Your Duck is Dead

I seem to share bad and/or scary crazy news so thought I would share a laugh today. This is a cute joke that is clean and will make you laugh and you can share with patients.

Your Duck is Dead

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird’s chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, “I’m sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away.”

The distressed woman wailed, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead,” replied the vet..

“How can you be so sure?” she protested. “I mean you haven’t done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something.”

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck’s owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of
the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, “I’m sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck.”

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman..

The duck’s owner, still in shock, took the bill. “$150!” she cried, “$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!”

The vet shrugged, “I’m sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it’s now $150.”

Angela Miller of Medical Auditing Solutions LLC has been in health care compliance, auditing, billing, collections and HIPAA for over 18 years.  Ms. Miller has made it the  focus of the business to help providers run their businesses efficiently, collect money, and maintain compliance with federal and state regulations and coverage criteria through compliance program development, management and training.  Ms. Miller is very experienced with Medicare & Payer audits.  Ms. Miller ran a very successful compliance program for over 5 years for the largest private held HME/Pharmacy provider in the US at the time.  Ms. Miller  also works as a contract compliance officer to provide an avenue to compliance training to staff, implementation of policies, as well as handling anything that affects cash flow from the initial intake to back-end collections. You can visit our website at Medical Auditing Solutions LLC.

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PECOS: Uncover the mystery! Extended 1/3/2011

**NEWS FLASH** Found at least one gov’t contract with an extension notice of Jan 3, 2011 posted!

What is PECOS? Basically, this is an online 855 application process which is also linked to NPPES (NPI database).  The official name  is Medicare Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System.

Where did the info in PECOS come from? They uploaded (in some fashion) from the fiscal intermediary that processes your 855 paper enroll applications.

Why do I need to bother if they have the information from 855? The information in many circumstances is inaccurate and it can stop your cash flow reimbursement.  My guess is, as with any software or data conversion, exceptions to eliminate terminated data were not built in sufficiently.  So, with that said, it is very possible information is incorrect which can result in revoked provider number. For example I recently worked on a provider’s PECOS records that showed locations that have been closed for several months. If the Medicare contractors visit locations or call a phone number that is no longer valid including an invalid area code, they can suspend or revoke the provider number.

You must register in PECOS.  This means you must obtain a username and password in PECOS to review and validate all your information.  Before you begin view and print (save to complete) the 855 they show. You may need copies of your previously submitted 855’s. If you did not keep a copy, do so for all applications in the future.  You can save the information and go back to finish if need be.   Do not click “begin submission” until you are 100% certain you are finished.  Any changes will require a “submission” then you must print out the certification documents for signature to submit hard copy to the address that prints on confirmations.

Do not let incorrect information or failure to register in PECOS stop your PESOS (Cash Flow).  Register deadline for PECOS by UPDATED**7/6/2010 or 1/1/2011 (depending on what article you read) will stop your Medicare payments also.   ADDED**This is the latest note I found on CMS’ website “July 6: Please read the news release found at the following location http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=3774 , the January 2011 deadline was superseded by a statutorily established deadline in the Affordable care act. As soon as a firm enforcement date of the regulations has been determined we will announce it.”

This is not going away.  It will take 1-1.5 hours to gather corporate and provider documents.  It will take about 2 hours per provider record to review documents, data, make corrections, make necessary copies of documents, sign and mail.

I have provided a list of numerous documents that you should have available for this as well as site visits.  I recommend maintaining all the important records in a three ring binder to be handy for site inspectors.

If you need help getting this done, we can help with this project.  We will register you, save all log in data for you, save the existing PECOS record, make necessary updates based on the documents provided, save revised document, print all certification forms to PDF.  All documents will be password protected and returned to you by email for $289.00 per provider number.  We can overnight the certification pages and a CD with all documents back to you for an extra $30.00 for all provider records being returned.  Please contact us so that we may sign a confidentiality contract.

PECOS  CHECKLIST

• Sale purchase agreement, if applicable
  • Asset acquisitions require a new provider number
  • Also note, Home Health Agencies with a provider number less than 36 months old will require a new provider number also
  • Were the state and local agencies informed of the acquisition?
• State Licensure such as pharmacy license, DME/HME License, typically health care business line specific, if applicable
• Local- state licenses such as occupancy or business licenses
• Copy accredit certificate (DME, HHA,
• IRS 147C letter
• NPI letter/email
• Any Adverse Action
• Director of Nursing/Administrator license
• Medical MalPractice Insurance Certificate
• Liability Insurance Certificate must have correct location address on it for minimum $300K
• HHA: Documentation to demonstrate capitalization requirements
• Board of Directors, Owners with 5% or more, Manager (w-2), clinical provider Information:
  • Full Name
  • Social Security Number
  • Date of Birth
  • In some states, like FL &CA, finger print cards are required for the mentioned
• If owned by another company or venture capital company:
  • Need the company(ies) TID#
  • Corporate Business Address
• If complex ownership, please provide an organizational chart of ownership even if handwritten.

Angela Miller of Medical Auditing Solutions LLC has been in health care compliance, auditing, billing, collections and HIPAA for over 18 years.  Ms. Miller has made it the  focus of the business to help providers run their businesses efficiently, collect money, and maintain compliance with federal and state regulations and coverage criteria through compliance program development, management and training.  Ms. Miller is very experienced with Medicare & Payer audits.  Ms. Miller ran a very successful compliance program for over 5 years for the largest private held HME/Pharmacy provider in the US at the time.  Ms. Miller  also works as a contract compliance officer to provide an avenue to compliance training to staff, implementation of policies, as well as handling anything that affects cash flow from the initial intake to back-end collections. You can visit our website at Medical Auditing Solutions LLC.

Allergy Technician Position – Beaumont Texas

I have a ENT in southeast Texas (Golden Triangle) that is looking for an allergy technician. This office services patients from Orange, Beaumont, Lumberton, Port Arthur and surrounding towns. It is a solo practice that sees patients in the office. Person does need previous experience in administering allergy testing as well as immune therapy.  The salary is $15/hr plus bonuses and commission based on production.  At the moment no health benefits. Please forward resumes to fax 214-461-0295 or email medaudsolutions@aol.com

Office Manager Job

I have a ENT in southeast Texas (Golden Triangle) that is looking for an office manager. This office services patients from Orange, Beaumont, Lumberton, Port Arthur and surrounding towns. It is a solo practice that sees patients in the office and performs surgery. Person does need health care billing and management experience. Billing is currently outsourced. The person needs to be a good leader as there are 3 other staff members in the office. The salary is $18/hr and at the moment no health benefits. Please forward resumes to fax 214-461-0295 or email medaudsolutions@aol.com