Medicare News from Novitas Solutions

The following JH MAC Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) which were posted for notice on October 10, 2013 are now effective: 

Biomarkers Overview (L33638)

Molecular Diagnostics: Genitourinary Infectious Disease Testing (L33644)

Neuromuscular Junction Testing (L33650)

Pain Management of Peripheral Nerves by Injection (L33604)

Scanning Computerized Ophthalmic Diagnostic Imaging (L33590)

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for the Treatment of Depression (L33660)

Trigger Point Injections (L33648)


The following JH MAC Local Coverage Determination (LCD) has been revised:
Vertebroplasty, Vertebral Augmentation, Percutaneous (L32685)


The following JH MAC Local Coverage Determination (LCD) has been retired for dates of service on and after December 5, 2013:
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Depression (L32752)

SHIP Webinar January - ICD-10 Implementation Series

ICD-10 Implementation series

January 16, 2014 - Webinar #4

Click here to register your ICD-10 Implementation Team for this meeting.

Meeting Description:Please join us Thursday, January 16, 2013, from 12:00pm - 1:15pm to continue this step by step journey toward a successful ICD-10 Implementation on October 1, 2014.

During this second live webinar we will discuss:

• Progress with your homework assignment from previous webinars
• Are you on track?
• What's your next step?
• Discussion / Homework Remediation / Next Step
• Helpful resources and project materials will be provided throughout the series.

Click here to register or email Danette Swanson at ds@coruralhealth.org for more information.

CMS Customer Service Units and EDI Holiday Availability

Novitas Solutions, Inc. will be observing the Christmas holiday on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, and Wednesday, December 25, 2013, and the New Year’s holiday on Wednesday, January 1, 2014. Our business doors will be closed and the Customer Service Units will not be available. Please click here for full details of system availabilities.

CREATE Tip of the Week - Narrative Details

You have decided what type of training your staff requires to meet the service need. You have looked at your budget and decided that the money is not there, but how do you get this message across to grant reviewers effectively?

The answer is to be specific! The best way to get the ERC's attention is to be specific by providing as many details as you can about all the aspects of the training (course costs, other costs, travel costs, etc.) and the benefits of incorporating that training into your region (more providers, better quality of care, increasing knowledge, etc.). Your aim should be to offer support or evidence for everything you say. Make sure each sentence is information rich. Inevitably, this means it will be very dense reading, but that’s the nature of the genre.

One good way to save space, while maintaining the focus on your course request meeting the service needs of your area, try including community and service request statistical information. Examples included numbers of providers vs. number of type of service requests. Strings of multiple statistics help show the depth of your familiarity with your service area need and how the training you are seeking would help meet that need successfully.

For more ideas of how to be concise while including all the important information, within your CREATE application contact Lakesha Jones, Grants Manager at lj@coruralhealth.org or by phone at 720.248.2742.

REMEMBER our December CREATE application deadline is quickly approaching. Please submit your request for funding by December 9th in order to receive a review this month.

CMS Webinar onDurable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be hosting several webinars for partners and providers on

The Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program: Round 1 Recompete

The webinars will be conducted on the following dates:

• December 09, 2013 (11:00 am to 12:00 noon (EST))
• December 11, 2013 (1:00 pm to 2:00 pm (EST))
• December 12, 2013 (2:00 pm to 3:00 pm (EST)

Sign up for one of our webinars via the following link:
http://dmeposcb2013.eventbrite.com/

The Round 1 Rebid of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program was successfully implemented in nine areas on January 1, 2011. CMS is required by law to recompete contracts under the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program at least once every three years. The Round 1 Rebid contracts will expire on December 31, 2013. The Round 1 Recompete contracts and prices are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2014 in the same nine areas. There will also be some changes to the specific DMEPOS items that are part of the program in these areas starting on January 1, 2014.

When a round of the program goes into effect in a competitive bidding area (CBA), Original Medicare beneficiaries who obtain competitively bid items in that CBA will need to use a Medicare contract supplier for that round for Medicare to help pay unless an exception applies. It is important that prescribing physicians, social workers, discharge planners, and others who assist Medicare beneficiaries in Round 1 competitive bid areas with their health care needs and decisions understand this program so that they can help Medicare patients get covered medical equipment and supplies. To ensure that Medicare can help pay for Medicare patients’ medical equipment and supplies, partners and providers will have to help beneficiaries find a supplier that is a Medicare contract supplier.

Please forward this message to any partner who may benefit from this educational session. We also look forward to your participation and the opportunity to educate partners and providers about the program.

PLEASE NOTE: This program is intended for partners and providers who assist beneficiaries in obtaining and ordering items of DMEPOS. Each program is limited to 1,000 participants, so please register early. Additionally, please try to limit your registration to 1 event if possible. We have scheduled 3 webinars in order to accommodate everyone and will add additional webinars if we reach our maximum attendance.

This webinar will be presented in a lecture format only. Questions may be asked using the webinar chat feature but will not be answered live. All questions will be compiled into a Question and Answer document and distributed to all webinar participants.

If you would like to receive regular updates about the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding initiative sign up for our Referral Agent ListServ via the below link. https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USCMS/subscriber/new?pop=t&topic_id=USCMS_7814

If you have any questions about these webinars or are unable to attend due to reaching maximum attendance, please contact Tom Robinson at Thomas.robinson@cms.hhs.gov or Lynne Tierney at lynne.tierney@cms.hhs.gov.

MLN Matters and CMS: Medicare Benefit Policy Manual

Click here for the MLN Matters on Medicare Benefit Policy Manual and here for the CMS Manual System on Medicare Benefit Policy Manual.

SHIP Webinar - ICD-10 Implementation Series

ICD-10 implementation series - Webinar #3 

December 10, 2013

Please join us on Tuesday, December 10, 2013, from 12:00pm - 1:15pm to start this step by step journey toward a successful ICD-10 Implementation on October 1, 2014.

During this third live webinar we will continue our discussion about ICD-10 readiness and the tasks that should be completed as we move into the new year. We will also work on clinic settings, LTC, Home Health and Hospice -- please forward this information to any staff in those facilities in your organization and to other facilities in your community.