Practice Management Alert

Dont breathe a sigh of relief just yet,experts caution.

If youve been lamenting over CMSs statements saying that physicians or nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) had to personally fill out their Provider Enrollment,Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) enrollment forms --- they could not designate an employee or third-party billing service to do the work on their behalf -- you should be cautiously optimistic.

CMS release a press release on April 1 announcing that the person filling out the PECOS form may be an employee of the provider or supplier organization, or an employee of a separate organization.

The designated employee must complete a security consent form, which the employer must sign. More than one person may be approved to use Internet-based PECOS on behalf of a given provider or supplier organization, but the security consent form is completed only one time, the CMS release indicated.

The catch: The new guidance has not yet appeared in the Federal Register. According to industry experts, the press release is not enough to make this an official change. Stay tuned to Medical Office Billing & Collections Alert for the latest on the PECOS guidelines.