CMS recently published a “Sources Sought Notice” to screen potential technical vendors for a complete redesign of the Medicare online provider enrollment system PECOS. The ultimate project goal of CMS is a ground up redesign of the current system.
A new platform development is sought to change the scope of PECOS from a single purpose system to an enterprise resource to be used for provider enrollment in Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare products. Currently the PECOS system collects data in an electronic format online that is similar to the paper provider enrollment applications. A new platform is sought to be a single method of collecting and maintaining provider data that can be used for multiple healthcare programs.
At this point, CMS is attempting to identify vendors with the appropriate capabilities for the redesign. The next step will be to solicit proposal from qualified vendors. There is no time frame mentioned about the expected completion date of this project.
An overhaul of the online provider enrollment system could potentially have significant impact on the industry by streamlining not only the Medicare provider enrollment process, but state Medicaid programs as well. Many state Medicaid programs are so poorly managed that the provider enrollment process can take six months to a year for completion, and the process involves manual processing of paper applications. An improved process will be a welcomed changed for healthcare providers everywhere.
