Reminder to Hospitals to File CMS 855
For Changes to Board Membership

Karen Smith
Allen Killworth
Bricker & Eckler LLP
December 2006

With the end of the year approaching, it is a common time for hospitals to undergo changes in the membership of the Board of Trustees or in executive officers. The new Medicare provider enrollment rules require hospitals to notify the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) of these changes. The final rules, released on April 26, 2006, include a requirement that all Medicare providers, including hospitals, must notify CMS within ninety days of any change of enrollment information. While hospitals have been expected for some time to make these notifications, many hospitals have not filed 855 forms for routine changes, such as annual Board membership changes. The new rules formalize this requirement and include a penalty for failing to provide this notification. The relevant federal regulation (42 C.F.R. §424.520) states:

A provider or supplier must report to CMS any changes to the information furnished on the enrollment application and furnish supporting documentation within 90 calendar days of the change . . . . Failure to do so may result in the deactivation or revocation of the provider or supplier’s Medicare billing privileges.

Detailed information regarding the Board of Trustees and executive officers is required in Section 6 of the CMS 855A form. Thus, changes to this information are “changes to the information furnished on the enrollment application…”. Representatives of both CMS Region V and AdminaStar Federal have both confirmed that changes to members of the Board of Trustees need to be reported as changes of information pursuant to this rule. Please note that CMS specifically stated in the commentary to the new rules that it expects to be able to identify more easily notification failures given that providers must file revalidation enrollment forms every five years.

This obligation has been in effect since June 20, 2006, and applies to changes made at anytime – not just at the end of the year. Thus, by way of example, changes to the Board of Directors or executive officers occurring on January 1, 2007, must be reported to CMS within ninety days (i.e., by March 31, 2007).

For more information see the April 2006 bulletin CMS Rules Create New Filing Requirements For Hospitals.