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The Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) National Government Services (NGS, New York, Connecticut) sent out the following message regarding the new annual wellness visit service this afternoon. 
CMS is preparing to test electronic claims transmission using the new 5010 HIPAA standard -- a secure electronic format that all your software must use. This will impact your practice management software, your electronic health record (EHR) system if you have one, and your clearinghouse, if you use one.

Remember: All claims must be transmitted using the 5010 standard, rather than the current 4010 standard, starting Jan. 1, 2012. This change spans all health plans bound by HIPAA, which basically means you've got to comply not just for Medicare, but for private payers as well.

One piece of advice you've been getting from CMS and us is to call your vendor and make sure they're ready. Well, at least one vendor has a letter explaining their 5010 transition plans, which they sent to me last week. Here is what eClinicalWorks has to say about the transition. If you are using their software, this gives you a great idea of what to expect. If not -- their answers are the ones you want to get out of your vendor.
 
Here's CMS's full statement on claims denials involving providers billing the new annual wellness visit exam. CMS has investigated complaints that claims submitted by physicians for the new Annual Wellness Visit that went into effect on January 1, 2011, are being improperly denied, and has determined that this is not a national problem, but that there are a few contractors that have improperly denied these claims.
CMS is focusing on workers compensation payments in its latest round of changes to the list of Claim Adjustment Reason Codes (CARCs) and Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARCs) that are sent to you from payers. A total of three new CARCs and RARCs are being added, while seven are being modified. You will start seeing the new codes appearing on affected claims in April, when the changes are implemented, according to Transmittal 2131 to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, released Jan. 7.

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