Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

The list includes EMR documentation, E/M coding, ACOs, and more. Looking to shore up your compliance plan? Below experts cite what they see as key areas of vulnerability and give you some pivotal survival tips. 1. Physician electronic medical record documentation. The HHS Office of Inspector General auditors will be looking for "'cloned note' cases where all of a physician's E/M notes look identical because of documentation software," cautions Mary Falbo, MBA, CPC, president of Millennium Healthcare Consulting Inc. in Lansdale, Pa. She notes that the 2011 OIG work plan specifically states that "Medicare contractors have noted an increased frequency of medical records withidentical documentation across services." The plan also states that the OIG will "review multiple E&M services for the same providers and beneficiaries to identify electronic health records (EHR) documentation practices associated with potentially improper payments." 2. E/M coding during the global surgical period. Falbo cautions that the [...]