When they enroll in the Medicare program, physicians self-designate their Medicare physician specialty on the Medicare enrollment application (CMS-855I or CMS-855O), or in the Internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS). CMS uses these Medicare physician specialty codes, which describe the specific/unique types of medicine that physicians (and certain other suppliers) practice, for programmatic and claims processing purposes.
Change Request (CR) 9716 announces that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has established a new physician specialty code for Hospitalist. The new code for Hospitalist is C6. Medicare will also recognize the new code of C6 as a valid specialty for the following edits:
- Ordering/certifying Part B clinical laboratory and imaging, durable medical equipment (DME), and Part A home health agency (HHA) claims
- Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Method II Attending and Rendering claims MLN Matters® Number: MM9716 Related Change Request Number: 9716 Page 2 of 2
- Attending, operating, or other physician or non-physician practitioner listed on CAH claims
Make sure your billing staffs are aware of this physician specialty code.
