Beginning April 1, 2009, CMS and its carriers and Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will begin enforcing the new enrollment rules which were finalized in the 2009 Final Rule.  The Final Rule limited the retroactive period for submitting claims to Medicare prior to enrolling in the program to 30 days from the later of the date the physician began seeing patients, or the date the physician submitted an application that was successful.

There are two resources attached to this article, both from CMS's website, about enrollment.  The link to the CMS website is in the citations section.   The article about using the online PECOS program has contact information and phone numbers for when you have problems and a section of Frequently Asked Questions.

There are two options for enrolling in Medicare:  paper based or on line, through the internet PECOS system.  Enrollment specialists urge you to use the online system, because it is quicker.  When you use the online system, you still must sign and mail the two page certification form (within 7 days) to submit your application. 

If sending a paper application, make sure to send the most recent version!  You don't want to do the work twice.

A copy of the Medicare enrollment application can be found at
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/CMSForms/CMSForms/list.asp

For either process, you will need your NPI to get started.