Today CMS announced that it is delaying until January 3, 2011 its controversial policy under which it will institute edits to deny Medicare claims for Part B items and services if the physician or non-physician practitioner who ordered the item or service does not have a current enrollment record. CMS considers a current enrollment record to be one that is in the Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) and also contains the physician/non-physician practitioner’s National Provider Identifier (NPI). The delay in the policy from April 5, 2010 until January 3, 2011 is intended to “give physicians and non-physician practitioners who order items or services for Medicare beneficiaries or who refer Medicare beneficiaries to other Medicare providers or suppliers sufficient time to enroll in Medicare or take the action necessary to establish a current enrollment record in Medicare” before the claims edits go into effect.