Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

CMS promised in the fall to cut down administrative burden for providers in its initiative "Patients Over Paperwork." The program hopes to establish "an internal process to evaluate and streamline regulations to reduce unnecessary burden; increase efficiencies; and improve the beneficiary experience," the agency says in a message to providers.

"CMS is moving the needle and removing regulatory obstacles that get in the way of providers spending time with patients," the agency says on its website for the topic. See the first of a series of "regular" newsletters on the initiative at www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/Partnerships/PatientsOverPaperwork.html.

Check Out Your EHR Vendor Stats to Ensure Easy MIPS Reporting

Do you know if your EHR is certified? Is your vendor on the feds "banned" list? If you plan on attesting data measures in 2018 or want to send last year's information before the March 31, 2018 deadline, you may want to find out where the current edition of yourEHR ranks.

Find out if your EHR's listed and ranked at: https://chpl.healthit.gov/#/search.

Are You Up to Speed on the Jurisdiction J Transition?

If you are a Medicare provider in Alabama, Georgia, or Tennessee, your practice claims, questions, and concerns will now be dealt with by a new Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC).

Currently, Cahaba GBA is the MAC for Jurisdiction J (JJ), but last September, CMS alerted providers that it had awarded "the Jurisdiction J (Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee) Medicare Part A/B contract to Palmetto GBA" starting in 2018, said a Cahaba GBA release. Part A is slated for transition on Jan. 29, 2018 while Part B changes over on Feb. 26, 2018.

To ensure the smooth transition from one MAC to another and avoid the chances of Medicare reimbursement disruption, Palmetto GBA is offering affected providers and practices guidance, workshops, and advice on the transition and its policies.

Resource: For more information about the Jurisdiction J (JJ) transition, visit www.palmettogba.com/JJTransition.

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