Informing the Provider Communities About the Telephone

10.5.1 - Informing the Provider Communities About the Telephone Reopenings Process (Rev. 3568, Issued: 07-29-16, Effective: 09-30-16, Implementation: 09-30-16) The contractor shall inform providers, physicians, and other suppliers of its telephone reopenings process 30 days prior to initiation and annually thereafter or when making significant changes to its process. It shall provide information about its process through means such as Web sites, bulletins/newsletters, customer service/inquiry and provider relations departments, conduct seminars, etc. Information it publishes about its telephone reopenings process should include: • How to access the process (telephone number, hours of operation, etc.); • Any limitations (such as certain issues, number of claims/issues per call, etc.); • Specific instructions that the party should state that he/she is requesting a telephone reopening; • Type of documentation that the party should have on hand when calling in to request a reopening; • The types of issues the contractor might be able to handle over the telephone and the types of issues it will not handle over the telephone. Please see §10.5.2 below for further discussion of issues that are appropriate for telephone reopenings.