This week the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) contacted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) urging delayed implementation of Transmittal 2407, Revised and Clarified Place of Service (POS) Coding Requirements, which was set to take effect on Monday, April 2, 2012.  The Transmittal contained new and relatively vague instructions for how all medical practices should describe the place of service on the CMS 1500 or its electronic equivalent when billing the professional component for diagnosis services.  The NCMS, after learning from the radiology community about the shift in policy and its implications, acted quickly to request a delay.

Review the letter from NCMS Executive Vice President, CEO Bob Seligson to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner here.

We got their attention: on Thursday CMS acknowledged our concerns and agreed to delay implementation of this Transmittal until October 2012.  CMS has also pledged to consider the Society’s concerns and to make needed changes to the policy. CMS is planning to officially announce the delay on their “2012 Transmittals” site, located here.

The NCMS believes that the lack of general knowledge about the new POS rules and problems with implementing them at the practice level would cause massive disruption in the revenue cycle for practices across the state. We thank Administrator Tavenner and CMS for responding favorably to our concerns.

Note: Please share with members of your billing staff and vendors.