If you're trying to figure out how to use the new hospice comparative billing report Medi-care has sent you, you may have to wait a bit longer.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is issuing a Program for Evaluating Pay-ment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) report to every Medicare hospice via PEPPER contractor TMF Health Quality Institute. Distribution should be complete by late August, TMF expects. TMF has offered a Sept. 13 training session on the report, but the session already is full, the contractor says on its PEPPER website.Second chance: TMF will post a recording of the training session by Sept. 27, it promises. Plus, you can attend a hospice PEPPER question-and-answer session Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. CT. Dial-in information is online at
http://pepperresources.org/TrainingResources/Hospice.aspx, along with a user's guide, demo report, and other information.
