First Coast Service Options, Inc., a Medicare Administrative Contractor, has put together a nice slide presentation on appropriate physician signatures in the medical records. This would also be applicable for therapists and assistants. Even though this was done by First Coast, the requirements are CMS requirements, hence, this presentation would be applicable for all providers in all states.

Cigna Government Services (CGS) invites you to participate in an Ask-the-Contractor Teleconference (ACT) specifically focused on the new claims-based data collection reporting requirement and changes to the manual medical review process for outpatient therapy services. The teleconference is scheduled for Thursday, May 23, 2013, from 9-10:30 a.m. CT/10-11:30 a.m. ET. Please mark your calendar and plan to participate in this call. No pre-registration is necessary. To join the teleconference, please click HERE and follow the instructions.

Effective today, May 13, Noridian Administrative Services (NAS) has officially changed its name to Noridian Healthcare Solutions (Noridian) to better reflect the scope of capabilities that have grown from our core business.

First Coast Service Options, Inc., a Medicare Administrative Contractor, has put together a nice summary of the 5 different levels of the appeal process, time limit for filing the request, and where to file the appeal. This site even has an option where the provider can submit the date of the denial or decision of an appeal, and the system will tell the provider the date of when they must appeal to the next level. Even though this is on the First Coast Service Options website, this would be the same process for all Medicare Administrative Contractors, hence, would be

During the week of May 6, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued 2 proposed rules. On May 6, 2103, CMS released the proposed rule for Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities for FY 2014. On May 8, 2013, CMS released the proposed rule for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2014.