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Provider Communications

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Title	Publication	Category	Date
Reminder of New Referral Process	May Empire Provider News	Products & Programs	May 1, 2019
Pharmacy information available on empireblue.com	May Empire Provider News	Pharmacy	May 1, 2019
Tips for billing CPT modifier 33	October 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter New York Empire BlueCross BlueShield extra long article title Provider Communications Test Long Title	N/A	Oct 22, 2018
Empire expands specialty pharmacy level of care (clinical site of care) drug list	SD Test Publilcation 102218	Administrative	Oct 22, 2018
Access patient-specific drug benefit information through EMR	SD Test Publilcation 102218	Administrative	Oct 22, 2018
Integrated Medical and Behavioral Healthcare Services	SD Test Publilcation 102218	Reimbursement Policies	Oct 22, 2018
APPROVED - TEST_Keep up with Medicare news	NY Publication TEST _ Article Issues	N/A	Jun 7, 2018
NY - Amendment to Physician Agreement	NY April Newsletter _ Test Shae	Administrative	May 14, 2018
Amendment to Physician Agreement	April 2018 Empire Newsletter	Administrative	Apr 9, 2018
Empire expands hospice benefits Beginning June 1, 2018, Empire is further extending hospice benefits to allow disease modifying treatments to continue alongside hospice services.	April 2018 Empire Newsletter	Products & Programs	Apr 9, 2018
Medical Policy Updates	April 2018 Empire Newsletter	Medical Policy & Clinical Guidelines	Apr 9, 2018
Elotuzumab to require prior authorization	April 2018 Empire Newsletter	Medicaid	Apr 9, 2018
New Alpha/Numeric Member Identification Prefixes effective April 15, 2018 The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) assigns member ID prefixes for all Blue Cross and Blue Shield-branded Plans – Empire Plans as well as non-Empire Plans. Effective April 15, 2018 the BCBSA will begin assigning prefixes that contain a combination of letters and numbers, or alpha-numeric prefixes.	April 2018 Empire Newsletter	Administrative	Apr 9, 2018
Update Regarding Clinical Data Sharing Requirements Providers and Empire have a shared goal to improve the quality of health care for Empire members. To support this goal, it is critical that both providers and Empire have access to up-to-date clinical and administrative data.	February 2018 Empire Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 27, 2018
Important information about filing Home Infusion Therapy claims To assist in the accurate and timely processing of Home Infusion Therapy (HIT) claims, it is important for HIT Providers to file professional HIT claims to the correct Blue Plan. The following information applies to professional HIT claims for all Bluebranded health plans.	February 2018 Empire Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 27, 2018
Important Outreach to Opioid Use Disorder Providers about Medication Assisted Therapy Opioid addiction rates and deaths from overdose continue in the United States at alarming rates. To help address this crisis, Empire urgently requests that you contact us if you are authorized to administer Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT).	February 2018 Empire Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 27, 2018
A new look is coming to our Network Update newsletter	February 2018 Empire Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 27, 2018
Empire’s Electronic Tools and Resources Migrating to the Availity Portal Beginning March 16, 2018 the Empire BlueCross BlueShield’s (“Empire”) secure provider facility and professional portals are transitioning a majority of online tools and resources to the Availity Portal (www.availity.com). At that time, Availity will be your exclusive secure web portal to access these important Empire electronic tools and resources.	February 2018 Empire Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 27, 2018
Empire expands specialty pharmacy prior authorization list	Shazia Test 3/15 - April Newsletter	Products & Programs	Mar 20, 2018
Update to AIM Radiation Oncology Clinical Appropriateness Guidelines	Shazia Test 3/15 - April Newsletter	Products & Programs	Mar 15, 2018
Site of Service Update	Shazia Test 3/15 - April Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 15, 2018
New Alpha/Numeric Member Identification Prefixes effective April 15, 2018	Shazia Test 3/15 - April Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 15, 2018
HEDIS 2018® Weight Assessment and Counseling for Nutrition and Physical Activity	Shazia Test 3/15 - April Newsletter	Administrative	Mar 15, 2018
Test Attachment SD	Shazia Test - April Newsletter	Administrative	Feb 27, 2018
Blue Priority Reminder	Shazia Test - April Newsletter	Administrative	Feb 26, 2018
Integrated Care Model for plans purchased on the Health Insurance Marketplace benefits patients and physicians	Shazia Test - April Newsletter	Behavioral Health	Feb 26, 2018
Medical Policy Updates	Shazia Test - April Newsletter	Medical Policy & Clinical Guidelines	Feb 26, 2018
Coding Patient Services Reminders	Shazia Test - April Newsletter	Medicare	Feb 26, 2018
Behavioral Health Medication Management program	Shazia Test - April Newsletter	Behavioral Health	Feb 26, 2018
Shae's Test Featured Article - Medicare Advantage Improve member medication regimen Empire and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services consider medication review and reconciliation a top priority to help ensure members take their medications safely. Our pharmacists use medication review and reconciliation to help members understand what medications they are taking, why they are taking them, how they should be taking their medication and to answer any questions or concerns they have about their medication regimen.	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Administrative	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test Empire’s Electronic Tools and Resources Migrating to the Availity Portal Beginning March 16, 2018 the Empire BlueCross BlueShield (“Empire”) secure provider facility and professional portals are transitioning a majority of online tools and resources to the Availity Portal (www.availity.com). At that time, Availity will be your exclusive secure web portal to access these important Empire electronic tools and resources.	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Administrative	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test Policy Update - Not registered on the Availity Portal yet? Visit www.availity.com to register today. If you already use Availity, no additional registration is needed. Empire will appear as one of your options in the payer drop-down lists.	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Policy Updates	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test Med Policy and Clinical Guidelines Empire expands specialty pharmacy prior authorization list	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Medical Policy & Clinical Guidelines	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - Reimbursement Policies Effective for dates of service on and after May 1, 2018, intra-articular injections of hyaluronan for the treatment of pain due to reducing and non-reducing disc displacement disease of temporomandibular joint disorders, are considered investigational and not medically necessary. No prior authorization for these agents will be required, but rather reviewed post-service.	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Reimbursement Policies	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - Products and Programs - Empire expands specialty pharmacy prior authorization list Effective for dates of service on and after May 1, 2018, the following specialty pharmacy codes from new or current medical policies or clinical UM guidelines will be included in our existing prior authorization review process.	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Products & Programs	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - P&P Behavioral Health - Hyaluronan Injections in joints other than the Knee (DRUG.00017) Medical policy DRUG.00017 addresses the use of injections of hyaluronan in joints other than the knee, including osteoarthritis and temporomandibular joint disease. This therapy may also be referred to as viscosupplementation.	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Behavioral Health	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - P&P - Pharmacy Revised Medical Policy Effective 11-09-2017	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Pharmacy	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - State and Federal - Medical Policy Updates Archived Medical Policies Effective 12-27-2017 (The following policies have been archived and their content has been transferred to new Clinical UM Guidelines.)	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	State & Federal	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - S&F - Federal Employee Plan (FEP) Improve member medication regimen	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Federal Employee Plan (FEP)	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - Medicaid - New pharmacy electronic prior authorization request tool effective January 1, 2018 Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus (Empire) has partnered with CoverMyMeds to offer an electronic prior authorization (ePA) request tool that simplifies the process for requesting medications and checking the status of your submissions.	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Medicaid	Feb 22, 2018
Shae's Test - S&F - Medicare - Availability The tool will be available beginning January 1, 2018. These new features help simplify the prior authorization process. You will be able to:	Shae's Test Publication 2018 NY	Medicare	Feb 22, 2018
Test article clone Empire may contact you to discuss members’ medications as part of either the Medication Therapy Management (MTM) or the Medication Reconciliation Post Discharge (MRPD) programs.	Export Test Newsletter	Medicare	Feb 14, 2018
asdfasdfasdf to require prior authorization clone Effective May 1, 2018, Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus requires prior authorization (PA) for elotuzumab for Medicaid Managed Care members.	Export Test Newsletter	Medicare	Feb 14, 2018
Hyaluronan Injections in joints other than the Knee (DRUG.00017) Medical policy DRUG.00017 addresses the use of injections of hyaluronan in joints other than the knee, including osteoarthritis and temporomandibular joint disease.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Products & Programs	Feb 13, 2018
Empire expands specialty pharmacy prior authorization list Effective for dates of service on and after May 1, 2018, the following specialty pharmacy codes from new or current medical policies or clinical UM guidelines will be included in our existing prior authorization review process.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Products & Programs	Feb 13, 2018
Empire’s Electronic Tools and Resources Migrating to the Availity Portal Beginning March 16, 2018 the Empire BlueCross BlueShield (“Empire”) secure provider facility and professional portals are transitioning a majority of online tools and resources to the Availity Portal (www.availity.com).	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Administrative	Feb 13, 2018
A new look is coming to our Network Update newsletter A new look is coming to our Network Update newsletter	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Medicaid	Feb 13, 2018
Important Outreach to Opioid Use Disorder Providers about Medication Assisted Therapy Opioid addiction rates and deaths from overdose continue in the United States at alarming rates.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Pharmacy	Feb 13, 2018
Update regarding Shingrix shingles vaccine Empire updated its Affordable Care Act (ACA) preventive care coverage to include Shingrix, the new zoster (shingles) vaccine.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Behavioral Health	Feb 13, 2018
Enhancements to AIM Diagnostic Imaging Clinical Appropriateness Guidelines Beginning with dates of service on and after May 1, 2018, the following enhancements will apply to AIM Diagnostic Imaging Clinical Appropriateness Guidelines,	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Products & Programs	Feb 13, 2018
Gamunex-C® and Octagam® are Empire’s clinically equivalent immune globulin agents Effective for dates of service on or after May 1, 2018, Gamunex-C® and Octagam® will be the immune globulin agents of choice over Bivigam®, Carimune NF® Flebogamma®, Gammagard®, Gammagard S/D®, Gammaplex®, and Privigen®.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Reimbursement Policies	Feb 13, 2018
Empire expands partnership with Aspire Health to support palliative care for commercial members Beginning April 2, 2018, Empire will partner with Aspire Health to supply palliative care support services to our fully insured commercial members with advanced illness.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Medical Policy & Clinical Guidelines	Feb 13, 2018
Pharmacy information available on empireblue.com The commercial drug list is reviewed and updates are posted to the web site quarterly.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Policy Updates	Feb 13, 2018
Clinical Guideline Updates Clinical Guideline Updates	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Reimbursement Policies	Feb 13, 2018
Facility Drug Testing Facility Reimbursement Policy	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Medical Policy & Clinical Guidelines	Feb 13, 2018
Improve member medication regimen Empire may contact you to discuss members’ medications as part of either the Medication Therapy Management (MTM) or the Medication Reconciliation Post Discharge (MRPD) programs.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Policy Updates	Feb 13, 2018
Elotuzumab to require prior authorization Effective May 1, 2018, Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus requires prior authorization (PA) for elotuzumab for Medicaid Managed Care members.	February 2018 Empire Provider Newsletter	Administrative	Feb 13, 2018
New pharmacy electronic prior authorization request tool effective January 1, 2018 Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus (Empire) has partnered with CoverMyMeds to offer an electronic prior authorization (ePA) request tool that simplifies the process for requesting medications and checking the status of your submissions.	February 2018 Network Update	Medicaid	Feb 9, 2018
Empire’s Electronic Tools and Resources Migrating to the Availity Portal Beginning March 16, 2018 the Empire BlueCross BlueShield (“Empire”) secure provider facility and professional portals are transitioning a majority of online tools and resources to the Availity Portal (www.availity.com).	Export Test Newsletter	Medicaid	Feb 7, 2018
Empire expands specialty pharmacy prior authorization list Effective for dates of service on and after May 1, 2018, the following specialty pharmacy codes from new or current medical policies or clinical UM guidelines will be included in our existing prior authorization review process.	Export Test Newsletter	Pharmacy	Feb 7, 2018
Hyaluronan Injections in joints other than the Knee (DRUG.00017) Medical policy DRUG.00017 addresses the use of injections of hyaluronan in joints other than the knee, including osteoarthritis and temporomandibular joint disease.	February 2018 Network Update	Federal Employee Plan (FEP)	Feb 7, 2018
Medical Policy Updates Test edit by Jen Medical Policy Updates	February 2018 Network Update	Policy Updates	Feb 7, 2018

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