What does PECOS mean for Medicare?
Pecos is a short and modified term used for the broader aspect of Provider, Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System. All the medical practitioners mandatorily register this database with the Centres for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS). Under the guidelines of the Patient Protection and Affordable Act, CMS has registered Pecos for making all the physicians to be enrolled in Medicare. They can suggest and refer the patients for healthcare services with Pecos.
Pecos Registration
The Pecos enrollment started in 2003, and all the medical practitioners are registered through CMS free of cost. There is no complicated process to register with Pecos; all a physician needs to do is get a National Provider Identification (NPI) and complete the detailed registration process for Pecos certification.
The Pecos registration is necessary even if a physician wants to recommend home healthcare services without undergoing Medicare billing. After registration, the Medicare contractors will review the profiles to ensure that the physicians qualify for the enrollment status.
There are two different types of Pecos registration
- Paper-based applications
- Internet-based registration
The application form for offline paper-based registration is available on the official CMS website. Before getting it signed from the authorities, the types need to be printed and filled up by the applicant. All the paperwork is important for offline registration, and documents need to be signed and attached to the application form.
It is necessary to download the latest style from the CMS website, as they consistently update ways to match the specifications of the best medical billing software. The un-updated form will get rejected at the initial stage. Therefore, it is crucial for the applicant to download and access the new application status only from the official website.
The other process includes online registration, which is hassle-free and more accurate than paperwork. The CMS-based web applications can be easily accessed when an applicant registers in the portal with a valid email address and username, and secures the account with a strong password.
After enrollment, users will get standardized access to the CMS Computer Services under IASC System for Pecos. This is the most trusted and best medical billing software to register online for Pecos. However, Pecos proves the authority to suggest Medicare and home healthcare services for patients.
All the medical suppliers access the IASC provider and supplier community with their authorized access over CMS. Among online registration and offline applications, medical practitioners consider online options to be more feasible and cumbersome for the record. The offline use requires tremendous paperwork, and the forms need to be filled manually without mistakes before sending them across an email.
The documents need to be printed out, signed and scanned again for attaching with the email. It is better to avoid paperwork and medical practitioners are advised to opt for online registration for Pecos certification. To complete the enrollment process, it is required to suggest Medicare and its related services to the patients.
Importance of Pecos Registration
Apart from physicians, several other medical practitioners can also register with Pecos, such as assistants of physicians, certified clinical nurses, social workers, psychologists, midwives, and clinical practitioners. If a non-registered individual credits any bill for Medicare, it will be denied and not taken forward.
Therefore, all specified medical practitioners must get themselves registered in Pecos to assist patients and their medical treatment. Due to non-registered users accessing the medical billing, the Pecos system declines their bills, which delays the patient discharge from the respective hospitals.
This national filing system is an integral part of Medical implementation. The officials maintain the records for all the medical and non-medical healthcare professionals who are eligible for medical billing procedures. They keep the count of people enrolled for referring patients under Medicare. The enrollers need to re-register themselves as per government policies to get themselves paid for being registered users under Pecos.
Conclusion
The registration was voluntary before, and many medical practitioners did not know about this certification. However, with recent time, this registration has become mandatory for all medical professionals.
