The Colorado Medical Society and the AMA recently met with CAQH to learn more about CAQH ProView™, recently launched as the next generation of the Universal Provider Datasource� (UPD). This update of the widely-used tool was developed to assist physicians and other health care providers to more easily and securely self-report professional and practice information to organizations that require it for credentialing, claims administration, directory services and other uses.

CAQH has provided the information and resources to help health care providers and their practice managers learn to use CAQH ProView. These resources can save time, reduce confusion and provide a quick answer to commonly asked questions. Click here to read the full story on CMS.org.

Hopefully you are well beyond planning and preparation and looking for testing opportunities now. However if you are not, and you are looking for help, CMS.gov has just released a Quick Start Guide on their Roadto10.org website. The Roadto10.org website gives practice staff and physicians access to lots of free resources.

At this time, the Colorado ICD-10 Training Coalition is not planning on doing new webinars, however, there are almost two years worth of programming archived on the Coalition's web page. You may be looking for opportunities to assess the ICD-10 coding skills of yourself or your staff. As we become aware of upcoming events we will let you know. Some of the consultant members of the Coalition will be conducting in-person training sessions locally, such as the ones we told you about previously that Robin Linker held in June. And, Todd Welter of RT Welter & Associates will be conducting ICD-10 coding training in a number of locations in the metro area and in Colorado Springs. Registration information can be found here for the Metro area and here for the Springs.

Let us know if you have questions.

From April 27 through May 1, 2015, Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) health care providers, clearinghouses, and billing agencies participated in a second ICD-10 end-to-end testing week with all Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) MAC Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) contractor. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was able to accommodate most volunteers, representing a broad cross-section of provider, claim, and submitter types.

CMS says this second end-to-end testing week demonstrated that systems are ready to accept ICD-10 claims. Approximately 875 providers and billing companies participated, and testers submitted over 23,000 test claims. View the results here.

Overall, participants in the April end-to-end testing week were able to successfully submit ICD-10 test claims and have them processed through Medicare billing systems. The acceptance rate for April was higher than January, with an increase in test claims submitted and a decrease in the percentage of errors related to diagnosis codes. Most of the claim rejections that occurred were due to errors unrelated to ICD-9 or ICD-10.

In addition to acknowledgement testing, which may be completed at any time, a final end-to-end testing week will be held on July 20 - 24, 2015. The opportunity to volunteer for this testing week has closed. Testers who participated in the January and April end-to-end testing weeks are automatically eligible to test again in July.

Click here to read more on CMS.org.

As the 50 year anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid approaches, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is looking for stories about how these programs have changed the lives of Americans across the nation. One of their goals for the anniversary is to illustrate the faces of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, acknowledging that personal stories play an important role in bringing public policy to life by demonstrating how health care programs can impact families and communities.

Jeff Hinson, regional administrator of the Denver Regional Office of CMS, invites Colorado physicians to submit beneficiary stories by using this link: www.medicare.gov/anniversary/share-your-story.html.

The federal CMS will share these stories in speeches and online, and some beneficiaries will be invited to share their stories at events or be interviewed for videos. In addition, as part of the 50th Anniversary celebration, the agency is building a gallery exhibit that tells the stories of 50 beneficiaries - one story from each state. The exhibit, existing of photos and stories, will be displayed at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.

"For the past 50 years, Medicare and Medicaid have been protecting the health and well-being of millions of families, changing their lives, and improving America's economic security" Hinson said. "The story of Medicare and Medicaid's success starts at the local level, and we want to make sure your community is included. Please share your story on or before June 26, 2015."

Questions? Contact Dennis DelPizzo at 303-844-1994 or Gloria Baca at 303-844-6217.