Home Health & Hospice Week

This year’s MSI survey is underway.

Tell Medicare what you really think — about its contractors, at least.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is once again running its MAC Satisfaction Indicator survey, which “is designed to measure your satisfaction as a Medicare provider with the performance of your Medicare Administrative Contractor,” CMS says in a message to providers.

However, you can vent your spleen about MACs only, CMS stresses. “The MSI will not measure your satisfaction with other Medicare contractor types such as … Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs), Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) contractors, Zone Program Integrity Contractors (ZPICs), Supple­mental Medical Review Contractors (SMRCs) or Qualified Independent Contractors (QICs),” it says.

“There are sections of the survey for feedback on Provider Enrolment, EDI and Claims, as well as the Provider Contact Center, eServices online portal and Provider Outreach and Education,” HHH MAC Palmetto GBA explains. “The MSI survey is only offered on an annual basis, for a specified window of time, so don’t miss your chance to be heard.”

The survey feedback won’t fall on deaf ears, CMS and its contractors insist. Palmetto has made “numerous improvements … and have more planned in the coming months,” the MAC tells providers.

For example: In the Customer Service system, Palmetto has “minimized the number of up front messages played” and “allowed [CS associates] to handle multiple inquiries per call,” the MAC reports.

HHH MAC CGS says it has “worked hard to ensure that claims issues are updated frequently and timely on the Claims Processing Issue Log,” according to a newly posted article on its website. “We have even updated the layout of the issue log to ensure the most pertinent information is displayed,” CGS adds.

HHH MAC National Government Services has “changed our [CS representative] training schedule so we only close the [Provider Contact Center] on two days each month instead of four,” it says in a new post on its website.

Each MAC has a link to its MSI survey and an article about the changes it has made based on 2018 survey feedback on its website.