MAC Communication with the CERT Program

12.2 – MAC Communication with the CERT Program (Rev. 13678; Issued: 03-12-26; Effective: 04-13-26; Implementation: 04-13-26) This section applies to Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) as indicated. A. CERT Staff CMS CERT Team 7500 Security Blvd Baltimore, MD 21244 CERT@cms.hhs.gov B. MAC CERT Points of Contact (POCs) Each MAC shall provide the CERT review contractor with the name, phone number, address, fax number, and email address of a general point of contact (POC) and an information technology (IT) POC. The MAC shall maintain, review, and update the POC information via the administrative section of the C3HUB. The POC information shall be reviewed and updated quarterly by the MAC and when changes to the POC occur. The CERT review contractor will contact the IT POC to handle issues involving the exchange of electronic data. The CERT review contractor will contact the general POC to handle issues related to medical review decisions, payment adjustments, appeals, and other CERT-related issues. Additionally, the CERT listserv is used to distribute announcements, meeting agendas, and additional CERT information. MACs may contact the CMS CERT team or CERT review contractor to add an individual to the CERT listserv. C. CERT Information Sources for MACs • The CMS CERT website at https://www.cms.gov/data-research/monitoring- programs/improper-payment-measurement-programs/comprehensive-error-rate- testing-cert • The CERT C3HUB at https://c3hub.certrc.cms.gov/ • The Data Dashboard at https://www.cert.cms.gov/LiveDashMerge/main.php • Quarterly pre-appeal rate documents that are distributed via secure file transfer • Final MAC-specific reports that are distributed via secure file transfer • End of year raw data reports that are distributed via secure file transfer