VA Community Care Network (CCN).
The Department of Veterans Affairs, Community Care Network, or CCN,
is VA's direct link with community providers
to ensure we provide Veterans with timely, high-quality health care.
CCN serves as a contract vehicle
and a network of high-performing, credentialed community providers that VA
partners with to provide health care to Veterans in their local community.
Community providers are critical to meet the health care needs
of Veterans across the United States and its territories.
For community providers, joining CCN is the best way
to serve and care for our nation's Veterans.
CCN is VA's primary method of purchasing community care for all VA
medical facilities.
VA contracts with third party administrators
or TPAs, to perform certain functions.
00:00:52:07 - 00:00:53:12 This includes developing
00:00:53:12 - 00:00:57:18 and administering the regional networks
of community providers that make up CCN,
resulting in consistent business practices for community providers.
CCN is made up of five regions aligned to state boundaries.
Region one consists of Northeastern states.
00:01:10:19 - 00:01:13:05 Region two includes Midwestern states.
Region three covers Southeastern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
Region four includes Western states and Hawaii
plus American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Region five covers Alaska.
Services offered through CCN include the following medical,
behavioral health, surgical, complementary and Integrative Health Services.
Durable medical equipment for an immediate need, pharmacy
for an immediate need and dental.
To be part of CCN,
community providers must establish a contract with the TPA
for your region of CCN.
Have a national provider identifier
or NPI from the National Plan and Provider Enumeration system,
which is issued at no cost.
Use the NPI and referral number to conduct all business activities with VA,
including medical, dental and pharmacy transactions.
Be credentialed in accordance
with the requirements for your region of CCN.
Community providers
work directly with the TPA to complete the credentialing processes.
Under CCN,
VA directly manages Veteran customer service
touchpoints, while TPAs respond to inquiries from VA
staff and community providers.
When VA refers a Veteran to a community provider who is part of CCN,
the referral goes directly to the community provider.
Community providers must receive an approved
referral from VA before treating an eligible Veteran
in most circumstances.
Exceptions include emergency and urgent care.
With CCN, appointment
scheduling usually occurs directly through the Veteran's local VA
medical facility or directly by the Veteran.
VA maintains a master directory
of all community providers authorized to care for Veterans.
To support proper care coordination,
community providers who are part of CCN must submit medical documentation
directly to VA by an accepted and secure method of electronic transmission.
Through CCN,
the claim and payment process allows for consistent and timely payments
to community providers.
As part of this process, community providers
who are part of CCN must submit claims:
To the appropriate TPA assigned to their CCN region
With the referral number and Within the timeline required.
Once the claim is received, the TPA processes, adjudicates and pays the claim.
Participation in CCN means community providers are paid in a timely manner
because TPAs have contractual requirements
00:03:54:13 - 00:03:56:20 for timeliness and accuracy of payments.
Generally, health care services provided by community providers are reimbursed
based on rates established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS.
CCN is a key part of making community
care work better for Veterans, community
providers and VA staff.
For community providers, joining CCN
is a great way to honor and care for those who have served our country.
We hope you will consider joining the VA network.
To join
CCN, contact the TPA assigned to your region.
www.va.gov/community care.