August 2008

(8/29/2008, 3:25 p.m.)  --  Notice to physicians: Hold on to your Medicare Provider Transaction Access Numbers, or PTANs -- also known as legacy numbers -- which were to have been retired after the mandatory use of National Provider Identifier, or NPI, numbers began on May 23. CMS has found another use for those old PTANs. Effective March 1, 2009, physicians will have to provide their PTAN, their NPI and the last five digits of their tax identification number, or TIN, when making written or telephone inquiries to CMS' customer service or interactive voice response systems. More