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Hello,
Be prepared
for RAC medical request letter
Your
practice could receive a Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) medical request
letter in the next few weeks as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) continues to expand the RACs nationwide. RACs seek to
identify overpayments and underpayments by CMS to Medicare providers.
CMS has
recently issued RAC-related instructions to its fiscal intermediaries,
carriers and Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs). On March 9, CMS
staff indicated that the RACs began reviewing claims data on March 1.
The CMS transmittal to
fiscal intermediaries, carriers and MACs instructs these claim-processing
entities to provide the RACs with names and addresses of health care
providers located in the RAC jurisdictions at least every six months. It
also requires them to provide the RACs with a claims data file on a monthly
or quarterly basis.
MGMA
continues to express strong concerns to Congress and to CMS about the
intrusive nature and complications that RACs impose on medical practices.
The Association, along with 101 other national and state medical
associations, recently sent CMS a letter outlining
its concerns about the RAC program.
To prepare
MGMA members for RAC audits, MGMA will conduct a Webinar on April 7. Register now
for this important session.
Access
additional RAC information from
MGMA .
Visit
the CMS Web
page on the RACs.
CMS
issues instructions to contractors on disclosure requirements for
physician-owned hospitals
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released instructions to
its contractors, effective June 8, for implementing new requirements
relating to disclosure of physician ownership in a hospital. The
requirements were included in the inpatient prospective payment system rules
in 2008 and 2009. Hospitals that have physician owners are required to
furnish written notice to each patient at the beginning of his or her
hospital stay or outpatient visit stating that the hospital is
physician-owned. These owners are required to disclose to patients at the
time of referral that they or immediate family members hold an ownership or
investment interest in the hospital.
Read
CMS’ MLN Matters article.
Read
CMS’ instructions
to its contractors.
Free
member educational program:
“Understanding the 2009 Economic Stimulus and Other Challenges and
Opportunities for Medical Group Practice”
MGMA President
and CEO William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, will host a free member Webinar on
March 26 to address the changing environment facing medical group leaders.
The program will focus on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, legislation that allocated $17 billion in incentives for providers to
adopt electronic health records and ushered in numerous new privacy
modifications to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
A
national health-care thought leader, Jessee will guide you through this
stimulus package and key national administrative simplification
initiatives. He’ll also describe MGMA resources that will help you lead
your group through these challenging times.
The
March 26 Webinar will take place 2-3:15 p.m. ET, 1-2:15 p.m. CT, noon-1:15
p.m. MT and 11 a.m.-12.15 p.m. PT. Register
now. Telephone registration is open until 30 minutes before the
Webinar. Call toll-free 877.ASK MGMA (275.6462).
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