Here’s some new information about CMS training on compliance, fraud, waste and abuse

As we’ve told you before, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires that health care providers who provide services for patients with Medicare must complete annual compliance, fraud, waste and abuse training.

What’s new
We’ve recently learned that the only way for providers to generate a certificate of completion for this year’s annual compliance training is to take it using the modules available at the Medicare Learning Network.

To fulfill the requirements for compliance training and generate a certificate of completion, you must do the following:

1. Click to open the Medicare Learning Network^® (MLN) Learning Management System.
   
   
2. Log in. (If you’re a first-time user, you must create an account.)
   
   
3. Complete the following two training modules:
   
• Medicare Parts C and D General Compliance Training
• Combating Medicare Parts C and D Fraud, Waste and Abuse
4. Generate a certificate of completion for each module.

Each employee, contractor, volunteer, governing body member or downstream entity that provides health or administrative services for Medicare Advantage must have a certificate of completion on file from each training section (fraud, waste and abuse training and general compliance training; two certificates in total).

Your staff must complete the training within 90 days of hire or contract and annually thereafter.

Exception
If you’re enrolled in Medicare Parts A or B, you’re “deemed” to have satisfied the fraud, waste and abuse training requirement and you're not required to take additional fraud, waste and abuse training. However, you must still complete the general compliance training section and maintain a certificate as evidence of training completion.

Alternative training option
Providers who wish to use their own training program must incorporate the content from both the Medicare Parts C and D Fraud, Waste and Abuse Training and the Medicare Parts C and D General Compliance Training modules into their training materials without any changes. Regardless of the training option you choose, the certificates of completion you generate or other evidence of training completion must be kept on file for 10 years following the expiration of the contract.

Background
As a reminder, CMS requires Medicare Plus Blue^SM, which receives payment from Medicare, to implement an effective general compliance program. To satisfy CMS guidelines, this program must meet the minimum requirements established by federal statutes that pertain to Medicare Parts C & D. According to these guidelines, providers are required by CMS to take CMS-specific training about fraud, waste, abuse and compliance.