Sage MedWare and NPI
As many of you are aware, May 23, 2008 is an important deadline for all of us. That is the date when healthcare providers will be required to provide only their National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) on all Medicare paper and electronic claims for reimbursement. For more information about Sage MedWare and the handling of legacy IDs please visit the Sage Medware Job Aid: Removing Legacy IDs page.
Sage MedWare version 7.5.1 will allow your practice to be NPI-compliant, both for electronic (EDI) claims and paper CMS-1500 or UB-04 claims. Beginning in February, we will automatically mail this upgrade to Sage MedWare customers who have active maintenance agreements. As soon as you receive your upgrade, please install and begin testing with active payers.
If you use Sage MedWare and do not have an active maintenance agreement, you must take action now to ensure you are able to meet the April 1, 2007 deadline for paper professional claims (new CMS-1500) and the May 23, 2007 deadline for electronic professional claims. Please call 877-932-6301 and choose option 1 to speak with a Sage professional.
Important note about customs and interfaces
Do you know if your Sage MedWare system is using customized reports or third-party interfaces? Do you know how to find out? It’s important to know and here’s why.
Employee turnover at some practices means that your current staff may not be familiar with your Sage MedWare system and how it was implemented. So they might not know if you are currently using customized reports or third-party interfaces.
But right now, it’s crucial that you find out. The upcoming versions of Sage MedWare – which will make your system NPI and secondary payer compliant – will NOT work with customized reports and third-party interfaces.
So how can you find out whether your system will be affected? We’ve made it easy!
Simply look at your LAUNCH screen.
If you see anything besides the three files (Clinician, E-immunize, and Find Claim), you have a customized installation.
If you find that you are running a customized version of Sage MedWare, please call our technical support team at 877-932-6301 and choose option 2.
We want to ensure that you experience a smooth transition to NPI and secondary payer compliance.
Next Steps
For further information on NPI, visit the NPI information area of the CMS website at www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/npi/01_overview.asp. Additionally, CMS is maintaining - and regularly updating - a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page regarding NPI. Be sure to check it often for information as it becomes available.
This communications is not designed to provide explanation or education on the CMS announcements. If you are unclear on CMS communications or policies surrounding NPI, please refer to CMS at: www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/npi/01_overview.asp.
