Recertify Agency Enterprise Identity Management (EIDM) Account or Lose Access

If security officers in every hospice and home health agency don't act by March 15, their agencies will be unable to comply with requirements to file cost reports (home health) and to calculate & report estimated aggregate caps (hospice) by March 31 if the hospice’s MAC does not provide the data directly to the hospice. 

Theresa M. Forster, VP for Hospice Policy & Programs, National Association for Home Care & Hospice circulated this message warning agencies how to avoid losing access to Provider Statistical and Reimbursement (PS&R) data necessary to report by ensuring all agency security officers act on the email received from their respective Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC).

The information will appear in the next NAHC report. But here's the scoop as distributed by homecare@news.nahc.or to those who are part of the NAHC Member Network:

From: homecare@news.nahc.org [mailto:homecare@news.nahc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 9:31 AM
To: NAHC Member Network <homecare@news.nahc.org>
Subject: RE: NAHC NEWS: Recertification in EIDM by 3/15/2016 Required for Continuing Access to PS&R

Interesting that this has not come across ANY MACs listserve!

I see it on the CGS website but to my knowledge it never came out via email.

Wonder how many people this will slip by as the Security Official may very well not be the person familiar with who important the PS&R access is.

From: homecare@news.nahc.org [mailto:homecare@news.nahc.org]
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2016 5:38 PM
To: NAHC Member Network <homecare@news.nahc.org>
Subject: NAHC NEWS: Recertification in EIDM by 3/15/2016 Required for Continuing Access to PS&R

Hi – Following is a notice we’ll be running in NAHC Report.  It appears that recertification for existing EIDM-enrolled entities is due 3/15/2016.  Please keep in mind that access to PS&R data (through EIDM) is needed for the home health cost report, as well as for hospices in fulfilling their annual requirement to calculate and report their estimated aggregate cap by March 31if the hospice’s MAC does not provide the data directly to the hospice.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released information through the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) indicating that to maintain access to Provider Statistical and Reimbursement (PS&R) data, providers must annually recertify their accounts in the Enterprise Identity Management (EIDM) system.  CMS began sending messages about the need to recertify in EIDM to providers’ designated Security Officials in mid-February. 

These notices have NOT been sent to end users.  Provider Security Officials must respond timely to the recertification request or lose access to the PS&R.  Please alert appropriate staff to the EIDM recertification requirement. 

Following is the message being circulated by the MACs:

With the transition from IACS to EIDM for the management of PS&R user accounts complete, EIDM is preparing to re-enforce the requirement for annual certification of accounts. EIDM will be sending Security Officials regular e-mails indicating which of their users are due for certification, when that certification is due, and instructions on how to perform the certification.

For all existing users, their certification due date has been set to 3/15/2016, and thereafter all existing and new accounts must be recertified by the Security Official on a no-less-than annual basis. If Security Officials do not perform the required certification of their users’ access, those users will lose access to PS&R and will have to make a new access request to regain entry. Idle user accounts which are not re-certified by Security Officials may be removed from the system altogether.

Note:

• End users will not receive a notification from EIDM regarding the need for their account to be re-certified – only the Security Officials will receive these e-mails.
• Check your spam/junk e-mail folder
• Log into your profile on EIDM (https://portal.cms.gov) and confirm that your e-mail address is up-to-date

• All certification activities in EIDM are performed by the Security Official; there are no system steps for end users to take.
• The e-mail will be from donotreply@cms.gov, and should’ve started arriving on/around 2/15/2016.
• Security Officials - If you do not see any such e-mails:

Theresa M. Forster

VP for Hospice Policy & Programs

National Association for Home Care & Hospice