A massive surge in traffic to CMS's online Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) website is causing significant performance problems. It seems a huge number of practices are signing on to update their providers' PECOS information as the July 6 deadline for the ordering/referring rule nears.

A technician at the EUS Help Desk acknowledged the issue and said it was being caused by "lots of people signing and accessing their accounts." Nothing can be done to mitigate the sudden burden on the server, and she suggested users try signing off and accessing the system in the late afternoon or evening, when traffic is usually lower.

If you tried using online PECOS today, you probably noticed that the website was slow to load and very sluggish. That's not all; a Part B News reader called me to report login issues with the PECOS website as well. The site was running so slowly that she closed her browser and restarted it to reload the page. Unfortunately, the PECOS site refused to let her log in, because the system never logged her out, even when the browser closed.

If you're having other problems relating to PECOS -- or you want to ask about the slowdown yourself -- feel free to call the EUS Help Desk at 1-866-484-8049.

There's still no word from CMS on whether it will begin rejecting claims on July 6 for providers whose PECOS records aren't up to date, but officials have previously said to expect an announcement before the actual deadline.