The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) reports that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented a variety of fixes intended to decrease the number of rejects in the processing of functional limitation reporting (FLR) claims. The release from the APTA notes that APTA became aware of claims processing errors and delays in payment soon after the FLR system was implemented, and has worked with APTA members and Medicare officials to resolve these issues.

The APTA news release indicates that according to CMS, accurately submitted FLR claims should process in the typical 14-day timeframe, and FLR claims with errors should now reject quickly from the system. Providers can then resubmit previously rejected FLR claims once their most recent FLR claims are processing normally. The fixes apply to claims submitted on or after May 6, 2014.

In correspondence with CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, APTA requested that CMS “take immediate action to remedy this situation and ensure that the financial burden caused by the FLR claims processing problems do not hinder patient access to care,” according to the APTA news release. To access APTA’s multiple resources on FLR reporting, visit the FLR webpage.

Source: APTA