REMINDER: New Medicare cards are being mailed to all Medicare beneficiaries. This project should be completed by April 2019. A new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will replace the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN). The MBI will be 11 characters in length, made up only of number and uppercase letters (no special characters). If you use lowercase letters, the CMS system will convert them to uppercase letters.
The MBI will not be using the following letters: S, L, O, I, B and Z to avoid confusion between some letters and numbers. Each MBI is unique and randomly generated.
Why are the new cards important? To help fight medical identity.
Be sure to ask your patients if they have received their new card and update the patient information in your practice management systems.
“When we did the analysis we decided to assess where the practice was on 12/31/2012 and as of 12/31/2015, the practice cut those liabilities by half. That is amazing to me, given the hostile marketplace and reduction in reimbursements.
I cannot thank you (and your group) enough for your part in this journey.
Please pass along to your group my personal gratitude for the excellent work that your company has provided (and continues to provide). Your company has shown this practice what the difference is between savings and value. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we choose value – something your group represents.” – Robb, New Jersey
“As a new practice administrator, I wanted to be sure that my billing department was legally and ethically following all state and federal statutes. I asked OBCF to come in and do a deep dive to evaluate our billing process and recommend any best practices to improve performance. Fran came onsite and did a tremendous job auditing our charts and processes and then wrote a lengthy report. I still use their services from time to time and will be using them in the future to assist with charge entry while my lead biller is on vacation for two weeks. I highly recommend OBCF.” – Barb Sutherland, New Jersey
