February 2021
- Sewing Masks — Resilience in the Face of Covid: A provider’s perspective, New England Journal of Medicine
- New Stimulus Package Includes Billions in Behavioral Health Funding
- Pandemic relief bill delivers $4.25 billion for mental health services
- Several Key Behavioral Health Policy Changes Likely for 2021, Regardless of Senate Outcome
Optum Notice: Taxonomy and NPI Information, Effective as of December 15, 2020
- Taxonomy numbers are now required.
- Provider and/or Practice billing and rendering information continue as usual, but be sure to include the corresponding Taxonomy number for each NPI used, otherwise claims will reject.
- NPI and Taxonomy are required for both the billing provider and rendering provider fields.
- For example;
- If in the BILLING PROVIDER SEGEMENT of the claim form the practice currently bills group name and NPI, then group taxonomy must appear also on the claim form.
- If in the RENDERING PROVIDER SEGMENT of the claim form the rendering is an individual provider, then the individual provider NPI and taxonomy must appear on the claim form, but in the rendering information field.
- For example;
- Claims are rejected prior to entry in our claims system. Provider must review rejection reports, correct claim information, and resubmit the claim.
The provider notification from Optum can be found here. Provider inquiries and concerns should be directed to the Neighborhood Behavioral Health Ombudsman, Donaldo O’Neil, at 1-401-427-8289 (direct line/fax).
Resource: CMS NPI Database