Home Health and Hospice Provider Outreach and Education Advisory Group Request for New Membership

Palmetto GBA is currently recruiting new members for the Home Health and Hospice Provider Outreach and Education Advisory Group (POE-AG). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that each Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) support and maintain a POE-AG.

Purpose and Mission of the POE-AG
The primary function of the POE-AG is to assist the contractor in the creation, implementation, and review of provider education strategies and efforts. The POE-AG will be used as a provider education consultant resource and not as an approval or sanctioning authority.

It is Palmetto GBA’s intent to:

• Promote an atmosphere that facilitates an exchange of ideas and information to service the best interests of Medicare providers and Palmetto GBA’s Medicare program administration
• Provide educational forums that address various global provider concerns
• Allow the provider community an opportunity to communicate with Palmetto GBA’s Provider Outreach and Education (POE) staff on any areas that may need additional education activities
• Assist in making the Medicare program more understandable for providers
• Enhance providers’ understanding of the role and responsibilities of Palmetto GBA as their A/B MAC

Members will provide advice, feedback and recommendations to Palmetto GBA in relation to POE activities including website enhancements and training topics, as well as dates and locations for provider education seminars and events. The group also identifies salient provider education issues and recommends effective means of information dissemination to all appropriate providers and their staff. The POE-AG will also be provided with updates. Meetings will facilitate discussions on current issues and Medicare policies. Reference: CMS Medicare Contractor Beneficiary and Provider Communications Manual (Pub. 100-09), chapter 6, section 20.6.1.

Advisory Group meetings are scheduled quarterly and are usually teleconferences. The Palmetto GBA POE team sets up and arranges all meetings, produces and distributes meeting agendas, and documents and distributes minutes as well as posts minutes to the Palmetto GBA HHH website.

POE-AG members will consist of:

• Members representing key groups from the provider community who represent geographic and specialty diversity
• Representatives from each state medical association and select specialty societies
• Representatives from organizations who represent large groups of providers

If you are interested in learning more about this group or would like to nominate someone for this group, please submit a completed membership nomination/consideration form, which can be found in the Forms section. 

The application process is brief and your information remains private. The POE team will review the applications and prospective members will receive a response. Again, we are recruiting new members, who would like to serve on the Advisory Group. For more information, please visit the POE-AG section of our website.