In the News: Educational Initiatives Update

The Medicare Learning Network provides training, handouts, products and other resources for providers and contractors. These are focused towards several functions. These include:

• Basic Tutorials - This is designed for fee-for-service providers, suppliers and other health care professionals who are new to the Medicare Program. This tutorial highlights the Medicare Learning Network [MLN] education products and other CMS resources as part of its structured curriculum approach.
• MLN Products Catalog - This online catalog is user friendly and provides an interactive downloadable listing of all MLN products and is categorized by media format.
• MLN Publications List - This listing provides electronic versions of publications that can be downloaded free of charge.

Another type of educational resource provided by Medicare is its online web-based training courses. At the time of this news update, there are 16 online courses available, ranging from one half-hour to two hours in length, offering diverse topics, such as general information, i.e. Medicare Fraud and Abuse to program specific topics. One topic, currently available that relates to home health and hospice providers is an online web-based training course on Uniform Billing.

Enrollment in courses is free and most courses offer continuing education credits based upon course length. The curriculum structure for each course includes an overview of how the content was developed that also lists specific staff positions that could benefit from its completion. In addition, each course lists specific measurable objectives, such as the following objectives for the Medicare Fraud and Abuse course:

• Enhance providers' understanding of what constitutes Medicare fraud and abuse
• Help providers understand their role in the effort to prevent fraud and abuse
• Explain the possible penalties when fraud or abuse is committed
• Provide guidance on protective measures providers can implement to avoid fraud and abuse in several key areas of their organization [http://cms.meridianksi.com]

Likewise time frames for course credit, as well as what constitutes the successful completion of the course and any professional continuing education units [CEU’s] being awarded are included in the course overview. For example, successful completion of this Medicare Fraud and Abuse course grants 1.5 CEUs by the American Academy of Professional Coders [AAPC]. [http://cms.meridianksi.com]

Another resource at this online location, www.cms.meridianksi.com, is the section that provides training materials for Medicare Contractors specific to CMS Initiatives. These resources are designed to allow approved contractors (Fiscal Intermediaries and Carriers) to access training materials specific to selected CMS Initiatives.

One recently released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] web-based (WBT) training course focused on Medicare Preventive Services. This three-part series presented Part 1- Adult Immunizations, Part 2 Women’s Health and Part 3 Expanded Benefits. Each part of this training course ranged from one to two hours in length. Since CMS is an approved provider of continuing education and training through the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), this series carried CEU’s for successful completion. Because these course offerings are usually free of charge and geared specifically to the health care professional and provider setting, they are a cost-effective approach to inservice education. Access to more information on CMS’s web-based training materials and offerings is available via the http://cms.meridianksi.com web link, as well as through CMS’s home page http://www.cms.gov.

References:

http://cms.meridianksi.com/kc/main/kc_frame.asp?kc_ident=kc0001&loc=1