CMS Asks Providers: How Are We Doing?

CMS has launched its fifth annual healthcare provider satisfaction survey of the Medicare fee-for-service contractors that process and pay more than $370 billion in Medicare claims each year.

The Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey offers Medicare FFS providers an opportunity to give CMS feedback on their satisfaction, attitudes, perceptions, and opinions about the services provided by their respective contractor. Survey questions focus on seven business functions of the provider-contractor relationship:

1. Provider inquiries
2. Provider outreach and education
3. Claims processing
4. Appeals
5. Provider enrollment
6. Medical review
7. Provider audit and reimbursement

CMS is sending the 2010 survey to approximately 30,000 randomly selected providers, including physicians and other healthcare practitioners, suppliers, and institutional facilities that serve Medicare beneficiaries across the country. Those healthcare providers selected to participate in this year's confidential survey will be notified starting this month. Selected providers can access and complete the survey on the Internet via a secure Web site, or via snail mail, fax, and over the telephone.

CMS will analyze the 2010 MCPSS data and release a summary report on the CMS Web site this summer.

The MCPSS was created under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which mandated CMS to develop contract performance requirements, including measuring healthcare provider satisfaction with Medicare contractors.