Join DXC Technology (DXC) for upcoming training sessions on CMS 1500 Professional Billing and UB-04 Institutional Billing on March 14 and March 21. These training sessions are intended to help new providers with a high-level overview of claim submissions, prior authorizations, using the website, and more. For a preview of the training materials used in these sessions, refer to the CMS 1500 Beginning Billing Workshop and the UB-04 Beginning Billing Workshop, available on the Provider Training webpage under the Billing Training and Workshops drop-down section. For more in-depth training materials on navigating the Provider Web Portal, refer to the Provider Web Portal Quick Guides available on the Quick Guides and Webinars webpage. During the training session, the DXC Trainer will reference certain resources and web links. These resources can be found on the General Resources & Key Contacts sheet, available on the Provider Contacts webpage. Providers are encouraged to bookmark the Provider Contacts webpage for future reference and access to these helpful resources. Find more information here.

The Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) uses numbers 0-9 and all uppercase letters except for S, L, O, I, B, and Z. We exclude these letters to avoid confusion when differentiating some letters and numbers (e.g., between “0” and “O”). Read MLN Matters® Article New MBI Get It, Use It for other helpful information, such as what to do if an MBI changes.

New recommendations for influenza, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B vaccines are highlighted in the 2019 Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule. Published online by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Feb. 4 in Annals of Internal Medicine and on the CDC website, the recommendations also include streamlined formatting, bolder headings, and more colorful graphics. The 2019 adult immunization schedule and the 2019 childhood and adolescent immunization schedules are available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules.

The Colorado QPP Coalition presents their February 2019 Fast Facts, which includes information on the following:

Read the full Fast Facts on CMS.org.

The QPP data submission period for Year 2 (2018) began on Jan. 2, 2019. You may now log in through the QPP website and upload your data files or attest for Quality, Improvement Activities and Promoting Interoperability. The federal CMS recently added a series of data submission videos to the QPP resource library. These videos can help guide you through the data submission process. You can also view a recording of Telligen's data submission webinar at:  Deep Dive Into MIPS Data Submission for Year Two. For further assistance, contact Telligen at: 1-844-358-4021 Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT or qpp-surs@telligen.com.

Join the Quality and Cost Workshop to prepare for these two categories of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). This workshop will guide you through improving your Quality category measures, which also affects your Cost category score. This workshop will include an implementation guide and action items, live workshop sessions and individual support as needed. Sign up for the overall workshop to receive your Workshop Implementation Guide, then register for the individual sessions below that you would like to attend. Live workshop sessions will be an opportunity to learn, ask questions and share your challenges and successes. The live online sessions will not be recorded. All sessions start at noon CT. Find more information and register here.

Telligen QIN’s new Speaking Out on the Quality Payment Program (QPP) podcast features Q&A sessions from industry experts, dives deep into the four performance areas of QPP and provides guidance on data submission. Each episode will cover fundamental details of the program and provide you with helpful tips on how to ready your practice for participating in the program in 2019. The first episode is "Preparing to Submit 2018 MIPS Data for Clinicians (14:29)." Short on time? Listen and learn while on the go through short episodes and mobile streaming through apps like Apple Podcasts, Google Play and more. Listen now.

How many minutes each week do you spend renewing long-term prescriptions for your patients? Now multiply that by 52. Synchronous prescription renewal can save time! Whenever possible, bundle the prescription renewal process and synchronize prescription timing with patients during their annual visit. To make this process smoother, call local pharmacies and ask what their preferred process is to start synchronous renewal for patients with existing prescriptions on file. Listen to a podcast on synchronized prescription renewal here.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched a new app that gives consumers a modernized Medicare experience with direct access on a mobile device to some of the most-used content on Medicare.gov. The new “What’s Covered” app lets people with Original Medicare, caregivers and others quickly see whether Medicare covers a specific medical item or service. Consumers can now use their mobile device to more easily get accurate, consistent Original Medicare coverage information in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or anywhere else they use their mobile device. In addition to the “What’s Covered” app, through Blue Button 2.0 the agency is enabling beneficiaries to connect their claims data to applications and tools developed by innovative private-sector companies to help them understand, use, and share their health data. Read more here.