The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is looking at Medicaid and Medicare program integrity audits to see how burdensome the audits are for providers. By year's end and using a two-phase approach, CMS is hoping to have recommendations to decrease burden, according to a July 20 news release in Inside Health Policy.
In the news release, CMS said the work is divided into a two-phased "audit of audits" that hopefully will spark program integrity policy reform for next year.
- Phase 1 - a diagnostic, completed at the beginning of 2012, of the burdens CMS audits place on providers and their impact on varying provider types.
- Phase 2 - focuses on generating change recommendations.
The American Medical Association (AMA) recommended in a program integrity white paper that the Senate Finance Committee address "the inefficiency of audit programs," according to Inside Health Policy. With strong support of CMS' decision the AMA "is pleased CMS followed its recommendations."
Source: Inside Health Policy, Michelle L. Stein, "CMS Audits Medicaid, Medicare Program Integrity Audit Efforts In Bid To Reduce Burdens On Providers," July 20
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Practice Management medicaid Medicare Physician Reimbursement Audits CMS Compliance