Page 22 - HME Business, April 2017

RESPIRATORY AUDITS:
the Microscope
As the new RAC comes online, and as the 2017 HHS OIG Workplan is in effect, what can respiratory providers expect in terms of audits, and how should they respond?
Under
By David Kopf
Audits are a constant frustration to providers across the spectrum of home medical equipment, but some feel the pinch more than others. Case in point: respiratory providers.
Respiratory providers, in specific, often find themselves being subjected to detailed inspection by audit contractors because their claims represent sizable reimbursement and because they serve a high volume of patients. If anything, audits simply come with the territory for these providers.
That said, respiratory providers’ audit game plan needs to shift with the audit contractors’ priorities, methodologies and agendas, so that they can ensure clean claims, have the right documentation, respond quickly to auditor requests, and minimize the impact audits have on their bottom lines.
Bearing that in mind, HME Business sat down with two industry audit experts, Wayne van Halem, CFE, AHFI, president of audit consulting firm The van Halem Group, a Division of VGM Group Inc., and Andrea Stark, one of the managing partners of HME consulting firm MiraVista LLC, to understand what changes are afoot for respiratory providers, and determine how best to respond.
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