The following questions represent frequently asked questions (FAQs) from the provider community about Comparative Billing Reports (CBRs) and the CBR project in general. FAQs pertaining to a specific CBR release/topic are available with the resources specific to each CBR release/topic.
A Comparative Billing Report (CBR) presents comparative Medicare claims data statistics related to an individual health care provider. These reports help individual providers understand how their specific data compares to the aggregate data of analogous providers in the nation, in their respective states and/or in their respective peer groups. CBRs help the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) address potential over-utilization in the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) program.
CBRs serve as educational resources that help providers to 1) understand instances when their specific billing statistics differ from the majority of other providers and 2) better understand applicable Medicare billing rules/payment policy.
For a listing of fees used by Medicare to pay providers, please review the “Fee Schedules – General Information” page on the CMS website.
CMS is mandated by law to protect the Medicare Trust Fund. CMS employs a number of strategies to meet this goal, one of which is the provision of CBRs to providers. CBRs are tailored, educational tools made available to individual providers. These reports can help providers proactively assess any areas of increased risk/vulnerability and support efforts to ensure compliance with Medicare payment policy and/or accurate coding.
No, the CBR Team cannot provide a listing of claims that were summarized and/or included in the statistics of your report.
Your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) can assist you with questions about a specific claim or if you identify any claims discrepancies while reviewing your CBR. Your MAC is the contractor to which you submit your claims for Medicare reimbursement. To obtain the contact information for your MAC as well as CMS’ other review contractors, please access the CMS Review Contractor Directory Interactive Map.
CBRs are not available by request at this time. Please contact the CBR Help Desk for more information.
Please contact the CBR Help Desk with your inquiry. You will need to provide your name and National Provider Identifier (NPI).
Yes, a sample is available for each CBR produced. You can access the sample CBR along with other resources and information for each CBR release at CBR.CBRPEPPER.org.
We appreciate your suggestions for additional study topics. Please email your suggestions to the CBR Help Desk.
No, hospitals will not receive CBRs. Hospital-related comparative reports are known as the Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Reports (PEPPERs); for more information, please visit the PEPPER website.
No, CMS is not offering CEU credits for attending CBR webinars. Information related to CEU credits can be found on the CMS website.
CMS has contracted with the RELI Group to administer the CBR program. CMS approves all CBR topics and provides access to necessary information and data. RELI Group and its partners, TMF Health Quality Institute and CGS, are responsible for analyzing data, researching, developing, producing and disseminating the CBRs.
Yes, a downloadable version of the handout will be available in advance of the webinar. This handout, along with the webinar recording/transcript, will also be posted to the CBR.CBRPEPPER.org website within two weeks after the completion of each webinar.
All webinars are recorded. A recording of each presentation, along with the handout/presentation slides and a “FAQ” document, will be available at CBR.CBRPEPPER.org within two weeks after the completion of its corresponding webinar.
Due to time constraints, it may not be possible to answer all questions received during the webinar. To address this, a “FAQ” document will be developed that includes all questions asked during the webinar. This document will be made available with the webinar recording within two weeks after the webinar’s conclusion. If you need additional assistance, please contact the CBR Help Desk.