HFN, Inc. February 2007 In this issue: v Countdown to NPI Compliance Date Provider
Hyperlinks NPI Information
and Submission Form Provider
Group Health Insurance The HFN HFN,
Inc. 1315 Phone
(630) 954-1232 Fax
(630) 954-1308
HFN, Inc.
Countdown to NPI Compliance Date
National
Provider Identifier (NPI) is the standard ten-digit unique health identifier
for health care providers that has been adopted as a result of HIPAA to replace
the various legacy numbers, UPINs, Medicaid numbers and other proprietary
numbers that health care entities or health plans have assigned to health care
providers. For Medicare and Medicaid
programs, NPI will hopefully be the tool that standardizes the national health
care provider identification system which will also be accepted by health
plans, clearinghouses, etc.
You may apply
for an NPI on-line; it is free and will be operational about 120 days after
you receive it. You may call the
Facts you
should know…
v
By May 23, 2007, all health plans must accept and
use NPIs to identify providers in transactions involving claims, eligibility,
referrals, and remittance advices.
v
HFN is prepared to record your NPI in our system to
assist our clients with the HIPAA mandate.
Providers must still include their tax identification number on claims
for 1099 purposes.
v
Approximately, seventy-five percent of the claims
received by HFN are submitted electronically through clearinghouses. After May 23, 2007, HFN will still reprice
clean claims that do not include an NPI number; however, your clearinghouse or
the payor may reject a claim without your NPI number, until submitted with your
NPI number.
v
Contractually, HFN Participating Providers are
required to maintain current demographics and any other pertinent information
(including but not limited to your NPI number) required by us to
operationalize, manage, and adjudicate any services rendered.
v
NPI and any other identifying information shared
with us will be held in the strictest of confidence and is allowed to be shared
as it pertains to billing, adjudication and payment activity for claims.
To
register your NPI online with HFN, please start by clicking the applicable
entity type. Completing all fields on
the form will assist us in identifying you in our system.
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Entity Type 1 –
individual health care providers, including physicians and all sole proprietors
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Entity Type 2 –
health care organizations, including hospitals, physician/practitioner groups
or subparts of an organization
The HFN 2007 Provider Fee Schedules became effective February
1, 2007. Click
here to view your fee schedule on-line.