On Tuesday, December 6, 2011, CMS will release a national provider Comparative Billing Report (CBR) addressing Nerve Conduction Studies.
CBRs produced by Safeguard Services under contract with CMS, contain actual data-driven tables and graphs with an explanation of findings that compare provider's billing and payment patterns to those of their peers located in their state and across the nation. These reports are not available to anyone except the providers who receive 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 conform with Medicare billing rules and improve the level of care they furnish to their Medicare patients. 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. For more information and to review a sample of the CBR on Nerve Conduction Studies, please visit the CBR Services website, located at www.cbrservices.com<http://www.cbrservices.com>, or call the SafeGuard Services' Provider Help Desk, CBR Support Team at 530-896-7080. ------------------------------------------------- Each Office Visit is an Opportunity. Medicare patients give many reasons for not getting their annual flu vaccination, but the fact is that flu seasons are unpredictable and can be severe. Each year, it is estimated that 90 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths and more than 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations occur in people 65 years and older. Please talk with your Medicare patients about the importance of getting their annual flu vaccination. And remember, vaccination is important for healthcare 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 the Flu Vaccine-Not the Flu. Remember - The flu vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. CMS has posted the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine payment limits at http://www.CMS.gov/McrPartBDrugAvgSalesPrice/10_VaccinesPricing.asp. Note that the flu vaccine is NOT a Part D-covered drug. For more information on coverage and billing of the flu vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational provider resources, visit http://www.CMS.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp and http://www.cms.gov/immunizations. ------------------------------------------------------ Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. 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. 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.
