CMS' monthly open-door forum revealed announcements of mostly old news already covered in Part B News, with a few notable exceptions:
there will be an open-door forum on annual wellness visits (AWVs) on March 28 and the surrogate program for PECOS revalidation is close to going live.
During the March 6 Open-Door Forum for Physicians, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals, details of the upcoming AWV forum were not discussed (in fact, CMS doesn't even know what time it will be). But presumably - or hopefully - the forum will clear up some of the commonly held misperceptions about this preventive service launched in 2011 that have made it far more difficult for practices to schedule and bill for the visits than originally intended.
In addition to listing the already-launched PECOS online updates - such as the fast-track feature and electronic signature (PBN 2/27/12) - a CMS official responded to a provider question on the surrogate program that would allow non-physician staff to update PECOS information. After months of discussion, CMS is tentatively set to go live with the surrogate program in May, the official said.