New CMS Web Page Available for the Medicare Fee-For-Service Physician Feedback / Value Modifier Program!
CMS uses claims data to create confidential reports measuring the resources and quality of care involved in furnishing care. In 2010, the Physician Feedback Program is limited to physicians and groups that have been notified - and if you have not received notification then you will not receive a report. Feedback reports will be distributed in a multi-year, phased, implementation schedule to medical professionals and medical group practices. To learn more about these reports and the legislatively-mandated Value Modifier, visit the new web page at http://www.cms.gov/PhysicianFeedbackProgram on the CMS website. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CMS to Release Ambulance Services Comparative Billing Report In November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will release its third national provider Comparative Billing Report (CBR). This report is centered on emergency and end-stage renal disease-related non-emergency transports provided by ambulance providers. The CBRs will be released to approximately 5,000 ambulance providers nationwide. The CBRs, produced by SafeGuard Services under contract with CMS, provide comparative data on how an individual health care provider compares to other providers by looking at utilization patterns for services, beneficiaries, and diagnoses billed. CMS has received feedback from a number of providers that this kind of data is very helpful to them and encouraged us to produce more CBRs and make them available to providers. These reports are not available to anyone but the provider who receives them. To ensure privacy, CMS presents only summary billing information. No patient or case-specific data is included. These reports are an example of a tool that helps providers comply with Medicare billing rules and improve the level of care they furnish to their Medicare patients. For more information and to review a sample of the ambulance CBR, please visit the CBR Services website (www.cbrservices.com<http://www.cbrservices.com>), or call the SafeGuard Services' Provider Help Desk CBR Support Team (530-896-7080). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- November Flu Shot Reminder Each Office Visit is an Opportunity. Medicare patients give many reasons for not getting their annual flu vaccination, but the fact is that there are 36,000 flu-related deaths in the United States each year, on average. More than 90% of these deaths occur in people 65 years of age and older. Please talk with your Medicare patients about the importance of getting their annual flu vaccination. This Medicare-covered preventive service will protect them for the entire flu season. And remember, vaccination is important for health care workers too, who may spread the flu to high risk patients. Don't forget to immunize yourself and your staff. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get Your Flu Vaccine - Not the Flu. Remember - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare's coverage of the influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and their staff, please visit the following CMS websites http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/Flu_Products.pdf and http://www.cms.gov/AdultImmunizations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv.
