HCFA Announces National Medicare Y2K Testing Week
Contact: HCFA Press Office, 202-690-6145;
Web sites: http://www.hcfa.gov
http://www.hhs.gov
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Health Care Financing
Administration today announced that it has designated Nov. 15-20 as
National Medicare Y2K Testing Week, during which health care
providers will be able to test their own billing systems with
Medicare's systems.
The Medicare systems have been certified as Y2K ready to process
and pay all Medicare claims submitted on and after Jan. 1, 2000.
During this special week of testing, health care providers and
their billing agents or clearinghouses will have an advance
opportunity to test their billing systems, identify any problems with
Medicare claims submissions and remedy their software and hardware as
necessary.
HCFA, the federal agency that runs Medicare, and its contractors,
the private insurance companies that process and pay Medicare claims,
are ready to pay claims for health care services provided to Medicare
beneficiaries starting Jan. 1, 2000. "But it is up to health care
providers to make sure they can correctly make claims and submit them
to Medicare's systems so they will be paid for providing health care
services to Medicare beneficiaries," said HCFA Administrator
Nancy-Ann DeParle.
"Even if health care providers get a late start in readying their
systems, they shouldn't let that stop them from taking any action at
all," said DeParle. "It's important that health care providers make
contingency plans to ensure they will be able to run their business
after Jan. 1, 2000."
Testing with Medicare after November 20 will still be encouraged,
but National Medicare Testing Week provides a special opportunity to
test while there is still time to fix any problems.
Earlier testing by Medicare contractors has revealed that some
submitters and providers who thought they were Y2K ready were not.
Submitters who sent claims with the dates in an 8-digit format found
that simply using an 8-digit format is not the same as being Y2K
ready. To allow the submission of year 2000 dates, submitters will
need to remediate their office computer codes and, in some cases,
deal with computers that are programmed to place a 19 at the
beginning of each 4-digit year.
A recent survey of health care providers conducted by the Office
of Inspector General found that providers generally reported
improvements in the Y2K readiness of their billing systems, medical
records systems, and biomedical equipment, and that providers are
more likely to report that contingency plans have been completed.
However, the surveys confirm the response from HCFA's outreach
efforts: providers have made progress in Y2K readiness, but many
still have work to do.
HCFA has been conducting a comprehensive outreach effort on the
year 2000 challenge throughout 1999, which includes a series of
letters to the more than 1.1 million health care providers from HCFA
Administrator Nancy-Ann DeParle, more than 100 meetings and
informational sessions with organizational partners and health care
providers in every state in the country, and advertisements in a
number of health trade publications.
To avoid having payment problems in the year 2000, HCFA is urging
each submitter to take three steps:
1. Schedule future-date testing with the appropriate Medicare
carrier or fiscal intermediary so that the submitter's own system can
be assessed. During National Testing Week, contractor resources will
be available at every Medicare contractor to test submissions.
Testing during this week will afford submitters the opportunity and
time to discover and fix any problems that occur.
2. Consult HCFA's Web site (http://www.hcfa.gov/y2k) or call the
toll-free Y2K information line (800-958-HCFA) for helpful
information, telephone numbers of Medicare contractor contacts, and
other resources on becoming Y2K ready.
3. Make a contingency plan, or alternative-operating plan, in case
of an office or billing system failure.
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Note: For other HHS Press Releases and Fact Sheets pertaining to
the subject of this announcement, please visit our Press Release and
Fact Sheet search engine at: http://www.os.dhhs.gov/news/press/.
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/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
11/04 11:41
Copyright 1999, U.S. Newswire
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