To: Medicare Fee-for-Service Providers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting a Town Hall meeting on November 16, 2004, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). The meeting will be held in the auditorium at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244.

Our goal is to solicit the experience of individual Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) providers on how to better serve Medicare providers.

The CMS will provide a venue that would allow access to individual CMS managers who need provider opinions on various topics. At the meeting, CMS staff will explain CMS’s design for getting individual provider(s) feedback on provider communication and other topics.

Online registration is available for individuals to participate in the meeting, whether in person or by teleconference. The online registration will capture contact information and practice characteristics such as name, email address, and provider/supplier type. Physicians and interested parties may speak or ask questions opened to the participants in the room and the audio listeners.

Participation Instructions
Registration for the meeting opened on Monday, October 25, 2004, so providers are encouraged to register as soon as possible.

Participants should register at http://registration.intercall.com/go/cms. The online registration system will generate a confirmation page to indicate the completion of your registration. Please print the page as a confirmation receipt of your registration. Registration after 12:00 (noon), November 15, 2004, will delay confirmation, and individuals may not be permitted entrance to the building. Persons participating by teleconference should dial: 1-877-357-7851 and Reference Conference ID:1040512.

This meeting will be held in a Federal Government building; therefore, persons attending the meeting will be required to show a photographic identification, preferably a valid driver’s license, and be listed on an approved security list beforehand.

Note: TTY Communications Relay Services are available for the Hearing Impaired. For TTY services, dial 7-1-1 or 1-800-855-2880, and for Internet Relay services click here http://www.consumer.att.com/relay/which/index.html. A Relay Communications Assistant will help.

Encore is a digital recording of this call, which will be available hours after the meeting and can be accessed by dialing 1-800-642-1687 and entering the Conference ID number, 1040512.

Please contact Keri Boston at Kboston@cms.hhs.gov for further information about registration for the meeting.

Posted: 11/03/2004