CMS Contractor Data Communications Support Policy

Medicare fiscal intermediaries and carriers shall use the Government furnished Medicare Data Communications Network (MDCN) to support all Medicare operational data connectivity requirements. Such uses include Common Working File communications, shared processing remote operations, remote printing, shared system maintenance support (testing, release/fix distribution, remote diagnostics) and functional subcontracting arrangements necessitating the transfer of data to remote sites.

Image files are defined as data for this policy. Contractor collection nets; that is, connectivity services linking providers to contractors, may not be provisioned through MDCN. Further, MDCN cannot provide any support for voice communications.

By using a single national vendor for data connectivity services CMS gains economies of scale, increased security of Medicare data, uniform service levels, centralized network management, and facilitates the movement of workloads for either contract administration or functional specialization purposes.

See form below in the Related Links Inside CMS Section.