CMS delays enforcement of new laboratory data reporting requirements

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will exercise enforcement discretion until May 30 with respect to new data reporting requirements for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests paid under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule. “Industry feedback suggests that many reporting entities will not be able to submit a complete set of applicable information to CMS by the March 31, 2017 deadline, and that such entities require additional time to review collected data, address any issues identified during such review, and compile the data into CMS’s required reporting format,” the agency announced today. Under a final rule issued last year, certain laboratories that have more than $12,500 in Medicare revenues from laboratory services on the CLFS and receive more than half of their Medicare revenues from laboratory and physician services during a data collection period are required to report private payer rate and volume data. For hospitals, the requirement applies primarily to outreach laboratories with their own national provider identifier. For more on the data reporting requirements, see the AHA’s 2016 Regulatory Advisory for members or visit www.cms.gov.