Although enrolled in Medicare, many physicians and non-physician practitioners who are eligible to order items or services or refer Medicare beneficiaries to other Medicare providers or suppliers for services do not have current enrollment records in Medicare. A current enrollment record is one that is in the Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) and also contains the physician/non-physician practitioner’s National Provider Identifier (NPI). Under Phase 2 of the above referenced CRs, a physician or non-physician practitioner who orders or refers and who does not have a current enrollment record that contains the NPI will cause the claim submitted by the Part B provider/supplier who furnished the ordered or referred item or service to be rejected.
CMS continues to urge physicians and non-physician practitioners who are enrolled in Medicare but who have not updated their Medicare enrollment record since November 2003 to update their enrollment record now. If these physicians and non-physician practitioners have no changes to their enrollment data, they need to submit an initial enrollment application which will establish a current enrollment record in PECOS.
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