Medicare Administrative Contractors NGS and CGS are alerting agencies to dark days due to data center migration, particularly impacting system access Monday, May 15, 2023.
 
In its message to providers, CGS noted that, if providers feel the dark day period caused a late NOA or NOE submission, they must “provide the appropriate supporting documentation with the associated final claim.”
 
See the messages below.
 
From NGS:
 
May 2023 Dark Days for CMS Data Center Migration – What Functions Will and Will Not Be Available
 
As we previously communicated, CMS will be migrating to the Kent Data Center in May 2023. As a result, National Government Services, as well as all MACs, will be observing a series of dark days to accommodate the anticipated duration of this activity and to ensure the completion of weekly/monthly/quarterly processing and the migration of the data center.
 
These dark days will limit access to information provided by the IVR system, our self-service portal, NGSConnex, as well as EDI. Providers may experience limited or no access to claim status, eligibility, reopening/appeal status and financial claim information. Please see the list below of the functionality and its availability.
 
Dark Days
 
Medicare Part A
  • The weekend of 5/12/2023 to 5/15/2023, starting on Friday evening, 5/12/2023 Part A (FISS) production cut-over.
  • Monday, 5/15/2023 – MAC dark day to support the completion of the migration to new data center.
Provider Contact Center
 
In addition, while our Provider Contact Center will be open, the systems used to handle claim specific questions will not be available. During this time, our staff will be limited to general questions. Please plan accordingly.
 
From CGS:
 
Beginning on Friday, May 12th, the Peraton Virtual Data Center (VDC) mainframe will transfer to a different operational location. To ensure the transfer completes successfully, a Dark Day will occur on Monday, May 15th.
 
What this means to you:
 
On Monday, May 15th, many systems will not be available. As a result:
  • The Part A & HHH Provider Contact Centers (PCCs) will be open for general inquiries only. The customer service representatives (CSRs) will not be able to access any beneficiary or claim information.
  • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and myCGS portal features will also be limited.
You may continue to submit electronic claims on May 12-15, but they will not continue to process until the Fiscal Intermediary Standard System (FISS) nightly cycle runs on Tuesday, May 16th. We do not expect any delays to your payments.
 
Direct Data Entry (DDE) users: You will not be able to access the DDE system. In addition, the first time you access DDE on or after May 16th, you must sign in with your RACF ID and a temporary password. CGS will email the temporary password to each user.
 
Home Health and Hospice providers: If you feel the dark day period caused a late NOA/NOE submission, you must provide the appropriate supporting documentation with the associated final claim.