Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Forwarding Address


I moved my office yesterday. As fate would have it, the final piece of mail I received at my old address was a notice from Medicare informing me that I needed to update them if there were any changes in my practice, for example, a change of address. It told me where to go (on the internet, that is).

Okay, so in case you're wondering, Medicare has 221 downloadable forms on their website.

If I understand the directions right (and do feel free to help me out here) CMS-8551 is the form for me:

Additional Information Physicians can apply for enrollment in the Medicare Program or make a change in their enrollment information using either: 1. Have a National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) User ID and password to use Internet-based PECOS. • For security reasons, passwords should be changed periodically, at least once a year. • For information on how to change a password, go to the NPPES Application Help page and select the “Reset Password Page” on the NPPES Application Help page. 2. Go to PECOS to complete, review, and submit the electronic enrollment application via PECOS. 3. Print, sign, and date the two-page Certification Statement and mail it with all supporting paper documentation to the Medicare contractor within seven days of the electronic submission. NOTE: A Medicare contractor will not process an Internet enrollment application without the signed and dated two-page Certification Statement and the required supporting documentation. In addition, the effective date of filing an enrollment application is the date the Medicare contractor receives the signed two-page Certification Statement that is associated with the Internet submission. Physicians who are enrolled in the Medicare Program, but have not submitted the CMS-855I since 2003, are required to submit a Medicare enrollment application (i.e., Internet-based PECOS or the CMS-855I) as an initial application when reporting a change for the first time. If a physician has any questions about reporting a change, the physician should contact his or her designated Medicare contractor in advance of submitting the CMS-855I.
(Note, I deleted the Medicare web addresses from the body of the text I copied)

Okay, so 221 downloadable forms, and the form for change of address is the CMS-8551. No prob, I'm on it. PECOS. What are PECOS? I know what pesos are, but PECOS? So form CMS-8551, downloaded for my change of address is 27 pages long. What would it take to get Medicare to have 222 downloadable forms, with the 222nd form being a one-page change of address form.

8 comments:

Shrynic said...

Unbelievable. Glad the Feds will be even more involved in the health care system going forward. They are going to save $500 billion through greater efficiency, you know.

Sunny CA said...

Wow!

Notfluffy said...

Maybe you should just send them a little "I've Moved" card from a stationery store and be done with it. :-)

Rachel Cooper said...

I second notfluffy's thought.

Wouldn't it be nice if medicare actually VALUED doctors' time?
But I digress...

moviedoc said...

You never heard of Pecos Pete?

Yet another reason to OPT OUT of Medicare!

Judy said...

Dinan I know about Medicare's forms - so much so that I now just call, put the call on speakerphone to wait until provider services answers then request their assistance as I'm on their site. As much trouble as this is, it's less than going forward only to receive a form rejection letter that my form/request was incomplete!

Zoe Brain said...

This thread is being hijacked and flown to Cuba.

ClinkShrink, could I have your opinions about this situation?

Santamaria is let out of her cell for one hour a day and allowed to shower every three days. Her solitary cell has no windows and Santamaria has considered suicide, Alterman said.

"It's a form of mental abuse," Alterman said. "The guards refer to her as 'it'..."


She's been there for 6 months so far.

(Central Virginia Regional Jail Deputy Superintendent Susan) Fletcher said, "we were presented with a situation and the only way we could handle it was by placing the person in an isolated setting for her own safety. Is that less than pleasurable? Yeah."

Jeremy said...

Ugh! I just got two rejections in a row from Medicare (one for individual and one for a group number). Hang in there!