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Improve Your Medical Billing Efficiency With PECOS

If you are a Medicare provider, you can improve your medical billing administration efficiency by enrolling in PECOS. The following information will help you expedite this process.  First of all, what exactly is PECOS?

PECOS, also known as Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System, is an alternative to the Medicare paper enrollment process or CMS-855. PECOSis an internet based system that allows physicians, non-physician practitioners, and supplier organisations, to enroll, view, check status, and make changes to a Medicare enrollment application.

How can PECOS help you?

• It saves you time, therefore, it cuts costs. It is easy to overlook required fields on a Medicare paper application that is 60 pages long. The obvious advantage of this automated system is that it has edits to ensure required fields are completed thus reducing delays due to incomplete information. Simple things like address changes are handled faster. The ability to update, view, and check status gives you more control.


• You will need an approved enrollment record in PECOS to continue to order or refer items or services for Medicare beneficiaries.  To clarify, if you refer a Medicare patient for services, the provider you referred to will not be paid unless you have your approvedPECOSenrollment in place.


• Medicare incentive payments require that you are enrolled in PECOS. Medicare and Medicaid providers that use qualified electronic health records systems or e-prescribing and they meet meaningful use requirements, may be eligible to receive stimulus payments in accordance with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Title XIII, known as the HITECH Act. You can find out more about this at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Recovery/11_HealthIT.asp.

How do I complete my application inPECOS?

• Log into PECOSat  https://pecos.cms.hhs.gov/pecos/login.do. using the username and password you established when you signed up for your NPI (National Provider Identifier at https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/Welcome.do.


• Review the checklist for the information you will need to complete the application. If you are enrolled in CAQH http://www.caqh.org, you can print your credentialing information which contains most everything you will need to complete yourPECOS enrollment application. Also, be sure to have your banking information available.


• Make note of the Help Desk telephone number on the firstPECOSapplication screen in case you have questions during the application process.  Be sure to select the correct entity type, either sole proprietor or group, to be directed to the correct application.

TWO IMPORTANT POINTS

You will be required to sign up for electronic deposit for your Medicare payments. Please note that signing up for electronic deposits does not include EOBs. If you receive your Medicare EOBs on paper, you will continue to do so.

Once you have completed your application, don't forget to print, sign and date the Certification statement(s) and supporting documents and mail them as directed.

Be sure to visit Medical-billing-guide.com  for more tips and advice for your practice or medical billing service.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/accounting-articles/improve-your-medical-billing-efficiency-with-pecos-5107821.html

About the Author

Janice Humphries has over 20 years experience as a medical biller and software trainer. Her company provides online services to small medical practices and home based billing services all around the United States. Her site is a compilation of her own medical billing experiences, those of her partner Arliene Koch, as well as her many clients and colleagues. There are many places on this site where she asks for your feedback and encourages you to share your experience and contribute to the knowledgebase at the Medical Billing Guide.