Referring, Ordering, Prescribing, Attending (ROPA) Providers Required to Register with AHCCCS
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) require that all health care providers who refer AHCCCS members for an item or service, who order non-physician services for members, who prescribe medications to members, and who attend/certify medical necessity for services and/or who take primary responsibility for members’ medical care must be registered as AHCCCS providers. AHCCCS calls this initiative, and these providers, "ROPA.”
Until these acts passed, referring, ordering, prescribing, and attending providers were required to obtain and maintain a National Provider Identifier (NPI), but were not required to be registered as an AHCCCS provider, but with the implementation of ROPA requirements any registrable healthcare provider who is not already registered as an active AHCCCS provider must register or be identified as an Exception non-registerable provider*, if applicable.
To validate providers who meet these requirements, AHCCCS publishes two listings as follows on a regular basis:
- AHCCCS Active, Registered Providers by NPI who may Refer, Order, Prescribe, or Attend
- ROPA Excepted Providers List (Residents, Interns, Pharmacists)
*There are limited types of providers who can refer, order, prescribe or attend who are not registerable provider types with AHCCCS, including pharmacists, residents, and interns. The providers in the above list will not be required to formally register with AHCCCS but will be tracked for validity through an alternative tracking system.
Steps To Comply with ROPA
If you are a provider who refers, orders, or acts as an attending provider for AHCCCS members, and you are not represented on either of the above lists, you must begin the registration or exception provider designation process.
If you are a provider who receives a referral or order from a provider who is not on either of these lists (as appropriate), your fee-for-service claim will not be paid as of July 1, 2024.
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Referring, Ordering, Prescribing, Attending (ROPA) Providers Required to Register with AHCCCS |