April 9, 2008
Delay of Enrollment Requirements for Audiologists
On February 29, 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Change Request 5717 titled "Update to Audiology Policies". Transmittal 1470 of that change request provided clarifications to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub. 100-02). In Pub 100-02, Chapter 12, Section 30.3, the manual instructions state, ". . . the audiologist's NPI is required on all claims for services furnished by audiologists." Use of the NPI in the primary identifier field on a claim requires Medicare enrollment.
Note that CMS is instructing contractors to, prior to October 1, 2008, continue to process claims without the NPI of the audiologist. All other instructions in Change Request 5717 remain unchanged.
CMS will require the use of the NPI
on claims for diagnostic test services furnished by audiologists on or after
October 1, 2008. Audiologists are encouraged to obtain an NPI and enroll as
soon as possible.
