Top 5 Ways to Protect your Practice from Meaningful Use Audits in 2014

Top 5 Ways to Protect your Practice from Meaningful Use Audits in 2014 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) invested more than $19 billion in the Meaningful Use (MU) incentive payments in 2013. In 2014, the agency is planning to increase its auditing activities as it is inching closer to its $27 billion budget. Since Medicaid incentive program audits are carried out by each state in the US, it has become important for physicians to be prepared.

Industry Facts  CMS is set to perform post-payment and pre-payment audits on 5-10% of providers, choosing them randomly  According to the HIMSS 2014 website, one provider was asked to return $31 million in MU incentive payments due to an error in EHR application If you have attested and received incentive payments, you should be prepared for the upcoming audits. Here are top five ways to protect your practice or hospital from a potential MU Audit in 2014: 1. It helps to perform a pre-audit and be prepared because some doctors are randomly chosen for such audits. Physicians cannot eliminate the possibility of being audited.

For some, the process involves a simple exchange of few documents whereas for others the audit process can go on for months.

2. Physicians need to accomplish a list of tasks in order to comply with the demands of an audit. They should send a timely response after receiving an audit letter.

Generally, auditors allow 14 days for responding to an audit notice. Physicians shouldn’t engage auditors on their own or just send across a statement in response to certain documents.

3. The legwork of MU should be verified by physicians themselves rather than relying on the practice managers. They can take make use of the resources for audit preparation provided by the CMS. Providers also need to look through their EHR to find out reports or documentation they will require during the audit process.

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4. Doctors need to ensure their EHR certification and monitor any upgrades to the system. This will help them ensure that the certification status doesn’t get affected.

They need to talk to their vendor to seek assistance in preparing for the audit using their EHR system.

5. Once physicians are aware of the documents they need to collect, they should start training their staff for gathering relevant information throughout the EHR reporting period. Paper as well as electronic copies of all documentation related to MU attestation should be stored safely.

The preparation for an MU audit can be a daunting task. Ignoring the MU requirements, not having sufficient documentation and having an undocumented MU strategy will not help physicians in protecting their EHR incentives from recoupment. However, with the right processes and information in place, they can eliminate the worry of facing auditors.

Preparing for MU Audits with MBC If monetary constraints or lack of time is stopping you from preparing for MU audits, outsourcing can prove to be a beneficial option. By outsourcing billing needs to MedicalBillersandCoders.com, physicians can get sufficient time to prepare for audits. MBC has a well-trained, experienced team that offers effective RCM services to 42 specialties across all the states in the US including EHR consultancy, denials management, and HIPAA compliance.

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