Education spotlight

First Coast develops educational campaigns to focus our outreach efforts on topics or initiatives that matter most to our providers and beneficiaries we serve. 

New, free education programs offered in 2026

You ask, we deliver! Our education programs in 2026 represent the most relevant, requested topics by our providers. 

Our Event Calendardisplays a current listing of webinars open to registration. This list is constantly changing from month-to-month, so continue to monitor it for updates.

Hear about what our participants are saying about our education programs - Our education program works!

Medicare Navigator Workshop series schedule of events

The Medicare Navigator Workshop concept is returning in 2026 with a revised schedule intended to make it easier to attend all events in a program and earn a digital badge recognizing successful participation.

• This program provides a series of webinars focused on assisting providers navigate to, identify and utilize essential resources to complete and submit a variety of Medicare transactions, such as claims and enrollment applications.
  • Earn a Medicare navigator program badge:
    • Successfully participate in all webinars offered within any of the individual Medicare Navigator programs and receive a Medicare Navigator badge in addition to continuing education units (CEUs).
  • Level up and earn a Medicare navigator champion badge
    • Successfully participate in 10 webinars offered within any of the Medicare Navigator programs outlined below and receive a Medicare Navigator Champion badge in addition to CEUs.
  • Get bragging rights around the office by placing your name alongside others on our honorary Medicare Navigator Notable Wall by earning any of our digital badges.

StayConnected Workshops schedule of events

Our StayConnected Workshops present prioritized Medicare topics in a consolidated, rotational format offered within a single week. We invite you to attend all events offered within the series or only those that apply to you. The benefit of attending a StayConnected program is you obtain and retain the knowledge from each session and apply it directly to the next event. Stay connected with Medicare updates and requirements and participate in our next workshop series.

Attention all Medicare providers: Are you using a third-party vendor or outsourced company to conduct Medicare business?

Do you use a third-party vendor or outsourced company for your Medicare credentialing, billing and account receivables? Do you know who is using your data? Do you know how they are using your data? How much is it costing you?

• First Coast has experienced a large increase in unnecessary telephone calls from third parties and outsourced agencies representing our providers. Help us prevent these unnecessary requests for assistance to our Provider Contact Center by reviewing this helpful article.

Third-party vendors, also referred to as outsourced agencies or business associates/partners, and Medicare providers have an equal obligation to maintain Medicare compliance. Learn more about how to establish efficient controls, risk assessments and an overall compliance program to mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse of the Medicare program.

• Compliance Matters; Third-party vendors, outsourced agencies and you

Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) Program

CERT is responsible for measuring improper payments in the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) program. CERT selects a stratified random sample of approximately 50,000 claims that allows CMS to calculate a national improper payment rate and contractor- and service-specific improper payment rates. 

Did you know that not responding to a CERT request for medical records will cause a claim error and denial of your claim? It is important you respond to the CERT request to help reduce claim denials and to lower the error rates. Failure to respond to a request for medical records within 45 days will result in a claim denial and recoupment of Medicare payments.

• Be proactive, ensure your contact information is current with the MAC. The CERT additional documentation request (ADR) letters are sent to the provider’s address on file with the MAC found under the “Medical Record Corresponding Mailing Address" in PECOS.
  

For additional information on how to update your address, please visit:

• How to change or add a practice mailing address
• First Coast YouTube tutorial: MAC Medical Review Best Practices – Updating your contacts information
  

• C3HUB letter and contact information
  

CERT allows medical records to be submitted using one of the following options: mail, fax, electronic submission of medical documentation (esMD), CD, or email attachment. 

Our CERT webpage also offers a variety of tools and resources to help you save time and money with this process. Visit today!

Skilled nursing facility (SNF)

Do you have questions on how to bill services for a SNF patient who has Medicare Part A coverage? Is your team struggling with guidelines under the SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS)? Are you aware of the many valuable resources for SNF providers we have available on our website?

A few examples include:

• Provider specialty: Skilled nursing facility (SNF) - Part A
• CERT skilled nursing facility (SNF) spotlight
• Checklist: Skilled nursing facility (SNF) documentation

If you prefer a more interactive learning experience, we recommend you look at our Learning Center which offers a variety of free education such as a live or recorded webinars as well as on-demand learning.

New Provider Roadmap

As an attempt to simplify the Medicare process for the provider community, we have constructed a tool to guide someone new to the Medicare program through the various Medicare processes and transaction types. Throughout the document, hyperlinks to our resources will be provided to help further your knowledge of the Medicare program.

The New Provider Roadmap symbol can be found through our website. We use this icon to identify new provider resources, including on our Homepage and Event Calendar.

FastTrack to Medicare Coverage Policies

Do you find it challenging to identify a Medicare coverage policy concerning a particular item or service? Not sure what to do if a Medicare coverage policy doesn’t exist? The FastTrack to Medicare Coverage Policies tool provides a hierarchy of critical resources to determine if a Medicare policy exists, and if not, what to do next.

Avoid the wait

• Paper submissions are a way of the past. The 'Avoid the Wait' (Part A) (Part B) resource page provides a consolidated listing of all electronic submission methods available to send documentation to First Coast. Save time and money by exploring these options instead of using costly printing and shipping methods. Many of these submission methods provide immediate confirmation of receipt giving you peace of mind your documentation was successfully received by us.