Internet-Based Medicare Enrollment Now Available to Provider and Supplier Organizations in All States and in the District of Columbia

It’s Fast, Secure and Easy To Use
Now there is a better way for provider and supplier organizations to enroll in Medicare or make a change to their Medicare enrollment information. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announces the availability of internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) to provider and supplier organizations. They may use PECOS to enroll in Medicare, make changes in their Medicare enrollment information, view their existing Medicare enrollment information, voluntarily withdraw from the Medicare program, or check on the status of an internet-submitted Medicare enrollment application.

PECOS is already available to physicians and nonphysician practitioners in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (CMS expects to make PECOS available to suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) in the future.)

Fast
By submitting an initial Medicare enrollment application through PECOS, a provider or supplier organization’s enrollment application can be processed as much as 50 percent faster than by paper. This means that it will take less time to enroll or make a change in an existing enrollment record.

For information about the types of changes that enrolled Medicare provider and supplier organizations must report, go to the "Downloads" section of the Medicare Provider/Supplier Enrollment page.

Secure
PECOS meets all required government security standards in terms of data entry, data transmission, and the electronic storage of Medicare enrollment information. Only individuals whose identities have been verified by CMS and who have been approved by a provider or supplier organization’s authorized official may use PECOS on behalf of that provider or supplier organization. The PECOS user IDs and passwords that these individuals establish will protect the access to the given provider or supplier organization’s Medicare enrollment information. PECOS users should change their passwords frequently — at least once a year. By safeguarding their user IDs and passwords, PECOS users will be taking an important step in protecting the provider or supplier organization’s Medicare enrollment information. CMS does not disclose Medicare provider or supplier enrollment information to anyone except when authorized or required to do so by law.

Easy To Use
Internet-based PECOS is a scenario-driven application process with front-end editing capabilities and built-in help screens. This application process ensures that provider and supplier organizations complete and submit only the information necessary to facilitate the action they wish to take. The CMS External User Services (EUS) help desk (866–484–8049) is available and staffed to respond to questions about using PECOS, such as navigating through the screens, and to receive reports of systems problems as noted by users.

Obtaining Approval to Use PECOS
There are several steps that must be completed before an organization can use PECOS. These steps are described in detail in the document entitled "Getting Started with Internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System ( PECOS ) – Information for Provider and Supplier Organizations", which will soon be available in the "Downloads" section on the Medicare Provider/Supplier Enrollment page. Below is an overview of the process.

1. The first step is taken by the authorized official (AO) of the provider or supplier organization. This is done only once. He or she will register in the internet-based PECOS Identification and Authentication System ( PECOS I&A) by going to https://pecos.cms.hhs.gov/. CMS will verify the information provided and the CMS EUS help desk will notify the AO of the verification.
2. An individual who will use PECOS to submit enrollment applications for the provider or supplier organization will also register in PECOS I&A. This individual may be an employee of the provider or supplier organization, or an employee of a separate organization. CMS will verify the information provided and the permission of the AO for that individual to use PECOS on behalf of the provider or supplier organization. The individual will complete the Security Consent form and have it signed by an official of his or her employer and by the AO of the provider or supplier organization. The individual will mail the signed and dated Security Consent form to the CMS EUS help desk. The AO will need to periodically log on to PECOS to see if there is a pending request for permission to access PECOS on behalf of the provider or supplier organization. More than one person may be approved to use PECOS on behalf of a given provider or supplier organization, but the Security Consent form is completed only once.
3. Once the registration and verification processes are completed, the CMS EUS help desk will notify the AO of the establishment of the relationship between the provider or supplier organization and the organization that will be using PECOS on its behalf.

It may take several weeks for the registration and verification processes to be completed. Therefore, we encourage the AO of a provider or supplier organization to begin the registration process now, before the provider or supplier organization has the need to use PECOS to submit a Medicare enrollment application or enrollment update.

If an organization has an immediate need to submit a Medicare enrollment application to enroll or to report a change in enrollment information and the steps above have not been successfully completed, the provider or supplier organization should complete and submit the paper version of the Medicare enrollment application (CMS-855).

Submitting an Enrollment Application Using PECOS
After the steps above are successfully completed, the individual who will be using PECOS is considered a "PECOS user." If a PECOS user has not already done so, he or she should visit the Medicare provider enrollment website to download and read the documents relating to PECOS. CMS advises PECOS users to avail themselves of this information before logging on to PECOS.

After reading the informational documents referenced above, a PECOS user will log on to PECOS at https://pecos.cms.hhs.gov/. He or she will complete, review, and submit the Medicare enrollment application over the Internet to the designated Medicare contractor. PECOS will guide the user through each of these processes. (PECOS enables the user to print a copy of the enrollment application, if desired. We recommend this be done so the provider or supplier organization has a copy for its records.)

As part of the enrollment application submittal process, the AO of the provider or supplier organization must use the eSignature process or upload the certification statement via PECOS upload functionality, because contractors can no longer accept mailed paper certification statements per Change Request 10845. Mail supporting documents and your payment confirmation to Palmetto GBA.

Limitations of PECOS
At this time, PECOS is unable to handle changes of ownership applications from provider and supplier organizations. Therefore, changes of ownership must be submitted using the paper Medicare enrollment application (CMS-855) process. PECOS will be able to accommodate changes of ownership at a future date.

Additional Information
Several documents about PECOS for provider and supplier organizations will soon be available in the "Downloads" section of the Medicare Provider/Supplier Enrollment web page.