Issue 2006-04, April 2006

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Seeks Provider Input on Satisfaction with Medicare Fee-for-Service Contractor Services

Note: This article was revised on March 17, 2006, to show the data collection period will continue through April 2006.

Provider Types Affected
Sample of 25,000 Medicare providers served by 42 Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Contractors, including fiscal intermediaries (FIs), carriers, durable medical equipment regional carriers (DMERCs), and rural home health intermediaries (RHHIs)

Provider Action Needed

Impact to You
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would like to provide a channel for you to voice your opinions about the services you receive from your Fee-for-Service (FFS) Contractors. The Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey (MCPSS) is designed to gather quantifiable data on provider satisfaction with the performance of FFS contractors. The MCPSS is one of the tools CMS will use to measure provider satisfaction levels, a requirement of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). Specifically, the survey will enable CMS to gauge provider satisfaction with key services performed by the 42 contractors that process and pay the more than $280 billion in Medicare claims each year.

Those Medicare contractors will use the results to improve service. CMS will use the results to improve its oversight of and increase the efficiency of the administration of the Medicare program.

What You Need to Know
The first national implementation of the MCPSS will begin January 3, 2006. If you have been selected, you will receive a notification packet in the mail with background information about the survey, as well as an instruction sheet with information on how to access and complete the survey instrument via a secure Internet Web site. The letter will also include a phone number that you can call to request a paper copy of the survey instrument to submit your responses by mail or fax, if you prefer to do so.

What You Need to Do
Be alert for a notification packet in the mail. If you are selected and receive the notification packet, please take the time to complete and submit your survey responses as soon as possible. The data collection period will continue through April 2006.

Background
The 2006 survey will query approximately 25,000 randomly selected providers – those physicians, healthcare practitioners, and facilities that serve Medicare beneficiaries across the country – on the seven key areas of the provider-contractor interface:

• Provider communications
• Provider inquiries
• Claims processing
• Appeals
• Provider enrollment
• Medical review
• Provider audit and reimbursement

It contains a total of 76 questions and takes approximately 21 minutes to complete. The target date to respond is approximately three weeks after receipt of the notification packet. CMS will analyze the data and release a summary report in July that will be made available on the Internet. Each contractor will also receive an individual report on their performance in June. The MCPSS will be conducted on an annual basis.

CMS has awarded a contract to Westat, a survey research firm, to administer the MCPSS.

Additional Information
For questions or additional information about the MCPSS, please visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MCPSS/ on the CMS Web site.

Disclaimer
This article was prepared as a service to the public and is not intended to grant rights or impose obligations. This article may contain references or links to statutes, regulations, or other policy materials. The information provided is only intended to be a general summary. It is not intended to take the place of either the written law or regulations. We encourage readers to review the specific statutes, regulations and other interpretive materials for a full and accurate statement of their contents.

Medlearn Matters Number: SE0602 Revised
Related Change Request (CR) #: N/A
Effective Date: January 3, 2006
Implementation Date: January 3, 2006