All Medicare physicians, providers, and suppliers billing the Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program who were selected to participate in the Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey (MCPSS) for 2008 are being asked to complete the survey or respond to follow-up calls from the survey contractor, Westat. Responses may be submitted via a secure web site, mail, fax, or telephone. Currently the average response rate is 32 percent; CMS’ goal is to reach a 65 percent response rate. Data collection ends in April.
The MCPSS offers providers the opportunity to contribute directly to CMS’ understanding of contractor performance as well as to aid future process improvement efforts of Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) and durable medical equipment MACs. The survey is used by CMS as an additional measure to evaluate contractor performance; all MACs will be required to achieve performance targets on the MCPSS as part of their contract requirements by 2009.
The survey focuses on seven major parts of the provider-contractor relationship: provider inquiries, provider outreach and education, claims processing, appeals, provider enrollment, medical review, and provider audit and reimbursement. CMS plans to make the survey results publicly available in July 2008. Access the MCPSS web page.
