Collapsing Medicare Provider Transaction Access Numbers (PTANs)

Effective Date: January 1, 2008. Implementation Date: April 7, 2008>

CMS issued CR 5906 because it believes that providers may want to collapse their assigned Medicare PTANs to insure a one-to-one NPI match. Providers may collapse PTANs that are assigned to additional locations only if the additional locations are all assigned the same tax identification number (TIN) and are within the same pricing locality.

Presently, some Medicare carriers issue separate PTANs to physicians with multiple practice locations. To ensure that carriers are assigning PTANs in a more consistent manner and to aid in the implementation of the NPI, carriers and A/B MACs will assign the minimum number of PTANs necessary to ensure that proper payments are made.

Providers can request their carrier or A/B MAC collapse their PTANs by submitting a letter on their letterhead to the Medicare contractor. The letter must contain:

• The TIN of the provider/entity and/or the Social Security Number of the individual(s);
• The effective date for the collapsed PTANs; and
• A signature of the authorized official making the request.