By: Lorna Simons, CPC
Medco Consultants, Inc
Healthcare continues to keep up with technology with the new claim submission changes issued by National Government Services (NGS). Beginning July 10, 2017 NGS will no longer be accepting claim submissions with handwriting on the CMS 1500 form (except in the specified signature boxes). As per the new alert issued on June 29th, handwritten claims received will be returned to the provider with a notice to submit a new claim in the acceptable format.
The CMS Pub. 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 26, Section 30 notes the CMS 1500 form specifications are “required to facilitate the use of image processing technology such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), facsimile transmission, and image storing.”
NGS currently allows for claims to be submitted online via NGSConnex. If you are currently submitting handwritten claims it is recommended to open a dialogue with your billers and consider alternatives, as many private insurance carriers look towards Medicare and Medicaid for guidance.