Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008 - (Page 36)

regulATory updATe By Jonathan Batchelor Beware! Recovery Audit Contractors Poised for Permanent Status A little-noticed provision in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 could result in the recovery of a sizeable portion of overpayments by Medicare and has healthcare providers concerned that overzealous bounty hunters may come knocking on their door. The provision raising some hackles in healthcare provider circles is Section 306 of the 2003 legislation, which called for a demonstration project to show the use of recovery audit contractors (RACs)—outsourced private companies—in identifying Medicare payment errors. Medicare overpayments are an area that the federal government believes can be vigorously addressed by outsourcing its recovery audits to independent contractors. According to Timothy B. Hill, director of the Office of Financial Management at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare overpayments totaled $12.8 billion last year. The RAC demonstration program was conducted from March 2005 through March 2008, expanding beyond the three initial states of California, New York, and Florida to include Arizona, Massachusetts, and South Carolina in July 2007, although no claims were ultimately reviewed in Arizona. California, New York and Florida were chosen as they represent three of the largest Medicare utilization states, according to Hill. “The demonstration corrected a total of more than $1 billion in improper payments during its three-year run,” Hill said. “This amount includes both overpayments col36 Health Imaging & IT | July 2008 lected from providers and underpayments refunded to providers. The RAC demonstration program has cost only 20 cents for every dollar collected.” Hill stated that of the $980 million collected by the RACs, only $12.8 million, or 1 percent, were overpayments that had been made to physicians over the three-year period. “In fact, the vast majority of overpayments [more than 84 percent] were collected from inpatient hospitals,” he said. drilling down the demo At first blush, these data provide a compelling endorsement for the role of RACs, as healthcare practitioners and CMS are acutely aware of the damage overpayments cause to the healthcare system: fewer dollars to provide care for patients. However, drilling down into the numbers and experience of the RAC demonstration project has left many healthcare providers uneasy with the prospect of a nationwide, permanent RAC rollout scheduled to begin in October this year. “CMS compensates the RACs on a contingency fee basis, based upon the principal amount of collection [or the amount paid back to] a provider,” said Andrew B. Wachler, a healthcare attorney with Wachler and Associates of Royal Oak, Mich. “This fee arrangement provides incentives to the RACs to aggressively review and deny claims. In FY 2007, the RACs identified and collected $357.2 million in overpayments, and repaid just $14.3 million in identified underpayments to Medicare providers and suppliers. Thus, approximately 96 percent of the alleged improper payments identified [and collected or returned as appropriate] were overpayments, as opposed to underpayments.” A hotly contested issue during the demonstration project was that RACs retained their contingency fees, even if the claim denial was overturned at the Administrative Law Judge level or above. Wachler noted that CMS has addressed this oversight in its outline for the permanent RAC program. “In a significant change from the demonstration program, under the permanent RAC program, if a provider files an appeal disputing the overpayment determination, and the provider wins this appeal at any level, the RAC is not entitled to keep its contingency fee, and must repay CMS the amount it received for the recovery,” he said. This action by CMS may help reign in some of the problems that California providers experienced during the demonstration project in that state. According to Patricia Blaisdell, vice president of medical rehabilitation services and continuing care for the California Hospital Association, members of that organization did not believe they were treated fairly and professionally by the RAC firm, PRG Schultz International, during the demonstration program. HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008

Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008 On the Web The Enterprise News Update Convention Spotlight: AHRA 2008 Cover Story: Driving Metrics to Drive Business: Digital Dashboards Deliver Mammography CAD Comes of Age Breast MR CAD: Earlier Detection, Increased Efficiency Lung CAD Earning a Spot in Day-to-Day Practice Colon CAD: Breaking Down Barriers Modality Review: Cardiac CT Angiography: A Clear Pathway to Better Cardiac Patient Management Practice Management: RIS Rights Efficiency & Productivity Wrongs In Practice: Advanced Visualization Across the Enterprise Regulatory Update: Beware: Recovery Audit Contractors Poised for Permanent Status Technology Outlook: Compressing Images for Remote Transmission Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008

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