Medicare Enrollment Goes High Tech

 

(Excerpt from AAPA Reimbursement Watch 1/16/09)

 

PAs in 44 states and the District of Columbia now have the ability to electronically enroll in the Medicare program via the Internet. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System, also known as PECOS.

 

PECOS allows PAs, physicians and other health care professionals to securely access the provider and supplier enrollment process that is typically accomplished through the paper-based 855 set of forms.

 

The Web site permits health care professionals to:

 

·         submit enrollment applications

 

·         view and update existing enrollment information

 

·         view the status of submitted applications, and

 

·         withdraw from the enrollment process

 

CMS suggests that using the PECOS electronic system will lead to enrollment processing that is 50 percent faster as compared to the paper application process. To use the system, health care professionals must register and log on to PECOS, and have an active NPI number. To register go to: https://pecos.cms.hhs.gov.

 

Electronic PECOS is coming to, but currently is not available, in the following states: California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.