DAC 2012 Winter Meeting - NAS DME and Education Updates
New Education Rep and Education Reporting Manager
Tobis Funk is the newest member of the NAS DME Education team. He will be conducting many of the upcoming web-based workshops and attending other education events. Sandy Skallerud has taken the responsibility of managing the DME Education team and she’s also the manager of DME Medical Review.
Hours Extended for Customer Service Representatives Effective January 23, 2012
Effective January 23, 2012, the hours of availability for the NAS DME MAC Jurisdiction D Supplier Contact Center will be extended 30 minutes to better accommodate suppliers serving beneficiaries located in the Pacific, Alaskan and Hawaiian Time Zones. Customer Service Representatives will be accessible between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
Electronic Remittance Advices
If you are currently receiving your RAs via the Standard Paper Remittance (SPR) Advice, NAS encourages suppliers to consider receiving Electronic Remittance Advices (ERAs)
The electronic remittance advice provides the same information as the paper version, and, if your software has the capability, the payment information can be posted automatically to your accounting or billing system.
Advantages of ERAs include:
- Faster receipt of payment information
- Easily downloaded and stored for future reference
- Payment information is portable, reusable, and easily retrieved
- Faster account reconciliation via electronic posting
- Improved office productivity
- Automation of follow-up actions
- Paperwork reductions
By receiving electronic remittance advices, you may be able to take advantage of financial reporting provided by many software vendors. CMS also provides free software, Medicare Remit Easy Print (MREP), to download and print electronic remittance advices. Download this software from
MREP software features include:
- Easy navigation and viewing of the ERA
- Prints ERA in the SPR format
- Search capabilities to easily find claim information
- Print and export reports including denied, adjusted and deductible applied claims
- Easy archival, restoration and deletion of ERAs
As of July 1, 2011, MREP software is compatible with Microsoft Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit), Vista (32 or 64 bit), and XP (32 or 64 bit) operating systems.
Patient Account Numbers Now Display on NAS Additional Documentation Request Letters
All outgoing Additional Documentation Request (ADR) letters sent by NAS Jurisdiction D display the contents entered in Item 26 of the CMS 1500 claim form (electronic equivalent 2300 CLM 01). The internal supplier patient account number, prescription number, or other identifying narrative entered in that field is printed directly underneath the beneficiary's name on the first page of the ADR letter. If no contents were entered within the patient account number field on the claim, this portion of the ADR letter is blank.
NAS implemented this enhancement as a result of supplier feedback. We hope you find this helpful in the event you have a claim selected for review.
Endeavor
NAS has encountered eligibility issues within Endeavor lately however we are working to resolve them as quickly as possible.NAS continues to update Endeavor status on our DME Home page.
NAS Website Satisfaction Survey
We are asking that you take the Website Satisfaction Survey when it pops up while navigating our site. NAS values your comments and opinions and makes many enhancements based on the feedback received on this survey.
Website and/or Self-Service Technology Enhancements
Schedule of Events:
- We have removed the color coding, the prior month is no longer displayed, and the option to view is now in a tabbed format instead of a drop-down list in order to more easily determine a different month’s schedule is displayed.
We have made a few enhancements to our site including adding advertisements to commonly searched terms, improving the fee schedule look-up tool to provide more timely updates, and displaying the posting date for Articles on both the bottom of each article and in the search results.
Appeals Ask the Contractor Teleconference – January 26th at 3 p.m. CT
If you have a question regarding Appeals, the Ask the Contractor Teleconference (ACT) on January 26, 2012, at 3 p.m. CT is your opportunity to speak directly to NAS DME. Knowledgeable NAS staff representing a variety of functions will be available to answer your questions. If we cannot answer your question during the teleconference, we will research the issue and include the answer in the posted minutes.
Email Questions Prior to ACT
Suppliers are encouraged to email their questions prior to the ACT:
Call Information
- Phone Number: 1-800-288-8968
- Confirmation Number: 231726
Face-to-Face Workshop
One FTF workshop was conducted in Seattle, Washington on November 2 & 3, 2011 since our last meeting. Total attendees were 86. Topics discussed were: Medicare 101 topics, website resources, self-service tools, claim and appeal resources, repair and replacement guidelines, documentation, and Q&A. Dr. Whitten was available during that session as well.
Web-based Workshops
23events from October 26, 2011 until January 18, 2012 (1643 supplier offices 3090 individuals):
11/8/11 / Documentation Requirements for Oxygen and PAP / 259
11/15/11 / Nebulizers / 118
11/15/11 / PMD / 77
11/16/11 / Options Accessories and Seating / 65
11/17/11 / Enteral Nutrition / 150
11/22/11 / ABN / 339
11/23/11 / Oxygen / 127
11/30/11 / DME Modifiers / 186
11/30/11 / Refractive Lenses / 15
12/6/11 / Manual Wheelchairs / 93
12/7/11 / PMD / 79
12/8/11 / W/C Options / 57
12/13/11 / Documentation Prior to DME Claim Submission / 254
12/14/11 / Oxygen / 117
12/15/11 / TENS / 124
12/20/11 / Pieces Part 1 / 157
12/21/11 / Pieces Part 2 / 163
12/22/11 / Pieces Part 3 / 164
01/04/12 / Documentation Requirements: Oxygen and PAP / 90
01/05/12 / ABN / 133
01/10/12 / Medical Review Program / 160
01/11/12 / CERT Program / 89
01/17/12 / External Breast Prosthesis / 78
January 18, 2012