Page 10 - HMEB Business, February 2017

News / Trends / Analysis
Q4 Audit Survey Is Underway
HME Audit Key program urges HME providers to submit their audit data for Q4 2016. Individual claim data not required.
audits and appeal claim outcomes under DME MAC, RAC and SMRC reviews.
The program assures data security and does not share providers’ information. Provider data is only included in in aggregate data.
For help with the Audit Key program, providers can fill out a support contact form at hmeauditkey. org/Home/Help, email support@HMEAuditKey. org, or call (844) HME-AKEY (844-463-2539). n
The latest installment of
the HME Audit Key went live on Jan. 16, and is collecting providers’ audit data for the Fourth Quarter of 2016 in order to help the industry better understand the impact of Medicare claims audits, and build the industry’s case for reforming CMS’s audit program.
Information collected by the long-term survey gives the industry reliable and representative data that it can use on Capitol Hill to clearly demon- strate audit program is overly burdensome to HME businesses and can ultimately hurt access. This can help industry advocates make a strong argument for reforming CMS’s audits and easing the financial burdens those audits are having on providers.
“Your participation will help us build a strong data-set of performance benchmarks while also helping the HME community make the case on Capitol Hill and at CMS for much-needed audit reform,” a statement from AAHomecare read. “Increased industry participation will help us make a stronger case for audit reform.”
In addition to helping the industry make its case on Capitol Hill, the Audit Key program offers
a business upside, according to AAHomecare. Individual suppliers can access to their own quar- terly survey numbers, as well as aggregate survey results and key findings in order to compare their audit volumes and appeal overturn rates against their the aggregate findings in the report.
Key things to keep in mind when signing up:
• Providers that did not participate in the earlier
data submission rounds can can still take part in
the Q4 survey.
• Suppliers can go to HMEAuditKey.org to
register.
• Participation is free; all that is requires is an
organization’s NPIs and respective five-digit zip code to register.
Also, the survey does not require providers to
share individual claims data. Instead, the survey seeks cumulative counts of pre- and post-payment
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Rep. Grothman Visits Graham-Field
Wisconsin Republican visits HME manufacturer’s Badger State manufacturing facility for tour and Q&A session.
improved clinical outcomes.
The group will focus on how the HME industry can work to foster the development and adoption of technologies that improve operational efficien- cies and improved care, while at the same time ensuring that the providers that are rewarded for using those technologies.
“This work group is one more example of how the industry works together to help provide quality care in the home for the patients we collectively serve with our services and products,” said Maura Toole, director of field marketing with Philips Healthcare, who is chairing the group.
The group will fist concentrated on studying new and emerging technologies that can benefit for patients and payers in measurable ways, such as reduced readmissions. The group will also look the incentives and enticements that will convince payers to consider increased reimbursements,
or new payment models that recognize the improved outcomes.
A cross-section of providers and manufacturers constitute the group, which had its first confer- ence call in mid-December, and will continue to regularly meet. Interested industry members can contact Laura Williard at LauraW@aahomecare. org for more information. n
Rep. Glenn Grothman
(R-Wis.) recently visited the Fond du Lac, Wis. Manufacturing facility of DME maker GF Health Products Inc. to meet with the staff and learn more about the company.
First, Kurt Hellman, senior vice president of Manufacturing Operations for Graham-Field gave the lawmaker a brief tour of the plant that show- cased the facility’s product lines and manufac- turing capabilities. After the tour, Rep. Grothman conducted a question-and-answer session with the Fond du Lac team.
A visit from a congress member who advocates increasing U.S. manufacturing jobs to a the manu- facturing facility of a company that emphasizes that its products are Made in the United States represented a commitment on the part of both to sustain and grow American manufacturing.
Wisconsin ranks as the nation’s No. 2 state in terms of manufacturing jobs as a percentage of total employment. The state’s 458,400
manufacturing jobs represent 16.3 percent of Wisconsin’s workforce. Rep. Grothman’s 6th District ranks as No. 1 in the nation with 80,000 jobs in terms of total manufacturing employment. n
AAHomecare Convenes Hi Tech Work Group
Group will examine how new technologies for creating new care and reimbursement models.
AAHomecare has created a Hi Tech Work Group that will generate business, care and technology strategies that encourage payers to consider new reimbursement models that reward providers for their contributions to
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