Crowdsource funding for CMS 1500 Update

OpenEMR Development
#1

yehster wrote on Thursday, June 20, 2013:

I am looking for $1000 in funding to support efforts to update the code base to support the new CMS 1500 layout.

https://www.catincan.com/proposal/openemr/update-cms-1500-new-format

The biggest change in the formatting is the addition of 8 more diagnoses on the form for a total of 12 and the use of letters instead of numbers for diagnosis pointers. There is also a new indicator field to specify if you are using ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes.

This isn’t a terribly difficult task, but it will attention to detail.

http://www.nucc.org/images/stories/PDF/version_0212_cms_1500.pdf

NUCC’s original plan was to accept both formats from June 1 - October 1, 2013, but given the delay in the final approval process a new timeline for the transition process hasn’t been determined yet.

So if you printing CMS 1500 forms for your billing purposes, please consider making a contribution to this effort.

#2

bgregg wrote on Thursday, June 20, 2013:

Kevin,

Would it be useful to print the HCFA form with the formatting, as one form, versus printing text on to a pre-printed HCFA?

#3

yehster wrote on Thursday, June 20, 2013:

Brad,
The pre-printed forms use special “OCR-Red Ink” so printing the formatting won’t be acceptable.

#4

yehster wrote on Tuesday, July 30, 2013:

There are only 19 days left in this campaign. I haven’t been pushing it because there doesn’t seem to be much interest. My original thought was that it might be easier to convince people to contribute once the final deadlines for the transition were determined. However, catincan will waive some of the transaction fees for this project and future proposals if it gets funded sooner.

#5

fsgl wrote on Wednesday, July 31, 2013:

Even if the majority of your claims are electronic, there is always one or two pesky claim which must be submitted via paper; therefore all practices, in the United States, using OpenEMR have a stake in this project.

Kevin has been like the calvalry, riding to the rescue, whenever we are at an impasse.

There had been two offices offering monetary support, on their own initiative, for the Greasemonkey fix and more than that which rely on it for their prescribing.

If the wallet had been opened for Greasemonkey, keep it open for this project. If you need the money to feed the children/grandchildren; please take care of them first (tongue in cheek).

The pledges are now at 51%. If 9 practices pledge $50 and a 10th pledges $35, the goal will be reached. Is this not a good time to give back?

#6

tmccormi wrote on Sunday, August 04, 2013:

There are only 13 days left in the funding project, this is important. If you have not pledged please do so, yehster only needs $385 more dollars!

https://www.catincan.com/proposal/openemr/update-cms-1500-new-format

–Tony

#7

fsgl wrote on Monday, August 05, 2013:

OK, fellas,

We’re within spitting distance. Only $200 to the goal post.

Stop oogling the Honma Five Star set and whip out that plastic from the wallet.

#8

fsgl wrote on Tuesday, August 06, 2013:

$150 to go.

You really don’t want to see my PBS-NPR pledge drive persona.

#9

fsgl wrote on Wednesday, August 07, 2013:

Mazel tov, Kevin.

#10

yehster wrote on Wednesday, August 07, 2013:

Dr. Lee,
Thanks so much for your contribution(s?) and for rallying the other supporters.
I’ve started a new github branch for this feature.


With the first order of business being to add a configuration option on the Globals>Features tabs to choose which version to use.

Next step is to order some blank forms, and I will start working in earnest once they arrive.

Thanks to all of the other supporters as well.

#11

anonymous wrote on Wednesday, August 07, 2013:

Very cool to see things like this come together. OpenEMR has become a tremendous asset to our practice. Happy to pledge towards further improvements.

#12

yehster wrote on Thursday, August 08, 2013:

Thanks Frankie,

The timeline for the transition is as follows:

January 6, 2014:
Private insurance carriers and Medicare begin receiving and processing paper claims submitted on the revised CMS-1500 claim form (02/12).

January 6 – March 31, 2014:
Dual-use period during which private insurance carriers and Medicare continue to receive and process paper claims submitted on either version of the form.

April 1, 2014:
The current claim form (08/05) is discontinued; all private insurance carriers and Medicare receives and processes paper claims submitted only on the revised CMS-1500 claim form (02/12).

My code will be ready well before those deadlines.

#13

yehster wrote on Thursday, August 22, 2013:

The paper CMS-1500 forms have arrived. I am taking a two week vacation starting tomorrow though, so work will begin in September.

#14

fsgl wrote on Thursday, August 22, 2013:

Have fun, don’t forget the sunscreen and if possible, untether all devices.

#15

jcahn2 wrote on Thursday, August 22, 2013:

Bon voyage and chill. Jack

#16

yehster wrote on Wednesday, September 25, 2013:

Making progress on this:


The primary new change (12 diagnosis pointers) and A-L instead of 1-4 has been addressed.

A number of fields from the old form have been deleted and are now “Reserved for NUCC Use.”

Other changes include qualifiers for the type of date in Boxes 14 and 15.
A change for box 11b from “Employer’s name or school” to “Other Claim ID” was also made. I will be updating the Misc_Billing_Options form to handle these updates.

Not quite done yet, but certainly on target to be ready for the transition period in January 2014.

#17

fsgl wrote on Wednesday, September 25, 2013:

On the old form, box 31 prints with “Signature on file” and no date.
Adding service date is desired but it is in YYMMDD format, which is unacceptable to our local Medicare carrier.

How can the service date, in MMDDYY format, be achieved?

#18

yehster wrote on Tuesday, December 17, 2013:

Code is close to ready.

I haven’t added the ability to configure what goes in Box 31 instead of “Signature on File”

Dr. Lee, what format did you settle on so I can include it as one of the global options?

#19

fsgl wrote on Tuesday, December 17, 2013:

Excellent news.

I added lines 583 to 586. Practices who submit to NGS for their Medicare claims probably can do the same.

#20

yehster wrote on Tuesday, December 17, 2013:

I added two new globals for the form.
The first controls what text to print in Box 31. “Signature on file” which is the current default, “Firstname Lastname” of the provider, or “None” in case people want to print out the form and put a real signature on the page.

The second controls a date to be printed in Box 31. Options are.

  • No date (current default)
  • Date of Service
  • Today (the date the form is generated.)