. What providers can do to protect themselves and their identities.

•    Register for Upcoming Noridian Medicare Portal Web-Based Workshops
Noridian is offering a number of web-based workshops to acquaint billing staff with its new “Noridian Medicare Portal,” that will be its sole billing portal beginning May 1, 2016. If you bill for Medicare, this workshop is very important. View the Schedule of Events for workshop information and the Noridian Medicare Portal web page for portal registration, functionality and more. 

•   CCI Edits, Version 22.2, Effective July 1, 2016 - Quarterly Update CR9516: Informs MACs (Noridian in California) about the release of the latest package of National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits, Version 22.2, which will be effective July 1, 2016. Noridian recommends that your billing staff is aware of these changes. Read the complete update.